Chester Waterside Station of the Philadelphia Electric Company · Photo: Jack Boucher · Public domainChester’s household incomes are lower than in 95% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Chester is better than 17% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is among the most walkable U.S. towns (A+). Poverty touches 29.0% of residents, next to 11.7% for Pennsylvania as a whole. About one in ten stay in Chester for work; outside it, Philadelphia is the main destination (18%, 17 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Chester
The jobs in Chester pay better than its residents’ jobs
70% of the jobs based in Chester pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 48% of the jobs Chester residents hold. 88% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Chester. The jobs ↓
Chester and Philadelphia trade workers both ways
Philadelphia is the top workplace for Chester residents (18%) and also where the most people who work in Chester come from (13% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Chester draws workers from far and wide
The 9,153 jobs in Chester are filled from a wide area. Chester’s own residents hold 12% and the ten next-biggest home towns 28%; the other 60% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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.
Where Chester’s Jobs & income grade comes from
Job access by car holds Chester’s grade up (ahead of 94% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (17.6%, U.S. 5.2%).
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Chester stays C−.
70% of the jobs in Chester pay over $3,333 a month
9,153 jobs are based in Chester.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Chester, 2013 → 2023: 10,832 → 9,153. 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.
Where the trip to work from Chester ends
Where Chester clocks in
18% 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.
A workday in Chester: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 11,113 residents head out to work, 1,060 work right here, and 8,093 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 (0.75 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Each way, about 23 minutes from Chester
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Chester workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 11,332 commuters (the 10% who work from home are left out). Across Pennsylvania: 81% drive alone, 4% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Short hops and long hauls 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 among the most walkable U.S. towns
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Chester is among the most walkable U.S. towns, #24 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. 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 12,526 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 80% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 11.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 95% 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). 29.2% of Chester households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 11% of Chester’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 24,000 to 46,000, and where Chester sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 27 | Northampton Township PA | 39,919 | $159K | 2.5% | 3.1% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 40 | Horsham Township PA | 27,882 | $122K | 4.3% | 2.4% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,186 | Russellville AR | 29,521 | $51K | 20.8% | 5.9% | 48% | C− |
| 1,187 | Hopkinsville KY | 30,411 | $49K | 19.3% | 6.2% | 59% | C− |
| 1,188 | Chester PA | 33,996 | $41K | 29.0% | 17.6% | 9% | C− |
| 1,189 | Wilkes-Barre PA | 44,523 | $49K | 23.1% | 8.5% | 18% | C− |
| 1,190 | Hinesville GA | 36,674 | $60K | 14.0% | 8.5% | 22% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,255 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Pennsylvania.
How Chester compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Upland (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Chester workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chester | – | C− | A+ | 23 min | $41,342 |
| Chester Township | under 2% | C+ | A | 19 min | $58,125 |
| Upland | 2% | B− | A+ | 19 min | $61,553 |
| Nether Providence Township | under 2% | A | A | 31 min | $150,950 |
| Woodlyn | under 2% | — | — | 25 min | — |
| Ridley Township | 2% | B+ | A+ | 25 min | $92,835 |
| Trainer | under 2% | B− | A+ | 32 min | $81,250 |
| Eddystone | under 2% | C− | A | 28 min | $51,953 |
| Parkside | under 2% | A | A+ | 23 min | $93,929 |
| Brookhaven | under 2% | A | A− | 27 min | $91,042 |
Same-state neighbors only. Woodlyn: 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 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?
$41,342 (±$4,759) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Chester?
29.0%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Chester?
23 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Chester work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Philadelphia (18%, 17 mi), Middletown Township (3%, 6 mi), Ridley Township (2%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Chester walkable?
Chester is among the most walkable U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 14.6 out of 20, and 21% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Chester without a car?
11% of commuters take transit and 29% of households have no car. 80% 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.