How Chestertown works: jobs, income and commuting
About one in ten work in Chestertown itself; outside it, Chester draws the most (20%, 6 miles). Working from home is the commute for 28% of workers; New York has 15%. The trip to work takes 29 minutes on average (New York 33, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Chestertown and work: the main findings
Fewer jobs are based in Chestertown than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Chestertown fell from 517 in 2014 to 204 in 2024, −61%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
33% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Home offices are common in Chestertown
28% of Chestertown workers work from home, against 15% across New York. Time on the road ↓
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; with 240 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What work there is in Chestertown: 204 jobs
204 jobs are based in Chestertown.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Chestertown, 2014 → 2024: 517 → 204. 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 Chestertown’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from Chestertown
About 33% 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.
The trip to work from Chestertown: about 29 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Chestertown workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 184 commuters (the 28% 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.
How many people are in Chestertown by day
On a workday 218 residents head out to work, 22 work right here, and 182 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 (0.85 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.
The places Chestertown commutes to
Where Chestertown clocks in
20% of workers
9% of workers
8% 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.
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 Chestertown: questions
What is the median household income in Chestertown?
$83,750 (±$28,992) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Chestertown?
7.4%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Chestertown?
29 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 28% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Chestertown work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chester (20%, 6 mi), Queensbury (9%, 20 mi), Warrensburg (8%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around Chestertown without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Chestertown, from the people who make the trip.
More of Chestertown
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.