Photo: User:Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0Chester’s household incomes are higher than in 94% of U.S. towns
Jobs & income A: better than 88% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #22 of 126 in New Hampshire.
Walkability C: more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns · #97 of 126 in New Hampshire.
Working residents average 35 minutes each way (New Hampshire 27, U.S. 26). Only 5% work in Chester; the top destination outside it is Manchester (12%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Chester, in brief
Chester is a place people come home to
There are 549 jobs based in Chester, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Chester has about 2,800 people in it, 47% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Chester workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 35 minutes each way, against 27 across New Hampshire. Over a year that’s about 268 hours of commuting, 61 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Chester has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Chester went from 370 in 2013 to 549 in 2023, +48%. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
What’s behind Chester’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Chester is better than 88% of U.S. towns, #22 of 126 in New Hampshire. Household income is its strongest input ($142,212, U.S. $80,734); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 54% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment 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+.
Chester quiets down on a workday
On a workday 2,879 residents head out to work, 152 work right here, and 397 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,800 people are in Chester on a workday afternoon, 47% fewer than live here.
0.18 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.
About 35 minutes each way, longer than most of New Hampshire
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Chester workers work from home, vs 17% across New Hampshire. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,509 commuters (the 16% who work from home are left out). Across New Hampshire: 87% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
What the 549 jobs in Chester are
549 jobs are based in Chester. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Chester’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Chester, 2013 → 2023: 370 → 549. 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.
12% of working residents work in Manchester
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Chester clocks in
12% of workers
6% of workers
5% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Half of Chester commutes less than 16 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Most trips from Chester start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Chester is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns, #97 of 126 in New Hampshire. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 1.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.6% across New Hampshire, on an EPA index of 5.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,001 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 1.1% of Chester households have no vehicle (New Hampshire 4.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Chester’s commuters take a bus or train.
Chester is 497th of 3,651 U.S. towns of 3,700 to 7,200 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Chester, the top three, the last and three more from New Hampshire.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 126 | Auburn NH | 6,336 | $153K | 2.5% | 1.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 158 | Brookline NH | 5,858 | $171K | 0.6% | 0.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 178 | North Hampton NH | 4,526 | $146K | 2.9% | 1.5% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 495 | Wolverine Lake MI | 4,455 | $92K | 5.8% | 2.8% | 1% | A |
| 496 | Chester NY | 3,991 | $101K | 6.8% | 1.2% | 5% | A |
| 497 | Chester NH | 5,322 | $142K | 4.0% | 2.9% | 5% | A |
| 498 | Christiana TN | 4,777 | $101K | 4.9% | 2.5% | <1% | A |
| 499 | Odessa MO | 5,721 | $100K | 6.1% | 0.0% | 13% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,651 | 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.
Chester and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Derry (6%). Darker towns draw more of Chester’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Chester workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chester | – | A | C | 35 min | $142,212 |
| Sandown | under 4% | B | D | 33 min | $135,040 |
| Raymond | under 4% | A− | C | 30 min | $104,597 |
| Auburn | under 4% | A+ | C+ | 28 min | $153,253 |
| Derry | 6% | A | C | 31 min | $108,944 |
| Candia | under 4% | A− | B− | 34 min | $119,737 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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?
$142,212 (±$18,777) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,031 across New Hampshire and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Chester?
4.0%, against 7.2% across New Hampshire and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Chester?
35 minutes each way on average, against 27 across New Hampshire and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Chester work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Manchester (12%, 10 mi), Derry (6%, 7 mi), Nashua (5%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Chester walkable?
Chester is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 5.2 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Chester without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
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.