Chester TownshipMI
A town of 1,770, settled in 1839. 62% more nonprofits per person than the typical Michigan town.
Is Chester Township a good place to live?
The best of Chester Township’s subject grades is an A for civic life. 26% of residents are 65 or older in Chester Township, against 19% in Michigan’s towns and 18% across U.S. towns. On the outdoors, just 109 of Michigan’s 1,279 towns do worse. Chester Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
What makes Chester Township stand out
Where Chester Township beats most towns.
99% of working residents leave Chester Township for work
Where Chester Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2021
How Chester Township grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Michigan), ordered by how far Chester Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Chester Township: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Chester Township, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 12, 2025.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Chester Township.
Most of Chester Township’s workers commute out: the town has 0.1 jobs for each of them
Most working residents leave Chester Township for work: only 1% work in town. Jobs based in Chester Township grew to 59 in 2021, 21 more than in 2011. Chester Township’s average trip to work is 27 minutes, where Michigan’s towns sit at 25 minutes and U.S. towns at 25 minutes.
| Chester Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 1.4% | 5.9% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 7.3% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
In Chester Township, expect four seasons and pleasant summers
Chester Township has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 16° and about 38 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Chester Township is less healthy than 62% of U.S. towns
Chester Township beats the Michigan average on 3 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 28% of Chester Township adults have been diagnosed with depression.
| Chester Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 27% | 23% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 37% | 35% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 34% | 36% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 14% | 14% |
| What stands out | Chester Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 7.3% | 8.7% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 13.1% | 15.4% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.9% | 8.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Chester Township faces a moderate natural-hazard risk, led by inland flooding
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 56% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Chester Township since 2013.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
North Country Trail and 15 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Chester Township. Close and well known come first.
30 mi Park & preserveNorth Country Trail
23 mi MuseumEli and Edythe Broad Art Museum150K visitors a year
29 mi MuseumGilmore Car Museum87K visitors a year
20 mi Zoo & aquariumPotter Park Zoo
25 mi MuseumAmerican Museum of Magic30 mi Zoo & aquariumBinder Park ZooPhoto credits
North Country Trail: Huron-Manistee National Forests, Public domain · Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum: Dj1997, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Gilmore Car Museum: Kevin S. Forsyth, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Potter Park Zoo: Dj1997, CC BY-SA 3.0 · American Museum of Magic: rossograph, CC BY-SA 4.0
Everything we know about Chester Township
Colleges nearby
1 within 15 miles of the center of Chester Township
About 1 of every 100 Chester Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
About Chester Township
Township in Michigan, United States
Chester Township is a civil township of Eaton County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,769 at the 2020 United States census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Established
- 1839
- Area
- 36 sq mi
- Elevation
- 912 ft
Chester Township’s neighbors
4 towns share a border with Chester Township.
| Town | MI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chester Township | — | — | B | — | B− | C+ |
| Benton Township | #441 | C+ | B− | — | B− | C+ |
| Vermontville Township | — | — | A− | — | C+ | C |
| Carmel Township | #456 | C+ | B | — | B− | C+ |
| Roxand Township | — | — | A− | — | A− | B− |
Chester Township, Vermontville Township and Roxand Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Chester Township, Benton Township, Vermontville Township, Carmel Township and Roxand Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Chester Township with a neighbor →
Questions about Chester Township
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Chester Township, MI a good place to live?
62% more nonprofits per person than the typical Michigan town.
Is Chester Township, MI expensive?
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.