Carved from Chester County in 1789. Eight miles from Center City. Home to the Main Line's western edge, three of Pennsylvania's top-rated school districts, the country's longest-running trolley, and 576,000 people who quietly figured out the trick to living near Philadelphia without living in it.
Penn's three original counties were Philadelphia, Bucks, and Chester. By 1789 the lower part of Chester County had grown wealthy enough on Delaware River trade to demand its own seat. Delaware County was the result.
For most of the 1800s, the county's spine was the Delaware River. Marcus Hook, Chester, and Eddystone built a chain of shipyards, refineries, and steel mills that supplied two World Wars and made working-class fortunes. Sun Shipbuilding alone employed 35,000 people at its WWII peak. Scott Paper headquartered here. Boeing's helicopter division still does — the Vertol plant in Ridley Park has been turning out CH-47 Chinooks since 1962.
Inland from the river, the story was different. The Pennsylvania Railroad's "Main Line" ran a string of country estates and college campuses from Bryn Mawr through Wayne to Paoli. Swarthmore College opened in 1864. Haverford College opened a generation earlier. Villanova and Cabrini followed. By 1900 the western half of Delaware County had a college town in nearly every borough — and a SEPTA trolley running through most of them, still does, the longest continuously operating trolley network in the United States.
The river-town industries collapsed in the 1970s and 80s. Sun Shipbuilding closed in 1989. Marcus Hook's refineries went through bankruptcy after bankruptcy. The City of Chester lost half its population. Meanwhile the Main Line and the inland boroughs barely moved. Wayne, Bryn Mawr, Radnor, Swarthmore, Media, Havertown — these places stayed steady through every economic cycle the river towns absorbed.
That divide is still legible on the map. Delaware County contains Pennsylvania's most expensive zip codes (Wayne, Radnor) and some of its lowest-cost ones (Chester, Sharon Hill) inside thirty-five square miles. For buyers and investors that's an opportunity in disguise: the spread is wider here than in any other Philadelphia collar county, which means there's a price point and a lifestyle for almost any buyer.
Delaware County is unusual among collar counties: it has actual walkable downtowns. Media, Swarthmore, Wayne, Havertown, Lansdowne. Coffee, dinner, the dry cleaner — all on foot.
Tredyffrin-Easttown nearly straddles the Chester County line, but Radnor, Rose Tree Media, and Wallingford-Swarthmore are firmly DelCo and routinely rank in PA's top ten public districts.
SEPTA's Routes 101 and 102 — surface trolleys — connect Media and Sharon Hill to 69th Street, where you swap onto the Market-Frankford Line straight into Center City. A real transit option that's been running since 1907.
Most of DelCo is closer to Center City than most of Montgomery or Bucks. From Havertown you can be at 30th Street Station in 25 minutes. From Wayne, 35.
Boeing Helicopters in Ridley Park is the area's largest manufacturing employer. Crozer Health, the Penn Medicine network, and Villanova/Swarthmore/Haverford colleges round out a deep, recession-resistant payroll base.
You can buy a $200k starter rowhouse in Glenolden or a $2M Wayne estate inside the same county. That price spread is the secret feature: there's a way in for almost any budget.
Delaware County has 49 municipalities. These five are the most asked about — they cover the spread from Main Line wealth to walkable-borough family value.
State Street's restaurant row, the courthouse, the Trader Joe's that everybody drives to. Glen Providence Park, Rose Tree Media schools, and a SEPTA trolley straight to 69th Street.
Ranked #1 best place to live in DelCo. Swarthmore College's arboretum, the village's walkable Tudor center, the Wallingford-Swarthmore school district. People move here and don't leave.
Radnor School District, the Wayne Hotel, Christopher's, Paramour. Walkable downtown, SEPTA Paoli/Thorndale rail, and prices that prove geography is a value-add.
Rowhouses, twins, and detached singles in a county otherwise dominated by extremes. Family-buyer staple. The "I work in the city but want a yard" answer.
Springfield School District, easy access to Blue Route (I-476), broad mix of housing types from twins to detached singles. Steady, friendly, and the price point that still works.
Stone-and-stucco originals on Wayne, Radnor, and Bryn Mawr lots. Often with carriage houses, original woodwork, and tax bills to match.
Stone-and-stucco originals on Wayne, Radnor, and Bryn Mawr lots. Often with carriage houses, original woodwork, and tax bills to match.
The DelCo classic. Two-story stone or stucco twin, three-bed two-bath, original hardwood. Concentrated in Havertown, Springfield, Marple.
Smaller-scale rowhomes in Media, Lansdowne, parts of Havertown. The borough-living equivalent of a Center City townhouse, half the price.
Across Havertown, Springfield, Newtown Square, Drexel Hill. Real driveways, real basements, school-zone-driven pricing.
Eastern DelCo — Glenolden, Folcroft, Sharon Hill, Darby. The low end of the spread. House-hack territory, with strong local rental demand from Boeing and refinery workers.
55+ communities in Newtown Square, Aston, and Marple Township. Single-floor living, low-maintenance, with HOA picking up the snow and the lawn.
Tell us what you're looking for in Delaware County — Main Line estate, stone twin in a top school zone, walkable borough rowhouse, or a starter twin with rental yield — and we'll send you the listings worth seeing.
The county's range is so wide that knowing what's available across all five towns is genuinely useful. We've worked every corner of DelCo for years.
— Prosperity Real Estate & Investment Services