Chester has lower unemployment (2.2%) than 82% of U.S. towns
Measured by household income, Chester is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns. Jobs and income earn Chester A−; getting around on foot earns it B+. Only 5% work in Chester; the top destination outside it is Stevensville (9%, 2 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Chester, in brief
The better-paid jobs are outside Chester
66% of Chester residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 46% of the jobs based in Chester pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 95% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Young people hold many of the jobs here
34% of the jobs based in Chester are held by workers 29 or younger, against 21% of Chester’s own working residents. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
The figures behind Chester’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Chester is better than 80% of U.S. towns, #119 of 261 in Maryland. Unemployment is its strongest input; the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (8.1%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Chester could be anywhere from B− to A+.
What Chester’s employers do
1,408 jobs are based in Chester.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Chester, 2013 → 2023: 1,191 → 1,408. 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.
Chester on a workday afternoon
On a workday 2,055 residents head out to work, 119 work right here, and 1,289 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,000 people are in Chester on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.
0.65 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Out of Chester to work: where people go
Where Chester clocks in
9% of workers
5% 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.
From Chester, about 33 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Chester workers work from home, vs 19% across Maryland. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,328 commuters (the 13% who work from home are left out). Across Maryland: 80% drive alone, 5% 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
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.
Most of Chester commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Chester is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns, #155 of 261 in Maryland. Both inputs place Chester near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,677 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 1.8% of Chester households have no vehicle (Maryland 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Chester’s commuters take a bus or train.
Chester next to U.S. towns of 3,400 to 6,500: 785th of 3,753 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Fulton MD | 5,677 | $222K | 0.7% | 1.7% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 20 | Riva MD | 4,976 | $176K | 1.1% | 1.2% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Brown Station MD | 3,451 | $169K | 3.3% | 1.2% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 783 | Morgan's Point Resort TX | 4,746 | $79K | 6.3% | 1.2% | 1% | A− |
| 784 | Perry Township OH | 4,729 | $99K | 5.1% | 1.5% | 6% | A− |
| 785 | Chester MD | 4,797 | $102K | 8.1% | 2.2% | 5% | A− |
| 786 | Madeira Beach FL | 3,940 | $76K | 5.5% | 2.6% | 7% | A− |
| 787 | North Collins NY | 3,477 | $100K | 5.0% | 2.7% | 11% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,753 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Chester, the top three, the last and three more from Maryland.
Chester and its neighbors: 11% work next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Chester workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chester | – | A− | B+ | 33 min | $102,399 |
| Kent Narrows | 2% | — | — | 38 min | — |
| Stevensville | 9% | A− | B− | 27 min | $115,357 |
Same-state neighbors only. Kent Narrows: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Stevensville. 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?
$102,399 (±$24,228) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,678 across Maryland and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Chester?
8.1%, against 9.4% across Maryland and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Chester?
33 minutes each way on average, against 31 across Maryland and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Chester work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Stevensville (9%, 2 mi), Parole (7%, 14 mi), Annapolis (5%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Chester walkable?
Chester is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Chester without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 2% 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. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.