Photo: Zeete · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Chester have higher incomes than those in 97% of U.S. towns
About one in ten work in Chester; the top destination outside it is Morristown (4%, 11 miles). The poverty rate is 6.4% (New Jersey 9.7%). Chester grades A+ for jobs and income and A for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Chester, in brief
Chester fills up on a workday
Chester has 4,249 jobs, 5.1 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 5,100 people are in town, 3 times the 1,700 who live here. Day and night ↓
Jobs in Chester have more than doubled in ten years
Jobs based in Chester went from 1,765 in 2013 to 4,249 in 2023, +141%. The jobs ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Chester
69% of Chester residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 32% of the jobs based in Chester pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 91% leave town for their job. 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 839 working residents, small shifts move the shares; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Chester’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty and job access, Chester is better than 96% of U.S. towns. Household income is its strongest input ($171,500, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns. It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
Unemployment (2.8%) is left out: Chester’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Chester could be anywhere from A to A+.
Who leaves Chester for work, and who comes in
On a workday 761 residents head out to work, 78 work right here, and 4,171 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,100 people are in Chester on a workday afternoon, 202% more than live here.
5.1 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.
In Chester, services account for most jobs
4,249 jobs are based in Chester.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Chester, 2013 → 2023: 1,765 → 4,249. 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.
Commuting in to Chester: where workers come from
Where Chester clocks in
4% of workers
4% 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.
How long Chester spends getting to work: about 32 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Chester workers work from home, vs 17% across New Jersey. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 623 commuters (the 22% who work from home are left out). Across New Jersey: 75% drive alone, 10% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Near or far: the trip to work from Chester
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.
Chester is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Chester is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Chester near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 795 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 under 0.1 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). 7.7% of Chester households have no vehicle (New Jersey 11.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Chester’s commuters take a bus or train.
Chester places 140th of 5,760 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 50 | Alpine NJ | 1,759 | $247K | 6.2% | 6.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 71 | Sea Girt NJ | 1,874 | $214K | 3.3% | 4.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 82 | Oldmans Township NJ | 1,954 | $113K | 3.2% | 11.1% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 138 | Van Meter IA | 1,978 | $135K | 2.6% | 1.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 139 | Lakeland MN | 1,659 | $100K | 3.3% | 4.9% | 3% | A+ |
| 140 | Chester NJ | 1,689 | $172K | 6.4% | 2.8% | 9% | A+ |
| 141 | Bell Acres PA | 1,454 | $166K | 5.0% | 1.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 142 | Rockland WI | 1,833 | $128K | 2.8% | 0.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,760 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Chester, the top three, the last and three more from New Jersey.
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?
$171,500 (±$48,024) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,556 across New Jersey and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Chester?
6.4%, against 9.7% across New Jersey and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Chester?
32 minutes each way on average, against 31 across New Jersey and 26 nationally. 22% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Chester work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Morristown (4%, 11 mi), Parsippany-Troy Hills Township (4%, 15 mi), New York City (4%, 40 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Chester walkable?
Chester is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 10.2 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Chester without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 8% 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.