As a part of DVRPC's long-range planning activities, the Commission is required to maintain forecasts with at least a 20-year horizon. DVRPC has updated forecasts through the horizon year of the 2050 Long-Range Plan. The 2050 Version 2.1 Population and Employment Forecasts (2050 Version 2.1, v2.1) were adopted by the DVRPC Board on May 22nd, 2025, replacing the v2.0 forecasts adopted on October 24, 2024. The v2.1 forecasts are a targeted update to the employment forecasts for the Philadelphia Planning Districts and TAZ level forecasts. Municipalities outside of Philadelphia and all County/Regional forecasts remain the same in this update.

The version 2 forecasts update the 2050 v1.0 forecasts with a new county-level age-cohort model and new base data from the 2020 Decennial Census, 2020 Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), and 2021 National Establishments Time Series (NETS). The age-cohort model calculates the future population for five-year age-sex cohorts using the 2020 Census base population and anticipated birth, death, and migration rates. These anticipated rates were developed using historic birth and death records from New Jersey and Pennsylvania state health department data, as well as historic net migration data, calculated from decennial census data. Employment forecasts were developed by multiplying population forecasts by a ratio of working age population to jobs, calculated from 2022 ACS and BEA data.

The municipal and TAZ forecasts use the growth factors from the v1.0 forecasts, scaled to the new county and regional population totals from the age-cohort model. While the forecast is not adopted at the transportation analysis zone (TAZ) level, it is allocated to these zones for use in DVRPC's travel demand model, and conforms to municipal/district level adopted totals. This data provides TAZ-level population and employment. Other travel model attributes are available upon request.

DVRPC has prepared regional- and county-level population and employment forecasts in five-year increments for years 2020-2050. 2019 land use model results are also available. For more information on the forecasting process and methodologies, please refer to the 2050 Population and Employment Forecasts, Version 2.1 Update Analytical Data Report: https://www.dvrpc.org/reports/26105.pdf