International migration helped Philadelphia's population tick up slightly between 2024 and 2025, per new Census Bureau data.

Why it matters: Immigration has been fueling growth in both the city and region for years, even as it declines nationwide.

The big picture: Population growth is slowing in most counties nationwide as immigration fell sharply in that period. This comes as the Trump administration tightens immigration enforcement.

🧮 By the numbers: Philadelphia County saw its population rise by 1,546 people between July 1, 2024 and July 1, 2025.

• 👋 Moving out: More than 9,700 domestic residents left Philly during that time.
• ✈️ Moving in: Roughly 7,220 people arrived here from other countries.
• 👶 Babies: The city saw 18,315 births over that year, netting a natural increase of nearly 4,000 compared to deaths.

Between the lines: The city's big problem is how to retain the residents it has — like families fleeing for schools in the suburbs.

• Case in point: Philly's population dropped by about 29,500 between 2020 and 2025, per the Census data.

📈 State of play: The Philly region as a whole saw a population bump of roughly 19,800 between 2024 and 2025.

• Same story: International migration was up more than 21,100, while domestic migration fell by 8,900.
• Worth noting: The data defines the region as stretching from Reading to Camden, New Jersey, and into parts of Maryland and Delaware.

Zoom out: International migration fell in nine out of 10 U.S. counties during that period, hitting the most populous areas the hardest.

• International migration plummeted about 55% — from about 2.8 million people to 1.3 million.

Yes, but: The U.S. overall still grew by 0.5% between 2024 and 2025.

Context: The Census' international migration data include both foreigners and Americans coming home from abroad, including military service members.

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Uber riders in Philly may notice a new item at the top of their receipt: Info about how Mayor Parker's new tax proposal on rideshares will "make your trips more expensive."

Why it matters: It's the latest move from Uber in its growing campaign to derail Parker's tax plan.

⚠️ State of play: The yellow-highlighted banner atop Uber receipts began popping up last week, a company spokesperson tells Axios.

• The banner includes a link to an Uber blog post explaining that Parker's $1-per-ride fee on rideshares in the city would be passed onto customers.

Uber also sent an email blast to riders last week, calling on them to contact the mayor and city legislators to share their concerns about the new fee.

• As of Monday, nearly 6,000 "notes of opposition" were sent to the city in response to that email blast, an Uber spokesperson tells Axios.

Catch up quick: Parker wants to use the fee to help pay for the school district's massive budget gap and other programs.

• The Parker administration still needs city legislators to sign off.

What we're watching: City Council is holding its first public town hall on Parker's budget tonight from 6-8pm at the Kroc Center in North Philly. It could be an early gauge of public sentiment on the rideshare fee.

• Uber is calling on people to attend the town hall to speak out, per the company's website.

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📜 Philly is partnering with Ancestry.com to digitize and index millions of historical records into a searchable online database.

• But the deal is fraught with questions about who controls those digital records — a debate playing out in an ongoing court fight over whether Ancestry can claim proprietary rights over publicly owned history. (Technical.ly)

🧹 Weekly mechanical street cleaning is back. The schedule, which kicked off yesterday, runs Monday through Thursday between 9am and 3pm in select neighborhoods.

• FYI: Drivers will begin receiving fines ($31) for not moving their cars on posted cleaning days starting April 13.

🚨 The latest effort to change Philly's resign-to-run rule has been shelved and will no longer appear on the May ballot.

• Councilmember Isaiah Thomas, who spearheaded the push to allow city officials running for state and federal office to keep their seats, said he didn't think it was the "right time" or the "right version" of the bill. (WHYY)

America's best tippers reside in Delaware, with diners leaving nearly 22% on average, per Toast data.

The big picture: Nationwide, tips at full-service restaurants averaged 19.2% in Q4 2025, the same as the previous quarter, per Toast's latest restaurant trends report.

Zoom in: Pennsylvanians tip a respectable 20% on average, while New Jersey leaves 18.6%.

The fine print: The report is based on data from restaurants using the Toast platform.

• Cash tips aren't included.

The bottom line: Tipping culture may be under scrutiny, but diners' habits are holding steady.