Best PlacesChester County, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Chester County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Chester County ranks 12th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $141,493, wages outrun the cost of living, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are childcare costs, state infrastructure, and property taxes.
The best neighborhoods in Chester County
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
The best areas in Chester County
The parts of Chester County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Phoenixville, Spring City & Wayne
More adults hold degrees, more households have young kids, and biking is better.
West Chester & Malvern
Schools score higher, though homes cost more.
Pottstown, Chester Springs & Glenmoore
Local pay stretches further and incomes run higher.
Downingtown & Exton
Scores close to Pottstown, Chester Springs & Glenmoore, except that it is noisier here.
Kennett Square
Oxford, West Grove & Lincoln University
Tree cover is thinner and prices have run up more.
Honey Brook & Elverson
Health outcomes score lower and streets are more car-dependent.
Coatesville
Fewer residents vote and health care is harder to reach.
Scores across Chester County run from about the 15th to the 100th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Chester County's strengths and weaknesses
Chester County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Health care access is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. What local pay buys and high incomes follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Childcare costs, state infrastructure, and property taxes hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Chester County ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of counties
- Household income$141,493 median, better than 99% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of counties
Where Chester County ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,310 a month, better than only 6% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 14% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 16% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 16% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 23% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Chester County
A household needs to earn about $142,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Chester County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $141,493; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Chester County's effective rate of 1.27%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Chester County
Chester County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Chester County.
Who works in Chester County, and how
Work in Chester County centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 70%
- Work from home 24%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Chester County
Chester County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 69% of counties and more parkland per resident than 70% of counties. The coast is about 52 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Chester County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Chester County growing, and who is moving in?
Chester County has grown about 9% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Philadelphia, PA metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Chester County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Chester County, month by month
Chester County sees roughly 87 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 32° | 25° |
| April | 64° | 52° | 43° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 67° | 56° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Chester County
The nearest airport, New Castle, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 25 miles away.
The best schools in and around Chester County
Schools across Chester County average an A−, better than 96% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Valley Forge El SchA+ · 98% proficient
- New Eagle El SchA+ · 98% proficient
- Beaumont El SchA+ · 98% proficient
Top middle schools
- Valley Forge MsA+ · 90% proficient
- Tredyffrin-easttown MsA+ · 85% proficient
- Charles F Patton MsA+ · 84% proficient
Top high schools
- Downingtown Stem AcademyA+ · 98% proficient
- Spring-ford Shs 9-12 CtrA+ · 98% proficient
- Unionville HsA+ · 94% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Chester County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Chester County measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Chester County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Chester County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 99% of counties and 24% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Chester County
Is Chester County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Chester County ranks 12th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on health care access, what local pay buys, and high incomes, and lowest on childcare costs and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Chester County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $508,625. The overall cost of living runs about 3% above the national average. Set against a $141,493 median income, cost of living beats 99% of counties.
Is Chester County safe?
Yes, Chester County is safer than 89% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $206 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Chester County?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 41 with lows near 25. That works out to about 87 pleasant days a year, more than 48% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Chester County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Phoenixville, Spring City & Wayne, West Chester & Malvern, and Pottstown, Chester Springs & Glenmoore. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Chester County good for families?
Schools beat 96% of counties, crime safety beats 89%, and childcare runs $1,310 a month.
Is Chester County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 99% of counties, though advertised internet speeds beat only 60% of counties. About 24% of workers already work from home.
Compare Chester County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Chester County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Chester County represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Chester County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Chester County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Chester County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Chester County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Chester County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Chester County detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.