United States · Pennsylvania · Philadelphia
FDC Philadelphia
Data is aggregated from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date. Always verify with primary sources before acting on any figure. See data sources.
For families
How to send mail, money, and visit FDC Philadelphia
Step-by-step guidance using the United States system — addresses, money services, visit booking, what to bring on your first visit.
Gallery
From Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA where not otherwise stated).
Photo by NMGiovannucci via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Photo by Federal Bureau of Prisons/Agencia Federal de Prisiones via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Photo by Federal Bureau of Prisons, an agency of the U.S. Department of Justice via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Photo by Beyond My Ken via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Photo by Beyond My Ken via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
FDC Philadelphia is a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as a federal prison. It has an average daily population of about 98 (FY2026 ICE data).
Background
The Federal Detention Center, Philadelphia (FDC Philadelphia or FDC Philly) is a federal prison in the Center City neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It mostly holds pretrial male and female inmates as well as inmates serving brief sentences or those that are being transported to another prison within the federal prison system. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. The jail, across from the William J. Green Jr. Federal Building, is on a 1-acre (0.40 ha) site the southwest corner of Arch Street and 7th Street, across from the African American Museum in Philadelphia and in the Independence Mall area.
Source: Wikipedia article lead, CC-BY-SA.
Capacity
740
Current population
98
Occupancy
13%
Year opened
2000
Operational
Figures from official sources · verified 7 Jul 2026 · methodology
Facility profile
Operator
Federal Bureau of PrisonsPopulation held
mixed
Opened
2000
Region
Pennsylvania
Security level
Maximum
Death-row facility
No
Conditions
BOP-operated facility; conditions reports issued by the DOJ Office of Inspector General on a multi-year cycle.
Visiting
Visiting days and hours are set by the Warden and vary by housing unit; consult the facility's official visiting regulations for the current schedule. All visitors must be on the inmate's approved visitor list (submitted on BOP form BP-A0629) and present government-issued photo ID. Dress-code and contraband restrictions apply — review the visiting regulations before arriving. Call 215-521-4000 to confirm hours before your visit. Full regulations: https://www.bop.gov/locations/institutions/phl/
Mailing
Address mail to: [Inmate Name & Register Number], FDC Philadelphia, P.O. BOX 562, Philadelphia, PA 19105. No cash, staples, or metal fasteners. Books must be sent directly from a publisher or approved retailer. Photos must not be Polaroid and may not exceed limits set by policy. Money orders payable to the inmate's name and register number; or use Western Union QuickCollect to the BOP Trust Fund. TRULINCS (CorrLinks) provides email where the inmate has subscribed.
Practical info
Inmate funds via Western Union QuickCollect to the BOP Trust Fund (receiver: inmate name, prisoner ID, BOP Trust Fund). Email service via CorrLinks where the inmate has subscribed.
Known issues
Notable inmates
Bill Cosby (briefly, 2018 sentencing).
Contact & address
Conditions Risk Score
Derived signal — not a judgement. How it's calculated
- Overcrowding
- 0/30
- Oversight reports
- 0/30
- Structural flags
- 0/15
- Death signals
- 0/15
- Conditions text
- 0/10
This facility scores 0. The national average across 7,437 scored United States facilities is 2 — 2 points below national average.
Related facilities
Same country, matched on type + security level where possible.
- Berlin Federal Correctional InstitutionBerlinFederal Prison (BOP contract)
- Brooklyn MDCBrooklynFederal Prison (BOP contract)
- Honolulu Federal Detention CenterHonoluluFederal Prison (BOP contract)
- Leavenworth US PenitentiaryLeavenworthFederal Prison (BOP contract)
- Miami Federal DetentionMiamiFederal Prison (BOP contract)
- Usp HazeltonBruceton MillsMaximumFederal prison129% occupancy
Compared to other facilities in United States
7436 peersHigher risk than 0% of peer facilities in United States.
Data completeness
100%How many of our profile fields are populated. We surface this so families and researchers know the limits.
Sources
- List of immigrant detention sites in the United States — Wikipedia
- Wikipedia — Wikimedia Foundation
- HIFLD Prison Boundaries — US Department of Homeland Security â HIFLD Open Data
- Federal Bureau of Prisons â Locations — US Department of Justice
- List of immigrant detention sites in the United States — Wikipedia — Wikipedia / U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
- US Federal Bureau of Prisons â locations directory — US Department of Justice
- Wikidata (Q5440192)
- Wikipedia
- Wikimedia Commons
- See /data-sources for our overall methodology.
Cite this page
Under CC-BY-4.0. Include the URL and access date; the site is a living reference and entries can change.
World Prisons. (2026). FDC Philadelphia. Retrieved October 28, 2026, from https://worldprisons.com/prisons/fdc-philadelphia
"FDC Philadelphia." World Prisons. Accessed October 28, 2026. https://worldprisons.com/prisons/fdc-philadelphia.
@misc{worldprisons-fdc-philadelphia,
author = {{World Prisons}},
title = {FDC Philadelphia},
year = {2026},
url = {https://worldprisons.com/prisons/fdc-philadelphia},
urldate = {2026-10-28}
}