Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainFewer of Chester’s 15-to-64s are in work than in 78% of Canadian towns
Getting to work from Chester takes 28.9 minutes on average, an hour or more for 11%. Before tax, the typical household in Chester brought in $64,800 in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Of everyone in Chester working or looking for work in May 2021, 13% were unemployed, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%.
What the numbers say about work in Chester
Fewer people in work than most towns
68% of people aged 15 to 64 had a job at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns; counting everyone 15 and over, retirees included, it was 45%. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
The Labour Force Survey had the area at 8.9% in October 2026; on census day in 2021 the town’s own rate was 13%, where the middle of Canadian towns had 9.9%. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
At $64,800 before tax in 2020, the median household compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Household income ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
The Jobs & income grade for Chester: D
Better than 7% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #81 of 88 in Nova Scotia.
Its strongest measure is trip times; its weakest, the share of 15-to-64s in work.
Graded against Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more; less unemployment and a shorter commute count in its favour.
How the grade works
Census 2021 measures, weighed equally against every Canadian town and neighbourhood of 2,500 people or more: the share of residents aged 15 to 64 in work, median household income (2020), the unemployment rate and the average commute. Each becomes a percentile; their average sets the letter.
In Chester, 68% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
Of the 3 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Lunenburg census division, one has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
A more recent figure, for the wider area: 48% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. Working or looking, 52% of everyone 15 and over was in the labour force. Counting retirees, 45% of everyone aged 15 and over was working. These are census figures from May 2021, during COVID’s third wave; jobs have recovered since, which the Labour Force Survey shows.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: people in work of any age over residents aged 15 to 64, and the census unemployment rate (15 and over); the 25-to-54 rate is Statistics Canada’s own (98-10-0485). The Labour Force Survey and business counts are context, not grade inputs.
Earnings at home in Chester: households
One of the 3 other places of 2,500+ in the Lunenburg census division has a higher median. Chester’s median is 6% below the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns ($69,150). CERB and the other emergency payments of 2020 are counted in these incomes, which lifted the lower ones that year.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
More of Chester’s workers leave each day than arrive
2,670 residents of Chester had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 2,255 people had theirs in Chester, wherever they lived.
Each person commuting in is matched by about 2 residents going out. The job is inside the municipality for 54% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
46% of Chester’s residents in work leave it to work; Halifax takes the most
- Halifax300
- Lunenburg215
- Bridgewater90
- Windsor60
- Mahone Bay35
- Lunenburg25
- Liverpool20
- Kingston15
- Annapolis County, Subdivision D10
- Gold River 2110
Coming the other way, Halifax sends the most (300).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
2021 Census, people with a usual place of work: where residents of Chester work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Leaving the car at home: 4.8% of commuters in Chester
Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 18% against 21%. Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. The car is the way to work for 92% of commuters.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
Commuting times in Chester
Trips under 15 minutes: 36%, fewer than the 46% in the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 26 minutes (Statistics Canada). In the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns, the average commute is 23 minutes.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: commuting duration in five bands; our average uses each band’s middle (75 minutes for an hour or more), so it runs about two minutes above Statistics Canada’s own.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
In the Lunenburg census division, 25% more people receive EI than in 2019
Roughly 6.1 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number rose by 8%. The highest month was March 2021: 3,340 people, 2.2 times the 2019 level.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100). For EI beneficiaries, the only official count covers all of the Lunenburg census division, Chester included.
How walkable Chester is: C+
Better than 45% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #42 of 88 in Nova Scotia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
How Chester compares with Canadian towns of 8,200 to 15,800 people
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Saanich British Columbia | 12,986 | 85% | 5.9% | $121K | A+ |
| 2 | Sillery Quebec | 13,950 | 81% | 6.2% | $120K | A+ |
| 3 | Walsh Acres/Lakeridge/Garden Ridge Saskatchewan | 9,325 | 80% | 6.7% | $127K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 39 | Fall River Nova Scotia | 9,214 | 78% | 8.1% | $135K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 82 | Portland Estates Nova Scotia | 10,164 | 77% | 8.9% | $87K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 100 | Antigonish County, Subdivision A Nova Scotia | 9,682 | 78% | 9.1% | $82K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 612 | Lachute Quebec | 15,469 | 69% | 8% | $57K | D |
| 613 | Downtown Ontario | 15,686 | 64% | 14% | $74K | D |
| 614 | Chester Nova Scotia | 11,740 | 68% | 13% | $65K | D |
| 615 | Broadview North Ontario | 11,080 | 69% | 15% | $70K | D |
| 616 | Saint-Vincent-de-Paul Quebec | 8,352 | 73% | 9.2% | $57K | D |
| … | ||||||
| 643 | René-Goupil Quebec | 11,663 | 58% | 15% | $54K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Chester, and others among Nova Scotia’s towns.
Chester and its neighbours: work and income
The nearest places to Chester with figures are 18–28 km away.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chester | 68% | 13% | $65K | 28.9 min | D | C+ |
| Mahone Bay 18.5 km | 70% | 10% | $60K | 21.2 min | C− | A+ |
| Lunenburg 23.9 km | 71% | 14% | $64K | 18 min | C+ | A |
| Lunenburg 28.5 km | 70% | 11% | $69K | 24.9 min | C− | C− |
The people of each place: the share in work, unemployment, household income and the average commute, with both grades once they come.
What this data can and can’t tell you
What each figure measures for Chester, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Where people commute. Who travels where, from the census: workers with a regular workplace, sorted by the municipality they live in and the one they work in.
- Employment Insurance. A monthly count of Employment Insurance beneficiaries for the whole census division. It tracks the local job market, but it is not an unemployment rate.
- The Labour Force Survey. Statistics Canada surveys households every month; the results come out for metro areas and economic regions, never for single towns, and keep the rate current after 2021.
- In work. We divide the number of employed residents by the number aged 15 to 64. Workers past 64 still count on top, because the 2021 Census crosses work with age only for whole municipalities; in return, a retirement town’s pensioners don’t drag the rate down.
- Unemployment. The census-week jobless rate for residents 15 and over. Its base is the labour force, those employed plus those actively looking.
- Household income. What the median household took in during 2020 before tax, as the census recorded it; an estimate built from income groups when the place is a neighbourhood.
- Trip times. Built from banded answers: each commuter’s usual one-way trip counts as the midpoint of the band they chose, and the result tends to sit slightly higher than Statistics Canada’s average.
- Which towns we compare. Every town and city neighbourhood with 2,500 residents or more; whole cities and First Nations reserves are left out. Each middle figure is a median.
Questions about work in Chester
What is the unemployment rate in Chester?
The census put unemployment at 13% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Southern economic region at 8.9%.
What is the average household income in Chester?
Chester’s middle household had $64,800 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Chester get to work?
92% of commuters go by car, 4.5% walk and 0.3% cycle. On census day 18% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Chester?
On average 28.9 minutes; 36% take under 15 minutes and 11% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Chester work?
Most stay: 54% work in Chester. The rest go first to Halifax (570) and Bridgewater (215).
How many jobs are there in Chester?
About 2,255 people had their usual place of work in Chester at the 2021 census, 0.8 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 344 businesses with employees in June 2026.
Sources: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population (Census Profile) · Statistics Canada, tables 98-10-0458 and 98-10-0459 (commuting) · Statistics Canada, table 14-10-0323 (EI beneficiaries) · Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey (14-10-0459, 14-10-0462) · Statistics Canada, Canadian Business Counts (33-10-1176) · grades: TownRatings. Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).