Work & commute · Chester

Work & commute in Chester, VA

Most working residents leave Chester for work: only 4% work in town. The top destinations are Richmond (18%), Colonial Heights (2%) and Hopewell (2%). Half commute less than 13 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

433 of 10,107 working residents

Typical commute

13 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

28 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

17%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 9,674 Chester residents head out of town to work, 433 work right here, and 5,705 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Chester.

9,674live here, work elsewhere

433live and work here

5,705work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Chester goes to work

Richmond12.6 mi away

18%1,784

Chester (in town)right here

4%433

Colonial Heights6.6 mi away

2%218

Hopewell8.5 mi away

2%206

Petersburg10.4 mi away

2%187

Innsbrook22.3 mi away

2%177

Mechanicsville19.7 mi away

2%160

Virginia Beach87 mi away

1%124

Manchester11.2 mi away

1%124

Brandermill13.2 mi away

1%108

Everywhere elseother towns and states

65%6,586

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.

33%

45%

18%

33%Under 10 mi

45%10–24 mi

4%25–50 mi

18%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Chester is a commuter town

0.61jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Chester are

6,138 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

6,138 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)3%

Trade, transport & utilities36%

Services (health, schools, offices…)61%

$1,250 a month or less27%

$1,251–$3,333 a month40%

Over $3,333 a month34%

Jobs Chester residents hold

10,107 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)66%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month61%

+6%

Jobs based in Chester, 2013 → 2023: 5,776 → 6,138. 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.