Photo: Bill Fitzpatrick · CC BY-SA 3.0Chesterfield’s household incomes are lower than in 93% of U.S. towns
Jobs & income D−: better than 3% of U.S. towns on income, poverty and job access.
Walkability C: more walkable than 32% of U.S. towns.
Working residents average 23 minutes each way (South Carolina 26, U.S. 26). About one in ten work in Chesterfield; the top destination outside it is Cheraw (14%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Chesterfield
Chesterfield is where the jobs are
Chesterfield has 1,184 jobs, 1.9 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 1,900 people are in town, 41% more than the 1,400 who live here. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
34% 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 ↓
Few Chesterfield workers work from home
Only 3% 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; with 628 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Chesterfield’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Chesterfield is better than 3% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Chesterfield’s grade.
Unemployment (10.0%) is left out: Chesterfield’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Chesterfield could be anywhere from D− to D.
Chesterfield fills up on a workday
On a workday 574 residents head out to work, 54 work right here, and 1,130 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,900 people are in Chesterfield on a workday afternoon, 41% more than live here.
1.9 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Half of Chesterfield commutes less than 30 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 34% 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.
About 23 minutes each way, quicker than most of South Carolina
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Chesterfield workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 470 commuters (the 3% 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.
Where Chesterfield’s workers come from
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Chesterfield clocks in
14% of workers
5% of workers
4% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
1,184 jobs are based in Chesterfield. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Chesterfield’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Chesterfield, 2013 → 2023: 1,035 → 1,184. 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.
Most trips from Chesterfield start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Chesterfield is more walkable than 32% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Chesterfield 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 484 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). 8.6% of Chesterfield households have no vehicle (South Carolina 5.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Chesterfield’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Chesterfield compares with U.S. towns of 900 to 1,800
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Chesterfield, the top three, the last and three more from South Carolina.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 209 | Pimlico SC | 1,765 | $137K | 4.8% | 0.0% | 0% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 421 | Cane Savannah SC | 1,551 | $132K | 4.6% | 11.8% | 0% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 818 | Shell Point SC | 1,439 | $82K | 3.1% | 6.4% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,079 | Konawa OK | 1,242 | $34K | 24.6% | 3.0% | 10% | D− |
| 5,080 | Okeene OK | 1,047 | $58K | 30.6% | 10.5% | 30% | D− |
| 5,081 | Chesterfield SC | 1,357 | $45K | 28.3% | 10.0% | 9% | D− |
| 5,082 | Phillips WI | 1,492 | $47K | 19.2% | 4.8% | 39% | D− |
| 5,083 | Hanover Township IL | 1,150 | $44K | 19.3% | 8.1% | 3% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,400 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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.
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 Chesterfield: questions
What is the median household income in Chesterfield?
$44,526 (±$9,175) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Chesterfield?
28.3%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Chesterfield?
23 minutes each way on average, against 26 across South Carolina and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Chesterfield work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cheraw (14%, 10 mi), Charlotte (5%, 54 mi), Monroe (4%, 33 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Chesterfield walkable?
Chesterfield is more walkable than 32% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.1 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Chesterfield without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Chesterfield, from the people who make the trip.
More of Chesterfield
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.