Work & commute · Chester

Work & commute in Chester, IL

About one in 4 of Chester’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Steeleville (9%), Perryville (4%) and Sparta (3%). Half commute less than 23 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

24%

504 of 2,108 working residents

Typical commute

23 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

20 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,604 Chester residents head out of town to work, 504 work right here, and 1,953 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Chester.

1,604live here, work elsewhere

504live and work here

1,953work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Chester goes to work

Chester (in town)right here

24%504

Steeleville10.7 mi away

9%193

Perryville, MO14 mi away

4%90

Sparta15.7 mi away

3%69

Red Bud21.7 mi away

3%67

St. Louis, MO54 mi away

2%48

Springfield129.3 mi away

2%41

Belleville41.7 mi away

2%37

Chicago293.1 mi away

1%31

Du Quoin32.8 mi away

1%23

Everywhere elseother towns and states

48%1,005

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Chester commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

28%

24%

14%

34%

28%Under 10 mi

24%10–24 mi

14%25–50 mi

34%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Chester is balanced between jobs and homes

1.17jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.17 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Chester are

2,457 jobs are based in Chester. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Chester’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Chester

2,457 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)3%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)81%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month65%

Jobs Chester residents hold

2,108 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)24%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)55%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month35%

Over $3,333 a month49%

−20%

Jobs based in Chester, 2013 → 2023: 3,085 → 2,457. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.