West Chester, Pennsylvania
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The Borough of West Chester is the county seat of Chester County, PennsylvaniaTemplate:GR.
Originally known as Turk's Head, West Chester is the hometown of decorated war veteran Smedley Butler and murdered terrorist hostage Nick Berg. Classical composer Samuel Barber was born in West Chester in 1910. Humor columnist Dave Barry got his start in journalism reporting for the borough's The Daily Local News. Professional skateboarder Bam Margera lives in the area and frequents Fairman's skate shop.
West Chester University of Pennsylvania and the headquarters of QVC are located here. West Chester was also the location of Commodore Business Machines (CBM), the operational headquarters of Commodore International. The MTV television series Jackass was filmed in and around the borough and Viva La Bam still is.
Geography
West Chester is located at 39°57'31" North, 75°36'18" West (39.958678, -75.605052)Template:GR. It is located 25 miles west of Philadelphia and 17 miles north of Wilmington, Delaware.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 4.8 km² (1.8 mi²). 4.8 km² (1.8 mi²) of it is land and none of the area is covered with water.
Demographics
As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there are 17,861 people, 6,265 households, and 2,662 families residing in the borough. The population density is 3,747.9/km² (9,703.3/mi²). There are 6,541 housing units at an average density of 1,372.6/km² (3,553.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the borough is 75.44% White, 17.08% African American, 0.31% Native American, 1.46% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 3.64% from other races, and 2.00% from two or more races. 8.94% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 6,265 households out of which 19.1% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 26.8% are married couples living together, 12.1% have a female householder with no husband present, and 57.5% are non-families. 35.3% of all households are made up of individuals and 7.8% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.31 and the average family size is 2.95.
In the borough the population is spread out with 13.4% under the age of 18, 37.7% from 18 to 24, 26.6% from 25 to 44, 13.3% from 45 to 64, and 9.0% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 25 years. For every 100 females there are 88.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 85.7 males.
The median income for a household in the borough is $37,803, and the median income for a family is $51,018. Males have a median income of $35,540 versus $30,819 for females. The per capita income for the borough is $19,073. 21.4% of the population and 9.8% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 17.5% of those under the age of 18 and 9.2% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.