The 1990 Census provides data on Borough economic conditions and includes resident employment characteristics, levels and types of employment opportunities, and types and characteristics of commercial, institutional and industrial land use.

Resident Employment

Employment characteristics of Borough residents are reported in Table 9.  Of a total population of 18,041, the Census indicated that 10,163 were employed.  Slightly more than 40% were employed as general and professional workers in service industries. 1,383 residents were employed in education, a possible indication that a significant number of Borough residents comprise the nearly 3,000 University employees.  21.9% of the Borough worked in retail, the next significant employment category.  The industry employment characteristics closely resemble patterns among County residents, although a higher percentage reported employment in education and retail, and a lower percentage of Borough residents reported employment in manufacturing.

Table 9:  Resident Employment Characteristics

Borough Employers

Table 12 lists the nine (9) largest Borough employers, which represents 7,768 jobs or about half of the 14,000 to 15,000 people estimated to be employed in the Borough limits.  The estimates for major employers were prepared from Earned Income Tax (EIT) returns analyzed by Berkheimer Associates, Borough EIT collectors.  Using the same EIT data, Berkheimer also estimates that total Borough employment is 14,135, while the Borough estimates this number to be about 15,000.  This figure is based on Occupational Privilege Tax receipts collected from all full and part-time workers in the Borough.  As expected, West Chester University provides nearly 3,000 of these jobs, and Chester County Hospital and Chester County Courthouse providing nearly an additional 3,000 jobs.  Another major employer is Wyeth Ayerst Pharmaceutical, with 443 jobs; and the West Chester School District with 244.  The YMCA (467 jobs) and West Chester Borough government (238) may be slightly inflated due to part-time summer workers.

Table 10:  West Chester Employers [1]

Non-Residential Properties

Another measurement of Borough economic activity is represented by the land use and floor area inventory reported in Table 11, Commercial Properties.  This table was compiled by Planning Area from County tax assessment records, which report both land area and gross floor area by tax parcel for a variety of residential and non-residential land use categories.  (Some caution should be used in interpreting the floor area totals reported by the assessment date since it appears to have been estimated from building footprints and the number of floors.  As such, it may overestimate floor area of various uses.)

This analysis of commercial, institutional and industrial properties found that non-residential parcels account for 324 acres and nearly 4,000,000 square feet of floor area.  Largest in land area are the 13 parcels listed in educational land use, all of which are within the six residential Planning Areas used in this report.  The bulk of this land is represented by West Chester University and Henderson High School.

In terms of floor area, industrial uses, with nearly 750,000 square feet of floor area, represent 19% of the total commercial floor area in the Borough.  Most of this is in the southeast industrial district.  130 office parcels report over 700,000 s.f. of floor area and 124 “retail and restaurant” parcels report about 600,000 s.f. of floor area.  More than half of the total commercial space is within the Town Center and Commercial Service zoning districts represented by Planning Area 7, and in this area more than half of this space is represented by governmental, office and retail or restaurant uses.

Table 11:  Commercial Properties