Moving to
Chester.

All Chester data Compare Chester

24,474people live here $95,104median household income▲ 18% above US $1,603median rent per month▲ 13% above US $327,200median home valueNear US average

Chester is an unincorporated community in Chesterfield County, VA. It has no city government: the county runs it, and the Census counts it as its own place.

What it's like to live in Chester

Chester is an unincorporated community in Virginia with county unemployment below the national average, household incomes running above the national average, air quality that stays clean most of the year, and a growing population. Those factors carry real weight for anyone weighing where to move next.

The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. Chester deals with fewer dining and entertainment options than a bigger city and a car-dependent commute, with few people using transit.

The good

Low unemployment in the county
Higher-than-average incomes
Clean air
Growing population
Low student-teacher ratio

The not so good

Smaller place — fewer dining and entertainment options
Car-dependent — few commuters use transit

How Chester compares

Median household income

Chester$95,104

Virginia avg$93,170

US$80,734

Median rent (per month)

Chester$1,603

Virginia avg$1,579

US$1,413

Median home value

Chester$327,200

Virginia avg$383,700

US$332,700

What it takes to move to Chester

Based on Chester's median rent, home value and household income

To rent

$3,206

up front: first month plus a typical one-month deposit

Income to keep rent under 30%: $64,120 a year
45% of Chester renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent

To buy

$65,440

a 20% down payment on the median home

With 10% down: $32,720
Homes cost 3.4× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)

Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.

The details

Cost of living▲ 13% above US

$1,603/mo median rent

Rent is pretty middle of the road, at $1,603 a month median. Not a bargain, not a budget-buster. About typical for a city this size. Home prices are reasonable, with a median around $327,200. Not a steal, but not intimidating either.

Median home value $327,200 · 45% of renters cost-burdened

Job market

3.2% county unemployment

Unemployment in Chesterfield County is 3.2%, a little below the national average of 4.3%. That's the county-wide rate; BLS doesn't measure a place this size on its own.

Chesterfield County (county-wide)

Safety

161 violent crimes per 100k, whole jurisdiction

Chester doesn't have its own police department, so there's no crime rate for it alone. The figures shown are for the Chesterfield County Police Department jurisdiction as a whole, which runs below the national average for violent crime and covers many communities. Individual neighborhoods can differ a lot from that overall rate.

Property crime 1157/100k · Policed by Chesterfield County Police Department (county-wide rate) · 2025 data

Getting aroundNear US average

28 min average commute

Commutes run about average, at 27.8 minutes. Fine day to day, but it adds up over a year, and where someone lives relative to where they work starts to matter. 8 in 10 workers drive to work; 17% work from home.

How workers get to work

Drive alone

73%

Work from home

17%

Carpool

7.7%

Other

1.0%

Public transit

0.8%

Walk

0.5%

Climate

Summers are warm, with highs around 87°F, and winters are cold, with lows around 29°F and snow a regular occurrence. Rainfall is regular throughout the year.

Average month

High °FLow °FPrecip (in)

30-year averages, 1991–2020

Education & workforceNear US average

34% bachelor's degree or higher

Education levels run about average, with 34% college-educated. It's a mix of white-collar and blue-collar work, which can be an asset or a limitation depending on the field.

Schools

4 public schools inside the boundary

There are 4 public schools inside the boundary. The student-to-teacher ratio is 15:1, well below the national average of 16:1. Smaller class sizes are generally a positive sign for a district.

Parks & recreation

The nearest national park or historic site is Petersburg National Battlefield (12 miles away). There are 8 national parks and sites within a day's drive.

Bottom line

Chester's strongest points are county unemployment below the national average and household incomes running above the national average; the main tradeoffs are fewer dining and entertainment options than a bigger city and a car-dependent commute, with few people using transit. A year of median rent ($1,603/mo) equals 20% of the median household income here, about the same as the 21% typical nationwide. It tends to suit job seekers (county-wide unemployment is low) and remote workers (17% of workers here already work from home). It may be a harder fit for anyone who doesn't drive.

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