Photo: USDA NRCS Montana · Public domainWork and commuting in Chester
Working residents average 11 minutes each way, next to 19 for Montana and 26 for the U.S. Working from home is the commute for 3% of workers, where Montana as a whole has 12%. About half work in Chester itself; outside it, Great Falls draws the most (6%, 71 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Chester, in a few figures
A big share show a job far from home
37% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Commutes from Chester are quick
The average trip to work takes 11 minutes, against 19 across Montana. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical Montana worker. Time on the road ↓
Many jobs in Chester pay little
28% of the jobs based in Chester pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. 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; with 219 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How many miles Chester commutes
About 37% 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.
How long Chester spends getting to work: about 11 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Chester workers work from home, vs 13% across Montana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 266 commuters (the 3% who work from home are left out). Across Montana: 81% 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.
In Chester, services account for most jobs
335 jobs are based in Chester.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Chester, 2013 → 2023: 322 → 335. 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.
A workday in Chester: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 118 residents head out to work, 101 work right here, and 234 people come in from elsewhere.
About 960 people are in Chester on a workday afternoon, 14% more than live here.
1.5 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Where Chester’s workers come from
Where Chester clocks in
6% of workers
4% of workers
3% 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.
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?
$53,750 (±$11,510) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,509 across Montana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Chester?
13.8%, against 11.5% across Montana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Chester?
11 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Montana and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Chester work?
46% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Great Falls (6%, 71 mi), Billings (4%, 220 mi), Missoula (3%, 182 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Chester without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% 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.