Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Chester gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $306K for a typical one, or 4 years of the Glens Falls metro’s $76K median household income. It grades C+ overall, 464th of 745 graded towns in New York. On the plus side, it has 67 miles of trail. 32% of residents are 65 or older in Chester, above both the New York town median (20%) and the median of U.S. towns (18%). Chester is home to Davis College. Chester has 1 place on the National Register.
Where Chester beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New York), ordered by how far Chester is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,013 in 1820, 3,086 in 2020. The archive holds 10 old photos and papers going back to 2008 and 3 maps from 1895 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Chester, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Aug 3, 2026.
Ordered by what stands out in Chester.
Chester is a second-home town, but it is a long drive from an emergency room and carries more natural-hazard risk than most of New York (mostly inland flooding).
Lake George Wild Forest, at 1,571 acres with 8 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. The trail density in Chester is 0.8 miles per square mile.
| Chester | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.8 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 7.2% | 5.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Lake George Wild Forest | 8 mi | 1,571 |
| 2. Vanderwhacker Mountain Wild Forest | 4.6 mi | 1,474 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the North Warren Central School District. Its one school is below. The largest public high school is North Warren Central School, with 470 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Warren Central SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades PK–12 | Grades PK–12 | 470 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NY on state tests and graduation
37.8% of homes are seasonal or vacation homes, against 3.5% statewide, which helps explain the older median age.
Chester’s median age is 54.1 years. People 65 and older are 32% of residents (18% statewide); adults 18 to 34 are 16% of residents (23% statewide). 15% of Chester residents are under 18.
| Chester | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 54.1 years | 42.9 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 15% | 20% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 36% | 32% | 29% |
53% women, 47% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±4.6 points. Across New York, 51.2% of residents are women.
| Chester | NY | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 8.4% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 6.7% | 9.5% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.7% | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 9.5% | 14.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 8.3% | 13% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.5% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 16.4% | 13.3% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 22.8% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9.6% | 7.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.3% | 12% | 10.4% |
| High school | 33.9% | 24.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 15.5% | 14.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9.8% | 8.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 22.6% | 22.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 13.8% | 17.9% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 3,100, single groups can be off by several points
The average commute for its 1,259 working residents takes 24 minutes, against 32.6 across New York.
Since 2013, Chester has lost 161 jobs, to 890 in 2023. 6.6% of residents live below the poverty line in Chester. The top destinations are Queensbury (9%), Warrensburg (6%) and Johnsburg (6%).
| Chester | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 23% | 10% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 6.6% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 24 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Chester has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 79°, January nights drop to 8° and about 78 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The nearest emergency room, Glens Falls Hospital, is 28.6 miles away in a straight line.
Chester beats the New York average on 10 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 8.
| Chester | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 17% | 16% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 34% | 35% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 83% | 81% | 79% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 32% | 33% |
| What stands out | Chester | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 9.2% | 14.5% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 11.4% | 17.2% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 12.1% | 7.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 84% of New York towns, with expected losses of about $726 per resident a year; that rating is what its C for hazard risk is built on.
Since 2011, 2 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Chester.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Chester. Close and well known come first.
Big draw27 mi LandmarkFort Ticonderoga
17 mi LakeLake George
30 mi MountainMount Marcy
20 mi LandmarkFort William Henry
32 mi State parkAdirondack Park
25 mi Theme parkGreat EscapeFort Ticonderoga: Mwanner, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Lake George: Sixlocal, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Mount Marcy: Daniel Tripp, Public domain · Fort William Henry: IrisKawling at en.wikipedia, Public domain · Adirondack Park: Original uploader was Mwanner at en.wikipedia Later version(s) were uploaded by, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Great Escape: Jared and Corin, CC BY-SA 2.0
1 within 15 miles of the center of Chester
About 2 of every 100 Chester residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
Town in New York, United States
Chester is a town in Warren County, New York, United States. It is part of the Glens Falls metropolitan area. The population was 3,086 at the 2020 census. The town contains the communities of Chestertown and Pottersville. The town of Chester is on the county's northern border.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
7 towns share a border with Chester.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chester | #464 | C+ | B | — | C | B |
| Horicon | — | — | B | — | C | B+ |
| Johnsburg | — | — | A− | — | C− | B+ |
| Pottersville | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Thurman | — | — | C | — | C− | C |
| Warrensburg | #640 | C− | B | — | C− | B− |
| Minerva | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| North Creek | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Horicon, Johnsburg and Thurman have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Chester, Horicon, Johnsburg, Thurman and Warrensburg report no FBI crime data of their own. Pottersville, Minerva and North Creek aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Chester with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Chester grades C+ overall, better than 41% of U.S. towns and #464 of 745 in New York. It grades B for health and C for schools.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
