560,745 people (2024 Census estimate, +4.8% since 2020)
751 square miles of land · 747 people per square mile
“Highest” and “lowest” are just order, not grades: a high rank for poverty or hazard losses means more of it. Each figure's source is in its section below.
67 active community water systems list Chester County in the area they serve, reporting 257,255 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| PA AMERICAN ROYERSFORD surface water · private · PA1150166 | 49,508 served |
| AQUA PA WEST CHESTER surface water · private · PA1150098 | 48,600 served |
| PA AMERICAN COATESVILLE surface water · local government · PA1150106 | 36,960 served |
| AQUA PA UWCHLAN buys surface water · private · PA1150035 | 35,518 served |
| PHOENIXVILLE WATER DEPT surface water · local government · PA1150077 | 16,599 served |
| DOWNINGTOWN WATER AUTHORITY surface water · local government · PA1150026 | 9,900 served |
| AQUA PA FRIENDSHIP groundwater · private · PA1150137 | 8,800 served |
| AQUA PA SPRING RUN buys surface water · private · PA1150089 | 8,151 served |
Source: U.S. EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), active community systems, . Look up any system's violations and test results with EPA's search using its ID.
About 713 people were held in Chester County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2024), or 203 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2019 it was about 841.
Source: Vera Institute of Justice, Incarceration Trends (built from federal Bureau of Justice Statistics jail surveys). Counties without their own jail, or that share one, may show no figure.
12 school districts have their office in Chester County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $276.3 million — $235.9 million to run schools, about $17,865 per student, plus $23 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $211.7 million local (mostly property tax), $60 million state, $5.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $77.5 million.
Spent $276.4 million — $230.8 million to run schools, about $19,007 per student, plus $20.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $238.8 million local (mostly property tax), $49.7 million state, $7.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $260.5 million.
Spent $168.1 million — $145.5 million to run schools, about $21,106 per student, plus $9.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $142.5 million local (mostly property tax), $26.1 million state, $2.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $91.8 million.
Spent $118.7 million — $104.7 million to run schools, about $19,299 per student, plus $5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $101.1 million local (mostly property tax), $26.6 million state, $4 million federal. Long-term debt: $101.8 million.
Spent $201.6 million — $167.9 million to run schools, about $31,096 per student, plus $7.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $141.3 million local (mostly property tax), $61.5 million state, $13.2 million federal. Long-term debt: $182.2 million.
Spent $131.7 million — $87.4 million to run schools, about $17,329 per student, plus $31.8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $70.1 million local (mostly property tax), $36.3 million state, $4.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $121.8 million.
Spent $149.3 million — $101.6 million to run schools, about $21,596 per student, plus $39.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $106.3 million local (mostly property tax), $17.8 million state, $2.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $74.6 million.
Spent $100.6 million — $87.2 million to run schools, about $21,605 per student, plus $4.9 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $90.7 million local (mostly property tax), $20.5 million state, $4.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $121.6 million.
And 4 more.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Annual Survey of School System Finances. Districts are listed by the county of their main office; some serve neighboring counties too.
Source: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025 (University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute), which gathers federal data (CDC, Census, and others); measures cover different recent years. Blank lines aren't reported for small counties.
Overall risk: Relatively Moderate compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Chester County about $172.6 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very High; social vulnerability: Very Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
682 bridges in Chester County: 175 in good condition, 417 fair, and 90 poor (13.2%). “Poor” means a main part — the deck, the beams, or the supports — is rated 4 or lower on the federal 0–9 scale. It doesn't mean unsafe to drive; unsafe bridges are closed.
| ROUTE 30 BY-PASS over CREEK RD BRANDYWINE CK. · built 1961 | 69,924 vehicles a day |
| POTTSTOWN PIKE over VALLEY CREEK · built 1954 | 36,125 vehicles a day |
| ROUTE 30 BY-PASS over WEST BR BRANDYWINE CREEK · built 1963 | 30,490 vehicles a day |
| PENNSYLVANIA AVE. over WHITE CLAY CREEK · built 1927 | 18,776 vehicles a day |
| LANCASTER AVENUE over EAST BR. BRANDYWINE CK. · built 1921 | 18,163 vehicles a day |
| BOOT ROAD over US ROUTE 202 · built 1968 | 17,834 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $139 million of work in Chester County in fiscal 2025, about $260 per resident — to the county, cities, schools, hospitals, nonprofits and others.
Source: USAspending.gov, grants by place of performance, fiscal 2025 (Oct. 2024 to Sept. 2025). Search it by county to see each award.
From Grants.gov: posted grants listing county governments as eligible, soonest deadline first; research-only and overseas programs left out; list updated 2026-10-13, refreshed weekly. 62 are open in all. Cities, towns, school districts and nonprofits have their own lists there.
Registration deadlines, early voting and polling places for Pennsylvania are on the federal site vote.gov, which links to the state's official election office.
The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Chester County come from the county's own records, which we haven't gathered — not gathered, never hidden. See what a full county site looks like, or ask to have Chester County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Pennsylvania: the state government and every county in Pennsylvania.
Nearby counties: Delaware County (19 mi) · Montgomery County (26 mi) · Lancaster County (27 mi) · New Castle County, DE (28 mi) · Cecil County, MD (30 mi) · Berks County (32 mi).