Bucks County vs Philadelphia County

Two neighbouring counties in Pennsylvania, compared on population, size, income and housing. They share 11 mi of border.

Bucks County

Pennsylvania

Both outlines are drawn at true relative size. Bucks County spans about 69.2 km at its widest.

Side by side

Bucks County, Pennsylvania and Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania on shared measures. The middle column is the difference, computed from the two figures either side of it.
MeasureBucks CountyDifferencePhiladelphia County
Population647,828-58.8%1,574,281
Change since 20200.3%+2.0 pp-1.7%
Land area604.4 sq mi+350.0%134.3 sq mi
Population density1,072 per sq mi-90.9%11,720 per sq mi
Median household income$114,764+85.2%$61,953
Median home value$445,700+83.3%$243,100
Median age44.2+25.2%35.3
Households249,187-63.3%679,428
Housing units257,260-65.6%748,270

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates, released 29 January 2026; US Census Bureau, County Adjacency File, 2025 County Adjacency File, released 15 September 2025. The difference column is computed here: the first county's figure against the second, expressed as a percentage of the second. The change-since-2020 row is the exception: two growth rates differ in percentage points (pp), not percent. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

What the numbers say

  • Philadelphia County holds about 2.4 times the population of Bucks County: 1,574,281 against 647,828.
  • Bucks County covers more ground, at 604.4 square miles against 134.3.
  • Philadelphia County is the more crowded of the two, at 11,720 people per square mile against 1,072.
  • Median household income is higher in Bucks County, by 52,811 dollars a year.
  • Since 2020, Bucks County has grown by 0.3% and Philadelphia County has shrunk by 1.7%.
  • They share 11 mi of common border, which the Census Bureau publishes in its county adjacency file and which almost no other county reference presents.

Full pages

Want a different pair? Compare any two of the 3,144 US counties.

Rebuilt from source data 30 August 2026. How these figures are produced.