Chester County draws in business, but people struggle to afford to live there, an analysis finds

Standing in front of Chester County business and corporate leaders, financial expert Patti Brennan asked them to rank how they were feeling about the economy.

“If you’re feeling a little worried, you’re uneasy, welcome to America, you’re not alone. This is the way Americans are generally feeling right now; the consumer sentiment is low,” she told them. She pointed to the instability that dominated the country last year: tariffs, the longest government shutdown in history, international unrest.

There are signs of stress: people are not paying their bills on time, delaying payments on car loans, credit card bills, and student loans.

But it’s not all bad news. Brennan and financial expert Dianne P. Manges, senior investment adviser with Truist Foundations & Endowments Practice, advised the business community not to act based on chaos.

The analysis was part of the Chester County Economic Development Council’s 22nd annual economic outlook, which offers assessments of the local, national, and global economic landscape.

Here are some of the takeaways from the conversation.

An expected $517 billion nationally will come to consumers through tax refunds this year — a 44% increase from last year, Manges said. It’s a bigger boost than the second round of stimulus checks issued in December 2020, she said.

“Two things to remember about all of us here as consumers: No. 1, we are about 68% of the economy,” in terms of gross domestic product, she said. “And No. 2, we’re Americans. When we have extra money in our wallets, we spend it.”

It’s important to be mindful of whether those positive themes are applicable to everyone, she said, noting that people with lower incomes are struggling. A majority of people making a lower income will still benefit from those tax return refunds, she said.

“People will be feeling warm and fuzzy when they get those tax returns,” Brennan said.

Pennsylvania is the only state in the Northeast showing expansion, said Michael Grigalonis, president of the economic development council. Nationally, the commonwealth was second behind Texas in job growth in the year between November 2024 and November 2025, with roughly 97,000 jobs created during that period.

Half of the jobs were created in one industry: healthcare, Grigalonis said. “We’re one of the oldest states; we have one of the most aging populations,” he said.

Broadly, Manges and Brennan said that companies aren’t hiring, but they aren’t firing large-scale, either.

In Chester County, the unemployment rate is below the federal level, Brennan said.

Chester County is a place people want to live, work, and raise families. But it’s tough to afford it.

Chester County has the fourth-largest GDP in the commonwealth, Grigalonis said. (It rang in at $57.3 billion in 2023, behind Philadelphia, Allegheny, and Montgomery Counties) and it boasts the highest median income in the state, with 43% of households in the county earning more than $150,000 annually, Brennan said.

But even with that, housing is an issue — both cost and availability, she said. The average cost of a home in Chester County is $500,000, above the state average of roughly $300,000.

“It is not affordable, and we all know that,” Brennan said. “It’s a challenge for so many people. … Inventory is increasing, but it’s really limited overall.”

The county saw the some of highest population growth in the state between 2020 and 2024.

“This population growth comes with its own set of challenges, but I will take these challenges to many of our colleagues throughout the commonwealth, [who] are struggling to get people to move into their communities, to provide a talented workforce that can help companies grow,” Grigalonis said.

Still, more people are living outside of Chester County and commuting in, Brennan said — mostly because they can’t afford to live within the county boundaries.