Chester County, Pennsylvania: Diversifying Metro county. In 2024, voted D+14%. Republican peak: R+65 in 1928.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- D+14MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Diversifying MetroAkashic typology
- Population
- 547,8402024 5-year
- Median household income
- $127,2082024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 77.0%2024 5-year
- Black
- 5.2%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 8.4%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+17 in 2020MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+65 in 1928MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- DuPage County, IL · similarity 0.98
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Chester CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Chester County, with each precinct boundary colored by Democratic-vs-Republican margin.
—
Margin—
Turnout—
Harris +50Trump +50
Real precinct boundaries. Hover for vote totals.
presidential history
Presidential margin, 1876–2024
Democratic minus Republican, by election
| Year | Margin (D minus R) |
|---|---|
| 1876 | No data |
| 1880 | No data |
| 1884 | No data |
| 1888 | No data |
| 1892 | −15.8% |
| 1896 | −38.9% |
| 1900 | −36.4% |
| 1904 | −51.3% |
| 1908 | −32.1% |
| 1912 | +6.0% |
| 1916 | −16.0% |
| 1920 | −42.7% |
| 1924 | −55.6% |
| 1928 | −65.0% |
| 1932 | −40.9% |
| 1936 | −4.7% |
| 1940 | −11.3% |
| 1944 | −17.9% |
| 1948 | −32.8% |
| 1952 | −30.0% |
| 1956 | −40.6% |
| 1960 | −27.5% |
| 1964 | +8.6% |
| 1968 | −23.9% |
| 1972 | −39.2% |
| 1976 | −22.3% |
| 1980 | −32.3% |
| 1984 | −40.6% |
| 1988 | −34.9% |
| 1992 | −8.5% |
| 1996 | −7.7% |
| 2000 | −9.6% |
| 2004 | −4.5% |
| 2008 | +9.2% |
| 2012 | −0.2% |
| 2016 | +9.4% |
| 2020 | +17.1% |
| 2024 | +14.4% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D | 184,281 | 137,299 | 326,429 | ||
| D | 182,372 | 128,565 | 314,502 | ||
| D | 141,682 | 116,114 | 272,998 | ||
| R | 124,311 | 124,840 | 252,576 | ||
| D | 137,833 | 114,421 | 254,354 | ||
| R | 109,708 | 120,036 | 230,823 | ||
| R | 82,047 | 100,080 | 187,676 | ||
| R | 64,783 | 77,029 | 158,366 | ||
| R | 59,643 | 74,002 | 169,208 | ||
| R | 44,853 | 93,522 | 139,585 | ||
| R | 38,870 | 92,221 | 131,531 | ||
| R | 34,307 | 73,046 | 119,896 | ||
| R | 42,712 | 67,686 | 112,026 | ||
| R | 31,118 | 72,726 | 106,259 | ||
| R | 32,606 | 56,073 | 98,051 | ||
| D | 47,940 | 40,280 | 88,610 | ||
| R | 30,167 | 53,059 | 83,373 | ||
| R | 19,957 | 47,225 | 67,232 | ||
| R | 21,490 | 39,961 | 61,615 | ||
| R | 14,670 | 29,258 | 44,478 | ||
| R | 18,548 | 26,655 | 45,411 | ||
| R | 22,473 | 28,222 | 50,878 | ||
| R | 26,676 | 29,340 | 56,629 | ||
| R | 12,040 | 29,425 | 42,517 | ||
| R | 7,689 | 36,659 | 44,558 | ||
| R | 5,946 | 22,333 | 29,480 | ||
| R | 7,004 | 18,129 | 26,060 | ||
| R | 8,514 | 11,845 | 20,864 | ||
| O | 6,901 | 5,708 | 19,786 | ||
| R | 6,555 | 13,118 | 20,476 | ||
| R | 4,342 | 14,200 | 19,215 | ||
| R | 6,214 | 13,809 | 20,858 | ||
| R | 6,058 | 14,232 | 20,990 | ||
| R | 7,850 | 10,982 | 19,764 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
Irish
20.8%
German
18.8%
Italian
14.2%
English
12.8%
Polish
4.4%
American
3.2%
Scottish
2.0%
African American
4.2%
Multiple ancestry combinations reported; no single grouping above 1%.
American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander combined.
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release. Hispanic/Latino is an ethnicity that overlaps the race categories, so these shares can total more than 100%. Ancestry is a self-reported, multiple-response item; ancestry percentages do not sum to the parent race percentage.
2024 ACS
Age distribution by sex
Median age: 40.8 in this county, 39.1 nationally
Male
Age
Female
85+
75–84
65–74
55–64
45–54
35–44
25–34
18–24
5–17
<5
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Median household income
Inflation-adjusted dollars
$127,208
Chester County ranks in the top 0.5% of US counties.
Chester County$127,208
Pennsylvania$77,971
United States$80,734
Chester County ranks in the top 0.5% of US counties by median household income.
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
6.0%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 187.1%
Working age (18–64)5.5%
Seniors (65+)7.2%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
86.2%
speak English only
Spanish5.1%
Other Indo-European4.6%
Asian & Pacific Islander3.6%
Other languages0.5%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 48.0% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Once a reliably Republican suburban stronghold, Chester County has trended Democratic over the past decade as college-educated voters realigned, delivering a 14.5-point Democratic margin in 2024.
The Democratic margin here reached seventeen points in 2020. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved three points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was fourteen points.
A population of 547,840, a 77% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $127,208 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of DuPage County and Kane County.
Most similar counties
Compare two places, side by side
Twelve curated comparisons line up election history, demographics, and the divergence story for two places at a glance. Browse all comparisons →
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Chester County, Pennsylvania. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/42029/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More in Pennsylvania
More diversifying metro counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Chester County, Pennsylvania vote in 2024?
In 2024, Chester County, Pennsylvania voted Democratic by 14.4 points (D+14), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 326,429 votes cast, 184,281 went Democratic and 137,299 went Republican.
What is Chester County, Pennsylvania's political typology?
Akashic places Chester County, Pennsylvania in the "Diversifying Metro" typology — Mid-size metropolitan counties growing more diverse and trending Democratic. The typology is a data-driven cluster built from vote share, vote swing, race and ethnicity, income, language spoken at home, religion, and ancestry. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the county has voted Democratic 5 times, Republican 28 times, and other 1 times.
When did Chester County, Pennsylvania last vote Republican?
The most recent presidential election in which Chester County, Pennsylvania voted Republican was 2012.
How many people live in Chester County, Pennsylvania?
Chester County, Pennsylvania has a population of 547,840 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Chester County, Pennsylvania?
Median household income in Chester County, Pennsylvania is $127,208 — above the national median of $80,734. The Pennsylvania state median is $77,971.
What is the political history of Chester County, Pennsylvania?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Chester County, Pennsylvania from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 5 went Democratic and 28 went Republican. The county's typology — "Diversifying Metro" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.