Best PlacesChester County, SC 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. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Chester County ranks 2,701st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores best on tree cover, and long commutes are the weak spot.
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.
Chester County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Chester County ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 89% of counties
- Cheap childcare$581 a month, better than 74% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 72% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 71% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 71% of counties
Where Chester County ranks low
- Short commute31.6 minutes each way, better than only 10% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 13% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 15% of counties
- Household income$54,509 median, better than only 15% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 16% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Chester County
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Chester County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $54,509, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 0.57%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Chester County
Chester County runs older than the country.
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 manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Chester County
Chester County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 66% of counties. 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 held roughly flat in population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Charlotte, NC 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 91 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 43° | 35° |
| April | 73° | 61° | 50° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 70° |
| October | 74° | 63° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Chester County
Charlotte/Douglas International sits about 36 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 25.9 million passengers in 2025, with 213 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Chester County
Schools across Chester County average a C−, better than 25% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Academy For Teaching And LearningC− · 30% proficient
- Lewisville ElementaryD · 20% proficient
- Chester Park Elementary School For The ArtsD · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lewisville MiddleC · 35% proficient
- South MiddleD · 20% proficient
- Chester MiddleD− · 15% proficient
Top high schools
- Lewisville HighA− · 60% proficient
- Chester Senior HighB− · 45% proficient
- Great Falls HighC+ · 35% 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
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 6% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Chester County
Is Chester County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Chester County ranks 2,701st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on tree cover, affordable childcare, and low property taxes, and lowest on long commutes and biking. 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 $158,445. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $54,509 median income, cost of living beats 16% of counties.
Is Chester County safe?
Chester County is safer than 15% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $639 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Chester County?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 52 with lows near 35. That works out to about 91 pleasant days a year, more than 53% of counties.
Is Chester County good for families?
Schools beat 25% of counties, crime safety beats 15%, and childcare runs $581 a month.
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.