Welcome to West Chester ...
West Chester is located in Chester County<1> and is the County Seat for Chester County.
While we don't have a date for the founding of West Chester, you might consider that their post office opened in 1802.
A typical abbreviation for West Chester: W. Chester
From the Census Estimates for 2019, West Chester has a population of 20,036 people<2> (see below for details).
West Chester is 440 feet [134 m] above sea level.<3>.
Time Zone: West Chester lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time
Telephone area codes for West Chester: (610) and (484)<4>
Websites for West Chester ...
Official Website: www.west-chester.com/
Chamber of Commerce: www.greaterwestchester.com/
Population Details ...
Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, West Chester had an population of 20,036 people. This is an increase of 8.53% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 12.18% since the 2000 Census).
At the time of the 2010 Census, West Chester had a population of 18,461 people. This makes West Chester the county's most populous community.
The population of West Chester represents 0.15% of the population of Pennsylvania (which has 12,702,379 people), making it the state's 32nd most populous community.
With a 2010 count of 18,461 people, the population of West Chester increased 3.36% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 17,861 people).
More information can be found on the Census Page for West Chester.
Communities Also Named West Chester ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 7 communities that are also named West Chester - they are located in Iowa, Michigan, Ohio (2), South Carolina (2) and Virginia.
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for West Chester.
Communities near West Chester ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near West Chester.
- Wilmington
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilmington
- Wilmington is located in New Castle County (DE)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 70,376 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wilmington <5>
- Norristown
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norristown
- Norristown is located in Montgomery County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 34,323 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Norristown <5>
- Chester
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chester
- Chester is located in Delaware County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 33,692 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chester <5>
- Phoenixville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Phoenixville have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phoenixville
- Phoenixville is located in Chester County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 16,910 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Phoenixville <5>
- Coatesville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coatesville
- Coatesville is located in Chester County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 13,006 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Coatesville <5>
- Yeadon
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yeadon
- Yeadon is located in Delaware County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 11,489 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Yeadon <5>
- Darby
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darby
- Darby is located in Delaware County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 10,704 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Darby <5>
- Lansdowne
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lansdowne have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lansdowne
- Lansdowne is located in Delaware County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 10,641 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lansdowne <5>
- Collingdale
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Collingdale have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collingdale
- Collingdale is located in Delaware County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,781 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Collingdale <5>
- Downingtown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Downingtown have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Downingtown
- Downingtown is located in Chester County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,419 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Downingtown <5>
To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.
We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around West Chester. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for West Chester.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of West Chester. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around West Chester.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around West Chester. Our list includes 46 papers. See our Newspapers Page for West Chester.
TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for West Chester ...
Looking for more information about West Chester? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.
In addition to the Tourism page for West Chester, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for West Chester.
Adding West Chester to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of West Chester in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.
From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for West Chester was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<7>
From that list, the West Chester post office opened in 1802.
We also found West Chester in the book titled U.S. Post Offices (1803).
For more details, see References and Mentions for West Chester.
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for West Chester: www.west-chester.com/
The official website for Chester County: www.chesco.org/
The official website for State of Pennsylvania: https://www.pa.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If you're interested in how the shape of Pennsylvania's counties, including Chester, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <2> | Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for West Chester. |
| <3> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around West Chester - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <4> | Area code (484) is an overlay for area code (610). |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <7> | A copy of their list with background information can be found at: https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/ |