Work & commute · Chester

Work & commute in Chester, OH

Most working residents leave Chester for work: only 7% work in town. The top destinations are Wooster (26%), Ashland (5%) and Orrville (4%). Half commute less than 14 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

94 of 1,265 working residents

Typical commute

14 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

26 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

11%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,171 Chester residents head out of town to work, 94 work right here, and 438 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Chester.

1,171live here, work elsewhere

94live and work here

438work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Chester goes to work

Wooster7 mi away

26%328

Chester (in town)right here

7%87

Ashland13.5 mi away

5%64

Orrville14.7 mi away

4%47

Akron32.1 mi away

3%43

Wooster7.9 mi away

3%38

Plain5.4 mi away

2%30

Medina21.8 mi away

2%22

Cleveland47.5 mi away

2%21

Canton36.2 mi away

1%18

Everywhere elseother towns and states

45%567

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.

37%

30%

20%

13%

37%Under 10 mi

30%10–24 mi

20%25–50 mi

13%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Chester is a commuter town

0.42jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.42 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Chester are

532 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

532 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)27%

Trade, transport & utilities9%

Services (health, schools, offices…)64%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month24%

Over $3,333 a month62%

Jobs Chester residents hold

1,265 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)28%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)54%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month59%

−12%

Jobs based in Chester, 2013 → 2023: 605 → 532. 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.