Most of Chester commutes out: there are 0.5 jobs for every working resident
Working from home is the commute for 2% of workers, next to 11% for Iowa as a whole. There are 22 jobs in Chester, against 47 working residents. Hardly any work in Chester itself; outside it, Cresco draws the most (11%, 15 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
How many people are in Chester by day
On a workday 47 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 22 people come in from elsewhere.
About 110 people are in Chester on a workday afternoon, 19% 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’s working residents head each day
Where Chester clocks in
11% 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.
The kinds of work in Chester
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Chester, 2013 → 2023: 21 → 22. 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.
Each way, about 32 minutes from Chester
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Chester workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 83 commuters (the 2% who work from home are left out). Across Iowa: 86% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Chester
About 28% 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.
Chester and the towns next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Chester workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chester | – | — | — | 32 min | $63,438 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Chester’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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?
$63,438 (±$39,728) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Chester?
9.3%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Chester?
32 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Chester work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cresco (11%, 15 mi), Riceville (9%, 13 mi), Elma (6%, 17 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Chester without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% 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.