Bucks County, Pennsylvania

Bucks County is a county in Pennsylvania, United States, about 25 miles north of Philadelphia,
along the Delaware River. It had a population of 646,538 at the 2020 census, an estimated 647,828
by 2025, and covers 622 square miles (1,611 km2) centred near 40°20′N 75°07′W.

Doylestown is the county seat; its postal code is 18901. The county holds 23 boroughs and 31
townships as its incorporated municipalities, plus 18 census-designated places and roughly 79
more named unincorporated communities with no local government of their own, and it runs on
Eastern Time. Its FIPS code is 42017.

Towns & Villages in Bucks County

Bucks County has 54 incorporated municipalities on record — 23 boroughs and 31
townships — plus 18 census-designated places (CDPs) that the Census Bureau tracks for
population but that carry no local government of their own. A further ~79 unincorporated place
names, mostly older crossroads hamlets and 20th-century subdivisions, appear in Bucks County
records with no population figures of their own; a selection is noted below the tables.

Bucks County also carries 18 census-designated places, statistical areas the Census Bureau
draws for data-gathering rather than legal jurisdictions:

Several places on this list share a name with a neighbor, and that is not a data error.
Pennsylvania boroughs are often carved out of the township that surrounds them and keeps the same
name: Bristol Borough (9,861) sits inside Bristol Township (54,291), Doylestown Borough (8,300,
the county seat) sits inside Doylestown Township (17,971), Newtown Borough (2,268) sits inside
Newtown Township (19,895), and New Britain Borough (2,836) sits inside New Britain Township
(12,327). Each pair is two separate, independently governed municipalities, not a duplicate
listing. Feasterville and Trevose are also worth noting together: both are CDPs inside Lower
Southampton Township, and both share the same 19053 post office, styled "Feasterville
Trevose" on mail.

ZIP Codes

Bucks County uses 67 ZIP codes in total — 40 standard delivery codes, 24 PO Box–only
codes, and 3 single-entity codes assigned to individual facilities. The largest, by population
served, are:

• 19020 — Bensalem (the county’s most populous ZIP)
• 19067 — Morrisville (also covers Falls Township and parts of Yardley)
• 18974 — Warminster
• 18951 — Quakertown
• 18966 — Southampton
• 19047 — Langhorne (also serves parts of Middletown Township)
• 18940 — Newtown
• 18901 — Doylestown (the seat’s main code)
• 19053 — Feasterville Trevose
• 18944 — Perkasie
• 18902 — Doylestown (a second Doylestown code)
• 18976 — Warrington
• 19007 — Bristol
• 18914 — Chalfont
• 19054–19058 — Levittown (the CDP spans five separate ZIPs)
• 18938 — New Hope
• 18960 — Sellersville
• 19030 — Fairless Hills
• 18954 — Richboro
• 19021 — Croydon

Most of the county’s biggest townships — Middletown, Northampton, Falls, Lower
Makefield and Lower Southampton among them — have no post office carrying their own name;
mail there is addressed to a neighboring city’s ZIP instead, which is why several codes
above cover more territory than their namesake town alone.

Geography

Bucks County straddles two landscape regions. Its southern third, between Philadelphia and
Trenton and often called Lower Bucks, lies in the Atlantic Coastal Plain: flat, near sea level,
and the county’s most populated and industrialized stretch. The rest of the county, Upper
and Central Bucks, sits in the Piedmont, rolling farmland cut by streams that drain toward the
Delaware. The Delaware River forms the county’s entire eastern border. Its two largest
tributaries inside the county are Tohickon Creek, which empties into the Delaware at Point
Pleasant, and Neshaminy Creek, which empties into it at Croydon in Bristol Township.

Montgomery County lies about 15 miles to the west, Philadelphia about 24 miles to the south,
Northampton County about 30 miles to the northwest, and Lehigh County also about 30 miles to the
northwest. Across the Delaware River, four New Jersey counties border Bucks by water and bridge:
Warren to the north, Hunterdon and Mercer to the east, and Burlington to the southeast. Montgomery County, Philadelphia County, Northampton County, Lehigh County, Warren County, Hunterdon County, Mercer County and Burlington County all border Bucks
directly.

Demographics

Bucks County had a population of 646,538 at the 2020 census, the fourth-highest of
Pennsylvania’s 67 counties, and the latest estimate puts it near 647,828 residents.
Bensalem Township (62,707) and Bristol Township (54,291) are the two largest communities,
together holding about 18 percent of the county’s population. Population density works out
to roughly 1,070 people per square mile of land, among the five most densely populated counties
in Pennsylvania. Median household income, weighted across the county’s ZIP codes, runs
about $118,603, well above Pennsylvania’s statewide median of $73,824. Income varies sharply
within the county: the wealthiest ZIP, 18977 (Washington Crossing), has a median of $211,719,
while the poorest, 19007 (Bristol), sits at $65,511 — a more than threefold gap between
places 12 miles apart.

Economy & Local Life

Bucks County’s economy runs from heavy industry along the Delaware to biotechnology
research in its center. Rohm and Haas operates chemical plants around Bristol, a legacy of the
borough’s and Morrisville’s roles as industrial centers on the Northeast Corridor
during World War II. Waste Management runs a landfill in Tullytown that is the largest single
receptacle of out-of-state waste in the United States, taking much of New York City’s trash
since the 1990s closure of the Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island. Bensalem Township is home to
Parx Casino and Racing, a thoroughbred track and casino built on the former Philadelphia Park
Racetrack grounds. The Greater Philadelphia region, with Bucks as a growing share of it, ranks
among the top ten U.S. biotech and biopharma clusters, and the county’s life-sciences sector
has expanded alongside neighboring Montgomery County’s. Doylestown holds Bucks County
Community College and three concrete buildings designed by tile-maker Henry Chapman Mercer: the
Mercer Museum, Fonthill, and the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works. New Hope hosts the Bucks County
Playhouse and the New Hope Railroad, a heritage tourist line. Peddler’s Village, in the
unincorporated community of Lahaska, has held its Strawberry Festival every May since 1969,
alongside a Grand Illumination lighting event each November.

History

William Penn created Bucks County in November 1682 as one of Pennsylvania’s three
original counties, naming it after Buckinghamshire, the English county where he had lived. Penn
built his country estate, Pennsbury Manor, in what is now Falls Township. Several Bucks County
place names trace directly to Buckinghamshire: Buckingham Township, named for that county’s
former county town; Chalfont, named for Chalfont St Giles, where Penn is buried; Solebury, named
for Soulbury; and Wycombe, named for High Wycombe. Bucks County was originally much larger than
today — Northampton County split off in 1752, and Lehigh County split off from Northampton
in 1812.

George Washington and his troops camped in Bucks County in late December 1776 while preparing
to cross the Delaware River and attack Hessian forces at Trenton. The crossing, on the night of
December 25–26, 1776, was a turning point in the Revolutionary War, and the community of
Washington Crossing and Washington Crossing Historic Park now mark the site.

Getting There

Interstate 95 and Interstate 276, the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s northeast extension, both
cross southern Bucks County, along with I-295 and I-476. US-1, US-13 and US-202 run through the
county, together with more than a dozen state routes.

• Philadelphia — about 40 miles south
• Allentown — about 30 miles northwest
• Trenton, New Jersey — directly across the Delaware River from Morrisville
• New York City — within about a two-hour drive

Philadelphia International Airport is the nearest major commercial airport. Doylestown Airport
handles general aviation closer to the county seat. Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor Keystone
Service stops at Cornwells Heights station in Bensalem Township, and SEPTA’s Regional Rail
Lansdale/Doylestown, Trenton, Warminster and West Trenton lines all serve the county.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Bucks County located?
It sits in southeastern Pennsylvania along the Delaware River, about 25 miles north of
Philadelphia, bordered by Montgomery, Philadelphia, Northampton and Lehigh counties in
Pennsylvania and by Warren, Hunterdon, Mercer and Burlington counties across the river in New
Jersey.

What is the population of Bucks County?
646,538 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate near 647,828 — the fourth most populous
county in Pennsylvania.

How big is Bucks County?
622 square miles (1,611 km2) in total, of which 604 square miles are land and 18 square miles are
water.

What is the county seat of Bucks County?
Doylestown, a borough of 8,300 people surrounded by the larger Doylestown Township.

How many towns and boroughs are in Bucks County?
23 boroughs and 31 townships, plus 18 census-designated places such as Levittown and Croydon that
have no local government of their own.

What ZIP codes does Bucks County use?
67 in total — 40 standard delivery ZIPs, 24 PO Box–only codes and 3 single-entity
codes, led by 19020 (Bensalem), 19067 (Morrisville) and 18974 (Warminster).

What is Bucks County known for?
Washington’s Crossing of the Delaware River on December 25–26, 1776, its dozen
covered bridges, and New Hope’s arts and antiques scene.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Pennsylvania.