VacationSelector
The skyline over the Schuylkill, Philadelphia
PhiladelphiaThe skyline over the Schuylkill
The Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco
San FranciscoThe Golden Gate Bridge

Photos: Philadelphia by Trev W. Adams, Pexels License; San Francisco by Elijah Cobb, Pexels License.

Philadelphia or San Francisco?

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

  • prices
  • beaches
  • day trips

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

Choose San Francisco for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • food and drink
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on San Francisco’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, San Francisco 25: Philadelphia leads by 11 points.
Food & drink. Philadelphia 62, San Francisco 82: San Francisco leads by 20 points.
Culture & sights. Philadelphia 72, San Francisco 68: Philadelphia leads by 4 points.
Nightlife. Philadelphia 55, San Francisco 58: San Francisco leads by 3 points.
Nature & outdoors. Philadelphia 52, San Francisco 80: San Francisco leads by 28 points.
Day trips. Philadelphia 80, San Francisco 72: Philadelphia leads by 8 points.
Good for families. Philadelphia 68, San Francisco 66: Philadelphia leads by 2 points.
Getting around. Philadelphia 66, San Francisco 70: San Francisco leads by 4 points.
Shopping & style. Philadelphia 57, San Francisco 58: San Francisco leads by 1 points.
Affordability. Philadelphia 40, San Francisco 14: Philadelphia leads by 26 points.
Live music & performing arts. Philadelphia 72, San Francisco 76: San Francisco leads by 4 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Philadelphia 26, San Francisco 42: San Francisco leads by 16 points.
0255075100

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

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Philadelphia
57match

Wins on prices and beaches with your weighting.

San Francisco
59match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and food and drink 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
No seasea
15 hdaylight a day

San Francisco in July

22 °Cdaytime high
14 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
13 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
PhiladelphiaSan Francisco

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Philadelphia: 1991-2020 normals, Philadelphia International Airport (11.3 km from centre). San Francisco: 1981-2010 normals, Alameda Naval Air Station (9.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasurePhiladelphiaSan Francisco
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 m16 m
Main airportPhiladelphia International Airport (PHL)11 km from centre129 non-stop destinationsSan Francisco International Airport (SFO)18 km from centre142 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasurePhiladelphiaSan Francisco
City population1,603,797873,965
People per km²4,3391,455
Museums within 10 km5451
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10
Swim season, months above 21 °C-None

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Philadelphia or San Francisco 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. 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.