32,323 people (2024 Census estimate, +0.1% since 2020)
581 square miles of land · 56 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.
1 active community water system list Chester County in the area they serve, reporting 15,668 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| CHESTER METROPOLITAN DISTRICT (1220002) surface water · private · SC1220002 | 15,668 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 75 people were held in Chester County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2021), or 375 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2016 it was about 80.
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.
1 school district has its office in Chester County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $82.6 million — $74.3 million to run schools, about $15,581 per student, plus $7.7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $34.2 million local (mostly property tax), $43.3 million state, $14.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $200,000.
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 Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Chester County about $10.8 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Moderate; social vulnerability: Relatively High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
191 bridges in Chester County: 68 in good condition, 103 fair, and 20 poor (10.5%). “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.
| I-77 NB over ROCKY CREEK · built 1979 | 24,350 vehicles a day |
| SC 72 over SOUTH FORK CREEK · built 1929 | 6,100 vehicles a day |
| US 21 over ROCKY CREEK · built 1938 | 4,700 vehicles a day |
| US 21 over FISHING CREEK · built 1937 | 4,600 vehicles a day |
| S-12-482 over TAN YARD BRANCH · built 1973 | 850 vehicles a day |
| S-12-557 over ROCKY CREEK · built 1968 | 800 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $9.3 million of work in Chester County in fiscal 2025, about $287 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 South Carolina 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 South Carolina: the state government and every county in South Carolina.
Nearby counties: York County (19 mi) · Fairfield County (20 mi) · Union County (26 mi) · Lancaster County (26 mi) · Cherokee County (35 mi) · Newberry County (37 mi).