Photo: User:Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0Chesterfield has higher household incomes than 79% of U.S. towns
About one in ten stay in Chesterfield for work; outside it, Keene is the main destination (30%, 8 miles). 8.6% of residents live below the poverty line, against 7.2% across New Hampshire. Jobs and income earn Chesterfield B−; getting around on foot earns it B−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Chesterfield at work: what stands out
Stores, warehouses and trucking
72% of the jobs in Chesterfield are in trade, transport and utilities, against 19% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
Chesterfield and Keene trade workers both ways
Keene is the top workplace for Chesterfield residents (30%) and also where the most people who work in Chesterfield come from (14% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Where Chesterfield’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Chesterfield is better than 51% of U.S. towns, #101 of 126 in New Hampshire. Household income holds Chesterfield’s grade up ($102,370, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 32% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Chesterfield could be anywhere from D to A.
71% of the jobs in Chesterfield pay over $3,333 a month
1,239 jobs are based in Chesterfield.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Chesterfield, 2014 → 2024: 1,070 → 1,239. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Chesterfield’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Chesterfield’s working residents head each day
Where Chesterfield clocks in
30% of workers
10% of workers
4% 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.
Chesterfield by day and by night
On a workday 1,462 residents head out to work, 132 work right here, and 1,107 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,300 people are in Chesterfield on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.78 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
About 25 minutes to work from Chesterfield
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Chesterfield workers work from home, vs 17% across New Hampshire. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,340 commuters (the 19% 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.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
How far Chesterfield’s workers travel
About 23% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Chesterfield is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Chesterfield is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns, #63 of 126 in New Hampshire. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.6% across New Hampshire, on an EPA index of 5.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,653 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 0.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 46% 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). 0.0% of Chesterfield households have no vehicle (New Hampshire 4.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Chesterfield’s commuters take a bus or train.
2,153rd of 4,318: where Chesterfield ranks among U.S. towns of 2,600 to 5,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 156 | North Hampton NH | 4,526 | $146K | 2.9% | 1.5% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 225 | Greenland NH | 4,143 | $163K | 0.5% | 2.3% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 282 | Mont Vernon NH | 2,698 | $158K | 4.4% | 1.5% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,151 | Neptune City NJ | 4,591 | $89K | 16.9% | 5.8% | 5% | B− |
| 2,152 | Viroqua WI | 4,435 | $67K | 7.7% | 2.9% | 37% | B− |
| 2,153 | Chesterfield NH | 3,684 | $102K | 8.6% | 5.3% | 8% | B− |
| 2,154 | Sardinia NY | 2,688 | $85K | 12.4% | 1.5% | 7% | B− |
| 2,155 | Union Township PA | 2,932 | $73K | 6.8% | 6.0% | 8% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,318 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 19% | 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 Chesterfield, the top three, the last and three more from New Hampshire.
17% of Chesterfield works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Brattleboro (10%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Chesterfield workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chesterfield | – | B− | B− | 25 min | $102,370 |
| Westmoreland | 3% | B+ | C | 23 min | $104,444 |
| Swanzey | 4% | B | C+ | 24 min | $81,595 |
| Hinsdale | under 2% | C | B− | 24 min | $69,191 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Chesterfield’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 2024, 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 Chesterfield: questions
What is the median household income in Chesterfield?
$102,370 (±$39,742) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,031 across New Hampshire and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Chesterfield?
8.6%, against 7.2% across New Hampshire and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Chesterfield?
25 minutes each way on average, against 27 across New Hampshire and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Chesterfield work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Keene (30%, 8 mi), Brattleboro (10%, 10 mi), Swanzey (4%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Chesterfield walkable?
Chesterfield is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 5.7 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Chesterfield without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Chesterfield, from the people who make the trip.
More of Chesterfield
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.