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Work & commute · Chester

Work & commute in Chester, ME

Most working residents leave Chester for work: only 6% work in town. The top destinations are Lincoln (18%), Bangor (10%) and Millinocket (9%). Half commute less than 27 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times
Work in town
6%
12 of 194 working residents
Typical commute
27 mi
Half commute less than this, straight-line
Average commute time
33 min
One way, from the Census survey
Work from home
10%
of workers, from the Census survey
Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 182 Chester residents head out of town to work, 12 work right here, and 262 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Chester.

182live here, work elsewhere
12live and work here
262work here, live elsewhere
Leave for workStayCome in
The map

Where Chester goes to work

South PortlandBrewerBangorOld TownAugustaShermanBurlingtonEnfieldWoodvilleLeeMillinocketLincolnChesterPattenMedwayEast MillinocketLincolnBangorMillinocketMedwayEast MillinocketBrewerSouth PortlandOld TownAugustaChester
1
Lincoln6.1 mi away
18%34
2
Bangor43.9 mi away
10%19
3
Millinocket17.2 mi away
9%17
4
Medway13.5 mi away
9%17
5
Chester (in town)right here
6%12
6
East Millinocket15.9 mi away
6%12
7
Brewer46.2 mi away
3%6
8
South Portland152.3 mi away
3%5
9
Old Town35 mi away
2%4
10
Augusta96.8 mi away
2%4
Everywhere elseother towns and states
33%64

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.

21%Under 10 mi
29%10–24 mi
21%25–50 mi
29%Over 50 mi
Job hub or commuter town?

Chester is balanced between jobs and homes

1.41jobs per working resident
Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.41 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Chester are

274 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

274 jobs
Goods (factories, building, farms)68%
Trade, transport & utilities30%
Services (health, schools, offices…)2%
$1,250 a month or less14%
$1,251–$3,333 a month20%
Over $3,333 a month66%

Jobs Chester residents hold

194 working residents
Goods (factories, building, farms)21%
Trade, transport & utilities20%
Services (health, schools, offices…)59%
$1,250 a month or less14%
$1,251–$3,333 a month34%
Over $3,333 a month52%
+39%

Jobs based in Chester, 2013 → 2023: 197 → 274. 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.

The coffee’s on

Where to, neighbor?

You’re in Chester, MEPenobscot CountyView boundary

Nearby

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Chester is your selected town. The feed includes posts assigned to this town, not a distance radius or ZIP code.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/15 · 2025-01-01
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