Photo: w:Flickr user David Rosen (https://www.flickr.com/people/dnszero/) · CC BY-SA 2.0Chester has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.2 for each
Hardly any stay in Chester for work; outside it, Fort Smith is the main destination (34%, 25 miles). Chester has 8 jobs; 50 of its residents have a job. The average commute takes 37 minutes each way, where Arkansas has 23 and the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The daily flow of workers through Chester
On a workday 50 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 8 people come in from elsewhere.
About 110 people are in Chester on a workday afternoon, 28% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where Chester goes to work
Where Chester clocks in
34% of workers
8% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Chester
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Chester, 2013 → 2023: 1 → 8. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Chester’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Chester: about 37 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Chester workers work from home, vs 9% across Arkansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 19 commuters (the 10% who work from home are left out). Across Arkansas: 87% drive alone, <1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Chester
About 18% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Chester: questions
What is the median household income in Chester?
$29,250 (±$13,548) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,773 across Arkansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Chester?
19.7%, against 16.0% across Arkansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Chester?
37 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Arkansas and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Chester work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fort Smith (34%, 25 mi), Van Buren (8%, 18 mi), Springdale (8%, 36 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Chester without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Chester, from the people who make the trip.
More of Chester
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer.