Cornwell Inn · Photo: Bill Fitzpatrick · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Chester have lower incomes than those in 92% of U.S. towns
19.4% of residents live below the poverty line, where South Carolina as a whole has 14.1%. Chester grades D for jobs and income and B− for walkability. At home: 2% of workers have no commute at all (South Carolina 12%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Chester
Chester trades workers with the towns around it
Chester has about as many jobs (1,994) as working residents (2,259), but they are mostly different people: 2,111 residents leave for work each day while 1,846 people come in. Only 7% of the jobs in Chester are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Chester has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Chester went from 1,197 in 2013 to 1,994 in 2023, +67%. The jobs ↓
Few Chester workers work from home
Only 2% of workers work from home, against 12% across South Carolina. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
What’s behind Chester’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Chester is better than 12% of U.S. towns, #139 of 168 in South Carolina. Job access by car holds Chester’s grade up (ahead of 47% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($46,138, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Chester could be anywhere from D to C+.
How many people are in Chester by day
On a workday 2,111 residents head out to work, 148 work right here, and 1,846 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 (0.88 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.
Jobs in Chester: what the 1,994 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Chester, 2013 → 2023: 1,197 → 1,994. 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.
From Chester, about 28 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Chester workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,101 commuters (the 2% who work from home are left out). Across South Carolina: 86% drive alone, <1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
14% of working residents work in Rock Hill
Where Chester clocks in
14% of workers
8% of workers
3% 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.
The distance from Chester to work
About 22% 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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Getting around Chester: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Chester is more walkable than 49% of U.S. towns, #78 of 169 in South Carolina. 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 2,135 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 12.2% of Chester households have no vehicle (South Carolina 5.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Chester’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Chester compares with U.S. towns of 3,700 to 7,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 93 | Isle of Palms SC | 4,377 | $157K | 2.5% | 1.3% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 110 | India Hook SC | 3,960 | $107K | 1.2% | 0.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 236 | Lake Murray of Richland SC | 7,023 | $119K | 2.0% | 2.3% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,311 | Rochester IN | 6,132 | $57K | 18.1% | 7.7% | 29% | D |
| 3,312 | Tamaqua PA | 6,929 | $46K | 26.7% | 6.4% | 9% | D |
| 3,313 | Chester SC | 5,324 | $46K | 19.4% | 7.6% | 7% | D |
| 3,314 | Lake Panasoffkee FL | 4,768 | $45K | 30.5% | 4.6% | 2% | D |
| 3,315 | Iowa Falls IA | 5,013 | $50K | 10.7% | 9.1% | 39% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,651 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 South Carolina.
Work in the towns next to Chester
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Chester workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chester | – | D | B− | 28 min | $46,138 |
| Eureka Mill | 2% | D | C− | 32 min | $36,486 |
| Gayle Mill | under 1% | — | — | 36 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Gayle Mill: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Eureka Mill. 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?
$46,138 (±$6,703) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Chester?
19.4%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Chester?
28 minutes each way on average, against 26 across South Carolina and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Chester work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Rock Hill (14%, 19 mi), Charlotte (8%, 41 mi), Greenville (3%, 66 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Chester walkable?
Chester is more walkable than 49% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Chester without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
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.