University City (core campus)
Rent $1,500-$2,600/moWalnut & 38th St, Philadelphia, PA 19104
SafetyA-
PrivacyLow
Drive3m
The walkable campus core packed with purpose-built student high-rises, retail, and Penn shuttle stops right around The Palestra.
The Palestra, Penn's storied practice gym at 33rd and Walnut, and football/track venue Franklin Field sit side by side on the eastern edge of campus in University City. Everything in this guide is built around a short walk or quick ride from those two doors.
The walkable campus core packed with purpose-built student high-rises, retail, and Penn shuttle stops right around The Palestra.
Leafy West Philly blocks of restored Victorian twins and flats just west of campus, popular with grad students and athletes.
Tree-lined Victorian enclave just north of campus favored by Penn and Drexel students, artists, and academics.
Quiet, tree-lined Center City pocket of brownstones just across the Schuylkill, steps from the river trail.
Revitalized, walkable neighborhood south of Center City drawing young professionals with newer construction and easy dining.
Philadelphia's most prestigious Center City district, with doorman buildings, top restaurants, and the city's signature park.
The neighborhoods above sit inside a twenty-minute drive of The Palestra. But many athletes prioritize lifestyle, privacy, and prestige over commute — these are the areas across Philadelphia where athletes most often buy and rent, even though they’re a longer drive from the facility.
The wealthiest ZIP code in the Philadelphia region, Gladwyne is a quasi-rural pocket of the Main Line defined by multi-acre estates, gated drives, and riverfront parcels along the Schuylkill, with the Philadelphia Country Club at its center. Median values top $2M and the priciest manors push past $8.5M.
One of Pennsylvania's first 'million-dollar communities,' Villanova pairs stately tree-lined streets with some of the oldest, grandest homes on the Main Line — 8-bedroom castle-style estates on 2-plus acres with sport courts and guest houses regularly trade in the $3M–$5M range.
A consistently top-ranked, quiet South Jersey town that has quietly housed a long roster of pros — Ben Simmons, DeSean Jackson, Terrell Owens, and Nick Castellanos among them — with large gated lots, lower taxes than Pennsylvania, and discreet new-build mansions. Recent athlete-owned homes have sold near $4.9M.
Philadelphia's most exclusive urban address, this leafy Center City square is ringed by full-service luxury towers like 1706 Rittenhouse and 500 Walnut, where high-floor condos and penthouses run from the low millions into the $15M+ range. Long the in-town base for the city's richest residents and athletes.