VacationSelector
The skyline over the Schuylkill, Philadelphia
PhiladelphiaThe skyline over the Schuylkill
Hawthorne Bridge and downtown, Portland
PortlandHawthorne Bridge and downtown

Photos: Philadelphia by Trev W. Adams, Pexels License; Portland by Cacophony, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Philadelphia or Portland?

Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.

Choose Philadelphia for

  • culture and sights
  • day trips
  • live music and the arts

What lies behind each score is written up on Philadelphia’s own page.

Choose Portland for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • wellness
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Portland’s own page.

Scoreboard

Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.

Beaches & swimming. Philadelphia 36, Portland 20: Philadelphia leads by 16 points.
Food & drink. Philadelphia 62, Portland 68: Portland leads by 6 points.
Culture & sights. Philadelphia 72, Portland 38: Philadelphia leads by 34 points.
Nightlife. Philadelphia 55, Portland 52: Philadelphia leads by 3 points.
Nature & outdoors. Philadelphia 52, Portland 84: Portland leads by 32 points.
Day trips. Philadelphia 80, Portland 58: Philadelphia leads by 22 points.
Good for families. Philadelphia 68, Portland 55: Philadelphia leads by 13 points.
Getting around. Philadelphia 66, Portland 62: Philadelphia leads by 4 points.
Shopping & style. Philadelphia 57, Portland 52: Philadelphia leads by 5 points.
Affordability. Philadelphia 40, Portland 38: Philadelphia leads by 2 points.
Live music & performing arts. Philadelphia 72, Portland 55: Philadelphia leads by 17 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Philadelphia 26, Portland 42: Portland leads by 16 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Philadelphia and Portland.

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Philadelphia
Best match
57match

Wins on culture and sights and day trips with your weighting.

Portland
52match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and wellness with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Philadelphia in July

31 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
111 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Portland in July

27 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
13 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
PhiladelphiaPortland

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Philadelphia: 1991-2020 normals, Philadelphia International Airport (11.3 km from centre). Portland: 1991-2020 normals, Portland International Airport (9.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasurePhiladelphiaPortland
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-5, UTC-4 in summerUTC-8, UTC-7 in summer
Emergency number911911
Elevation12 m152 m
Main airportPhiladelphia International Airport (PHL)11 km from centre129 non-stop destinationsPortland International Airport (PDX)10 km from centre88 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasurePhiladelphiaPortland
City population1,603,797652,503
People per km²4,3391,736
Museums within 10 km5417
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Philadelphia or Portland somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Rainfall where no rain gauge is within 25 km is from the TerraClimate 1991-2020 climatology (Abatzoglou et al. 2018, Scientific Data), read at the city. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. Non-stop route lists from the "Airlines and destinations" tables on English Wikipedia airport articles, by Wikipedia contributors, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Currency from the ISO 4217 register maintained by SIX, cross-checked against country data from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Price level from World Bank open data (PPP conversion factor for private consumption and official exchange rate), CC BY 4.0. Time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); clock offsets computed from the IANA time zone database. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.