Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 3.0Chester’s household incomes are higher than in 93% of U.S. towns
Only 8% work in Chester itself; outside it, New York City draws the most (23%, 49 miles). Poverty touches 8.1% of residents, next to 14.0% for New York as a whole. Jobs and income earn Chester A; getting around on foot earns it A−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Chester in brief
Chester trades workers with the towns around it
Chester has about as many jobs (4,816) as working residents (5,350), but they are mostly different people: 4,935 residents leave for work each day while 4,401 people come in. Only 9% of the jobs in Chester are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Chester’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Chester is New York City, 49 miles away as the crow flies. 23% of working residents (1,222) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Chester workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 42 minutes each way, against 33 across New York. Over a year that’s about 322 hours of commuting, 69 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
51% of the jobs in Chester are in trade, transport and utilities, against 22% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Chester
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Chester is better than 87% of U.S. towns, #102 of 758 in New York. Household income is its strongest input ($139,778, 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 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.
The workday shuffle in and out of Chester
On a workday 4,935 residents head out to work, 415 work right here, and 4,401 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.90 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.
How far it is to work from Chester
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.
The daily trip from Chester: about 42 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 13.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Chester workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,657 commuters (the 16% who work from home are left out). Across New York: 57% drive alone, 25% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
The kinds of work in Chester
4,816 jobs are based in Chester.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Chester, 2014 → 2024: 5,568 → 4,816. 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 Chester’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting out of Chester: the destinations
Where Chester clocks in
23% 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.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Chester is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Chester is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns, #300 of 758 in New York. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 10.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 7.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 6,701 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 22% 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). 2.9% of Chester households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 8% of Chester’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Chester is 508th among 2,354 U.S. towns of 9,000 to 17,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 62 | Floral Park NY | 16,105 | $150K | 3.0% | 3.1% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 87 | East Rockaway NY | 10,096 | $125K | 2.6% | 3.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 90 | North Castle NY | 12,360 | $208K | 3.8% | 3.1% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 506 | Bruce Township MI | 10,175 | $118K | 4.7% | 3.6% | 8% | A |
| 507 | York Township MI | 9,130 | $137K | 5.1% | 4.3% | 3% | A |
| 508 | Chester NY | 12,877 | $140K | 8.1% | 2.0% | 8% | A |
| 509 | Del Aire CA | 11,115 | $142K | 9.5% | 3.7% | 2% | A |
| 510 | Olympia Heights FL | 12,399 | $109K | 12.2% | 1.8% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,354 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 28% | 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 York.
13% of Chester works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Goshen (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Chester workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chester | – | A | A− | 42 min | $139,778 |
| Blooming Grove | under 3% | B− | A− | 46 min | $95,967 |
| Goshen | 6% | B+ | A | 37 min | $121,442 |
| Warwick | 4% | B+ | A− | 40 min | $119,328 |
| Monroe | 3% | B+ | A | 36 min | $112,199 |
| Walton Park | under 3% | — | — | 45 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Walton Park: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Chester’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 Chester: questions
What is the median household income in Chester?
$139,778 (±$17,774) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Chester?
8.1%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Chester?
42 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Chester work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New York City (23%, 49 mi), Goshen (6%, 5 mi), Wallkill (5%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Chester walkable?
Chester is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 11% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Chester without a car?
8% of commuters take transit and 3% 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), 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.