Chester County’s population is growing faster – with an increase of 3.9 percent between 2010 and 2017, according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau population estimates – than that of any other county in Greater Philadelphia, write Jonathan Lai and Laura McCrystal for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Since 2010, 15 municipalities have grown in population by at least 10 percent, and nine of them are in Chester County. Having grown from 6,771 residents in 2010 to 8,486 in 2017, East Brandywine Township’s 25.3 percent increase in population is the largest for any municipality in the region.

According to Ben Gruswitz, a senior planner with the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, Chester County has a relatively young population – with far more births than deaths per year – and is attracting international migration.

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“It’s probably cheaper to build and there’s space to do it,” Gruswitz said. “It becomes a more obvious choice for developers to look for subdivisions that they could put in when it’s just greenfield development.”

Scott Piersol, East Brandywine’s township manager, said the township’s growth is likely to continue with three new developments.

Ed Gomez, a local realtor with Coldwell Banker, told the Inquirer that families like the “outlying areas” so they can “spread their wings a little bit.”

Click here to read more about the region’s population changes in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

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