Public Records
Edition
PhiladelphiaBuilt on public City of Philadelphia recordsJuly 8, 2026

Who owns your block

1500 block of S 21st St

A mostly owner-occupied block: 74% of homes are lived in by their owners, with 8 open code violations and 2 homes behind $14,751 on taxes.

The typical home here is up 175% since 2016, now about $202K. Property taxes are climbing about 10% a year though the increases have eased lately.

Every parcel on the block, colored by who owns it. Tap a parcel for the owner and its city record.

By the Numbers

Median value
$202K
$202K–$472K
ZIP median $364K
Price / sq ft
$191
typical home
city median $177
Vs. Philadelphia
0.9×
the city median
city $223K
Recent sale
$145K
1 sold in 2yr
assessed $202K
Tax / yr
$3K
typical · up to $4K
city ≈$3K/yr
Tax abatements
3 of 19
$17K/yr forgone
Owner-occupied
74%
14 of 19
city 41%
Rentals
16%
3 licensed
city 15% of homes
Open violations
8
L&I code
▲ block 16% · city 5%
Back taxes
$15K
2 of 19 behind
▲ block 11% · city 9%

How fast it's moving

1 year
+9%
value · tax +$234
5 years
+129%
value · tax +$2K
10 years
+175%
value · tax +$2K

Assessed-value change for the typical home. Philadelphia taxes a flat 1.3998% of value, so the bill moves with it.

The makeup of the block

Every home, plotted by size and assessed value — press play and watch the block reprice from 2016 to 2027. One bubble per house (area = lot size), colored by who owns it; a gold ring marks tax-abated new construction. Click a bubble for its report.

2027
  • Owner-occupied
  • Investor / LLC
  • Absentee
  • Vacant
  • Tax-abated
  • Bubble = lot size
  • → bigger interior  ·  ↑ higher value

Assessed values from the city's year-by-year assessment record — a proxy for price, lumpy in reassessment years.

How the block compares

The typical home here is $202K — about 0.9× the citywide median, and below the ZIP 19146 median of $364K. The same block, read against everyone else in the ZIP 19146 and across Philadelphia.

This blockZIP 19146Philadelphia
Median home value$202K$364K$223K
Owner-occupied26%29%41%

Safety & quality of life

Within 200 metres of the block over the last 12 months: 184 reported crimes (35 violent) and 279 resident 311 requests to the city.

Crimes · 12mo
184
35 violent · within 200m
311 requests · 12mo
279
33 still open

Most reported crimes

All Other Offenses50
Thefts47
Other Assaults20
Vandalism/Criminal Mischief14
Motor Vehicle Theft12
Theft from Vehicle10

Top 311 complaints

Rubbish/Recyclable Material Collection71
Maintenance Complaint38
Salting36
Construction Complaints18
Illegal Dumping18
Shoveling16

Philadelphia Police incident reports and 311 service requests within 200m, trailing 12 months. Reported location, not necessarily where an incident occurred.

Schools

The public schools this block is zoned for — its official School District of Philadelphia catchments.

Elementary & Middle · K-8
George W Childs
1599 Wharton St · 443 students
High · 9-12
South Philadelphia HS
2101 S Broad St · 647 students

Catchment assignments from the School District of Philadelphia via City of Philadelphia open data. Confirm with the District before enrollment decisions.

What it's worth, and where taxes are going

Median assessed value · 2016–2027

$0$125K$250K$202K2016: $73K2017: $73K2018: $73K2019: $82K2020: $88K2021: $88K2022: $88K2023: $167K2024: $167K2025: $185K2026: $185K2027: $202K2016202020232027

▲ +175% since 2016

Estimated property tax · per home, per year

$0$2,500$5,000$2,8252016: $1,0262017: $1,0262018: $1,0262019: $1,0262020: $1,2362021: $1,2362022: $1,2362023: $2,3402024: $2,3402025: $2,5912026: $2,5912027: $2,8252016202020232027

▲ +175% since 2016 · ~+10%/yr

3
3 properties on this block carry a tax abatement or major exemption. New construction and gut rehabs get the improvement value exempted for up to 10 years, so their tax bills sit far below their real value — block-wide, exemptions keep about $17,310 a year off the tax roll. Read the tax figures with that in mind.

Who really pays — effective tax rate, one dot per home

1.40% — the statutory rate0%0.4%0.8%1.2%
$2,175pays now $6,611at the full rate

1529 S 21st St is assessed at $472K but pays $2,175 a year — about 33% of the $6,611 it would owe at the statutory rate, because its new-construction value is abated.

The block as an asset

Read like a financial asset, this block has beaten the Philadelphia market, compounding +9.6% a year against the city's 6.5%.

Indexed performance · this block vs. the Philadelphia market

9510050020162019202220252027This block 275 Philadelphia 201

Rebased to 100 in 2016, like a stock against its index. $100 in the typical home here would be worth $275 today versus $201 across Philadelphia — this block outpaced the market.

Annualized return
+9.6%/yr
price, since 2016
Total appreciation
+175%
since 2016
Net rental yield
est., after tax carry
Total return
+9.6%/yr
price + net rent
Real return
+6.6%/yr
after ~3% inflation
vs. Philadelphia
+3.1 pts
market 6.5%/yr

Return is from assessed-value history (a proxy for market price, lumpy in reassessment years); rental yield is estimated from ACS area rents. Informational only, not investment advice.

How often it changes hands

This block has recorded 17 arm's-length sales since 2001. The typical home has sold 1 time in that window, while 9 have not changed hands at all.

Every recorded sale · price & date

$0$250K$500K20052010201520202025
17arm's-length sales since 2001
1times the typical home has sold
4most sales for a single property
9homes never sold in the window

Who owns it

Ownership of 19 parcels

Owner-occupied: 14Investor / LLC: 1Absentee individual: 4 19parcels
  • Owner-occupied 14
  • Investor / LLC 1
  • Absentee individual 4

Value distribution today

16 parcels0 parcels0 parcels0 parcels1 parcels0 parcels2 parcels
$202K$325K+

The block's largest owner, City Wide Offer Llc, carries 4 open violations across 7 properties it owns around the city.

OwnerOn blockOwns citywidePortfolio valueSource
City Wide Offer Llc17$994Kphila.gov ↗
Best Of Philadelphia Llc12$397Kphila.gov ↗

House by house

All 19 homes on the block — value and 12-year trajectory, ownership, and the paper trail on the ones that were bought, built, torn down, or flipped. Sorted up the street; each links to its full city record — or download the roster (CSV).

Every house's assessed value, 2016–2027 — each line is one home

$0$250K$500K201620182020202220242026Block median
Each houseNew build / flipBlock median

Worth a look

AddressOwnershipValue & trendBd/BaSq ftBuiltSalesFlags
1509 S 21ST ST 3 L&I violations (2008). Absentee individual $202K 3/1 1,058 1920 0 tax lien
1511 S 21ST ST Owner pulled a plumbing permit in 2008. Owner-occupied $202K 3/1 1,058 1920 0 tax lien
1513 S 21ST ST Owner-occupied $208K 3/1 1,136 1920 0 tax lien
1515 S 21ST ST Bought for $83K in 2017, built new under a 2017 permit (tax-abated), sold for $257K in 2018. Owner-occupied $325K 2/2 1,136 1920 2 abatedtax lien
1517 S 21ST ST L&I violation (2009). Owner-occupied $202K 3/1 1,058 1920 0
1519 S 21ST ST Bought for $40K in 2001, major alteration permit in 2012, sold for $212K in 2017 (+430%). Owner-occupied $279K 2/2 1,114 1920 4
1521 S 21ST ST 2 L&I violations incl UNSAFE STRUCTURE (2025); sold $145K (2026). Owner-occupied $202K 3/1 1,058 1920 1 2 viol
1523 S 21ST ST Absentee individual $202K 3/1 1,058 1920 1 rented
1525 S 21ST ST Bought for $150K in 2017. Owner pulled a make safe permit for rp permit in 2026. Absentee individual $202K 3/1 1,058 1920 2 rented3 viol
1527 S 21ST ST Bought for $152K in 2018. Owner pulled a make safe permit for rp permit in 2026. Investor / LLC $219K 3/1 1,068 1920 1 3 viol
1529 S 21ST ST Bought for $140K in 2018, built new under a 2018 permit (tax-abated), sold for $380K in 2020. Owner-occupied $472K 3/3 1,545 1920 2 abatedtax lien
1531 S 21ST ST Owner-occupied $202K 3/1 1,058 1920 0 abated
1533 S 21ST ST built new under a 2007 permit, sold for $75K in 2025. Owner-occupied $202K 3/1 1,058 1920 1 tax lien
1535 S 21ST ST Owner pulled a alterations permit in 2024. Owner-occupied $202K 3/1 1,058 1920 0
1537 S 21ST ST Owner pulled a plumbing permit in 2019. Absentee individual $202K 3/1 1,058 1920 0 rented
1539 S 21ST ST Bought for $165K in 2022, addition and/or alteration permit in 2022, sold for $330K in 2024 (+100%). Owner-occupied $210K 3/1 1,170 1920 2 tax lien
1541 S 21ST ST Owner-occupied $202K 3/1 1,058 1920 0
1543 S 21ST ST Owner pulled a alterations permit in 2021. Owner-occupied $202K 3/1 1,058 1920 0
1545 S 21ST ST Bought for $9K in 2001. Owner pulled a alterations permit in 2020. Owner-occupied $202K 3/1 1,058 1920 1 tax lien

Neighborhood

Neighborhood income and demographics are coming soon.

Generated 2026-07-08 from public City of Philadelphia records  ·  Download this block's data (CSV)

Where this comes from

City datasets are fetched live from OpenDataPhilly (phl.carto.com) and cached briefly. AI-written passages are generated from these records only and rejected if they state a number the record doesn't hold.