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Kennett Square vs Hockessin vs Landenberg: Living on the PA/DE Line

Kennett Square, Hockessin and Landenberg sit within a few miles of each other on either side of the Pennsylvania-Delaware line, but they're very different places to live. Here's how they compare on schools, taxes, commutes and character, and who each one suits.

A small-town main street of brick storefronts in autumn

Short answer: Kennett Square is a small Pennsylvania borough with a walkable downtown, served by the Kennett Consolidated School District. Hockessin is an unincorporated community in New Castle County, Delaware, served by the Red Clay Consolidated School District. Landenberg is a rural Pennsylvania mailing address that spans parts of three townships, so a Landenberg home can be in Kennett Consolidated or Avon Grove. Hockessin puts you under Delaware's tax rules (no sales tax, graduated income tax); Kennett Square and Landenberg are under Pennsylvania's (flat state income tax plus a local earned income tax).

Last reviewed October 13, 2026. This guide doesn't quote home prices or market statistics because they go stale fast; a Foraker agent can pull current sales for any street.

Where is each one?

  • Kennett Square is a borough in southern Chester County with 5,936 residents at the 2020 Census. Longwood Gardens is on US Route 1 about 3 miles northeast of town.
  • Hockessin is a census-designated place in New Castle County, Delaware: a named community that isn't legally incorporated. It had 13,478 residents in 2020 across about 10 square miles of land.
  • Landenberg is a post-office name (ZIP 19350) rather than a town. London Britain Township's offices have a Landenberg address, Franklin Township lists Landenberg among its mailing addresses, and New Garden Township counts Landenberg among its historic villages, once home to mills along White Clay Creek. London Britain borders Maryland to the south and Delaware to the east.

Which school district is each in?

  • Kennett Square: Kennett Consolidated, which also covers Kennett Township, New Garden Township and part of East Marlborough. It runs six schools: Mary D. Lang Kindergarten Center, Bancroft, Greenwood and New Garden elementary schools, Kennett Middle School and Kennett High School.
  • Hockessin: Red Clay Consolidated. Red Clay's Cooke and North Star elementary schools and H.B. du Pont Middle School all have Hockessin addresses.
  • Landenberg: it depends on the township. Chester County's tax chart places New Garden in Kennett Consolidated and London Britain and Franklin in Avon Grove. Confirm the township on the property's tax record before you write an offer.

One structural difference: in Pennsylvania, your district follows the municipality you live in. Delaware's school choice program lets families apply to any public district, charter or vocational-technical school regardless of address, after registering at their school of residence. For the 2027-28 school year, applications open November 2, 2026 and close January 13, 2027.

How do taxes differ?

Hockessin is in Delaware: no state or local sales tax, and a graduated income tax that reaches 6.60% at $60,000. Kennett Square and Landenberg are in Pennsylvania: a flat 3.07% state income tax plus a local earned income tax that depends on your municipality, and 6% sales tax.

Property taxes work differently on each side. New Castle County assesses homes at market value as of July 1, 2024; Chester County uses a 1998-era base year and millage. On Chester County's 2026 tax-rate chart, total millage is 53.1676 in Kennett Square Borough, 44.6376 in New Garden and 48.8290 in London Britain. Transfer tax at closing totals about 2% in most of Chester County and 4% in New Castle County.

The full comparison is in Living in Delaware vs Pennsylvania: taxes and costs, and the closing math is in Realty Transfer Tax in PA, DE and MD.

How is the commute to Wilmington and Philadelphia?

  • From Kennett Square: Longwood Gardens, just outside town, lists Wilmington at about 12 miles and Philadelphia at about 30. Chescobus's SCCOOT runs weekdays between Oxford and West Chester through Kennett Square, connecting with SEPTA buses in West Chester.
  • From Hockessin: DART's Route 20 (Lancaster Pike / Hockessin) runs Monday through Friday between Hockessin and downtown Wilmington. At Wilmington station, SEPTA's Wilmington/Newark Line runs to Center City Philadelphia, and Amtrak stops there too.
  • From Landenberg: the White Clay Creek Preserve, in Landenberg, sits three miles north of Newark, Delaware. Newark's station is the southern end of SEPTA's Wilmington/Newark Line.

What's the character of each?

Kennett Square calls itself the Mushroom Capital of the World: the borough says the region's farms produce over a million pounds of mushrooms a day. Each year the town hosts the Mushroom Festival, and Foraker's own headquarters is downtown on State Street.

Hockessin has deep Quaker roots: the Hockessin Friends Meetinghouse, a fieldstone building from 1738, was a center of worship and community life. Because Hockessin isn't incorporated, it has no town government of its own. Delaware Nature Society's Ashland Nature Center covers 130 acres along Red Clay Creek, with about four miles of trails.

Landenberg is the most rural of the three. The 1,388-acre White Clay Creek Preserve is here, and Congress has designated White Clay Creek a National Wild and Scenic River. Many country homes run on a private well and septic, so read our septic and well inspection guide before you make an offer.

Who does each one suit?

  • Kennett Square: buyers who want borough living with a real downtown, Kennett Consolidated schools and Pennsylvania's flat income tax.
  • Hockessin: buyers who want Delaware's tax structure, Red Clay schools and a short drive or bus to Wilmington.
  • Landenberg: buyers after land, trails and quiet, who are comfortable with well and septic and want to confirm the school district house by house.

For more on each, see our guides to Kennett Square, Hockessin and nearby West Grove and Avondale.

Talk to someone on both sides of the line

I'm Brian Foraker, owner of Foraker Realty Co. I live in West Grove, our headquarters is at 135 E State St in Kennett Square, and we're licensed in Pennsylvania and Delaware, so one agent can show you all three. Start on our buying page, browse listings at forakerrealty.com, or call (484) 406-3004.

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