Chester TownshipMI
A town of 2,117.
Is Chester Township a good place to live?
Chester Township’s best subject grades are a B+ for cost of living and schools; its weakest is a C− for walkability. 31% of residents are under 18 in Chester Township, against 21% in Michigan’s towns and 22% across U.S. towns. The biggest park or preserve is Grose Park, at 45 acres. 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 0.3 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 305 in 2021, 192 more than in 2011. At 28 minutes, Chester Township’s average trip to work is above both the Michigan town median (25 minutes) and the median of U.S. towns (25 minutes).
| Chester Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 1.5% | 5.9% | 8% |
| Work from home | 7.6% | 10% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 8% | 8.9% | 9.6% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2021 · ACS
Chester Township’s public schools outperform 68% of Michigan districts
Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trinity Lutheran School PrivateLargest elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 39 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MI on state tests and graduation
Inland flooding leads a low hazard risk in Chester Township
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 76% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
More children than Michigan overall
14% of residents are 65 or older in Chester Township. 24% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 32% across Michigan. Chester Township’s median age is 36.3 years.
| Chester Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 36.3 years | 42.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 14% | 19% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 24% | 26% | 29% |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
46% women, 54% men
About 118 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±2.9 points). Across Michigan, 50.4% of residents are women.
| Chester Township | MI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 17.1% | 11.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 13.6% | 10.1% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 8.2% | 9.2% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 9.6% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 16.3% | 12.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 9.2% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 11.9% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 9.2% | 11.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 4.9% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 6.1% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 39.2% | 28% | 26% |
| Some college | 18.6% | 21.9% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 12.4% | 9.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 15.8% | 19.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 7.9% | 12.7% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,100, single groups can be off by several points
Snowy winters and pleasant summers in Chester Township
Chester Township has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 17° and about 48 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Chester Township is healthier than 52% of U.S. towns
Chester Township beats the Michigan average on 5 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0. 28% of Chester Township adults have been diagnosed with depression.
| Chester Township | Michigan towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 27% | 23% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 17% | 16% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 81% | 80% | 79% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | Chester Township | MI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 7.2% | 8.7% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 12.8% | 15.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Grose Park | — | 45 |
| 2. Conklin Trailhead | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum and 13 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Chester Township. Close and well known come first.
16 mi MuseumGerald R. Ford Presidential Museum25 mi Theme parkMichigan's Adventure
30 mi Park & preserveNorth Country Trail
18 mi MuseumFrederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park17 mi TheatreAcrisure Amphitheater
19 mi Theme parkRamona ParkPhoto credits
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum: Staff of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, Public domain · North Country Trail: Huron-Manistee National Forests, Public domain · Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park: User Jeffness on en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Ramona Park: Gpwitteveen, CC BY-SA 3.0
Everything we know about Chester Township
Colleges nearby
1 within 15 miles of the center of Chester Township
About 2 of every 100 Chester Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Michigan.
About Chester Township
Civil township in Michigan, United States
Chester Township is a civil township of Ottawa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 United States census, the township population was 2,096.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 36 sq mi
- Elevation
- 722 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+ | B− |
| Wright Township | #268 | B+ | B− | — | A− | B |
| Casnovia Township | #565 | C | C | — | B | C |
| Ravenna Township | #299 | B | B | — | B+ | C+ |
| Sparta Township | #151 | A− | A− | — | B+ | B+ |
Chester Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Chester Township, Wright Township, Casnovia Township, Ravenna Township and Sparta 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 expensive?
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B+.