City profile · Connecticut · Census ACS 2023

Chester Center, CT

Chester Center's Census ACS profile: residents, income, housing, and the joined public-record layers available for this place.

1,876
Residents
$73,542
Median income
$397,400
Median home
$1,955
Median rent (state)
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Side-by-side metrics and state or size-class ranks use the same Census and FBI fields shown on this profile. Results stay in the URL so you can bookmark or share them.

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See how it ranks

State rank, size-class rank, and four peer cities for Chester Center.

Place dossier plate

Sheet CT-CHESTER-CENTER-CT · Chester Center, CT 1,876 pop · income 54th pct

POP-VILLAGE · INC-MID · COL-PAR · SAFE-UNK · RANK-MID · PHOTO-FINISH · HOME-MID · BOOK-UNK

  • POP-VILLAGE 1,876
  • INC-MID $73,542
  • COL-PAR 103.6
  • SAFE-UNK Safety pending
  • RANK-MID 54th
  • PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Biggs
  • HOME-MID $397,400
  • BOOK-UNK Tracts pending

Nearest income peer: Biggs, CA (+ $0 income $)

Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.

Income neighbourhood around Chester Center

Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Chester Center on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.

median HH income

What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.

Source U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 5-Year Estimates As of 2026-08-08

Compare beyond this state

Nationwide peers by population, income

Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Chester Center on ACS population and median household income . Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.

Similar population

Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 1,876.

4 peers

Similar household income

Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS median household income. This city: $73,542. Population peers are excluded.

4 peers

Chester Center - the verdict

Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Chester Center lands in the 54th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.

54th
percentile, household income
77th
percentile, home value
86th
percentile, median rent
📝 How we sourced this

Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.

Data Snapshot: Chester Center, CT

Chester Center is a small town in Connecticut, home to 1,876 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Median household income here is $73,542 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 13.1%. Home values in Chester Center run a median of $397,400, and the median resident age is 50.6 years. 35.5% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 57.0% of working-age residents are in the labor force.

Connecticut carries a cost-of-living premium: the state registers 103.6 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Above Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,955 per month. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Connecticut's average monthly utility costs around $345 (state average). Natural-hazard exposure scores 87.6 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Very High).

A decision-led reading path

Useful questions to ask of Chester Center's data

How this reading path is ordered

This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from housing and income to work and mobility to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.

For Chester Center, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares. No matched row is reported here for matched public-school count, local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.

Question 1

How far does income reach against housing in Chester Center?

The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 5.4 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 13.1%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.

This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.

Compare the housing trade-off →

2. Work and mobility

What does the journey to work look like in Chester Center?

Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.

Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 76.9%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.

Compare commute patterns →

Question 3

Which cities make useful reference points for Chester Center?

Within Connecticut, the closest population matches are Madison Center (1,818 residents, $190,769 income); Moodus (1,815 residents, $88,482 income); Suffield Depot (1,947 residents). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Lukachukai, AZ (1,876 residents); Byron, CA (1,876 residents); Thornton, IL (1,876 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.

Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching.

Open a side-by-side comparison →

Population

1,876 residents

Micro place (under 10k)

Median Household Income

$73,542 /yr

Above median income · poverty 13.1% (Above-median poverty)

Cost of Living Index (state)

103.6 (US=100)

High cost · BEA RPP 2024, Connecticut average

City profile score · Chester Center, CT

42/100

4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023

Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians (income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out and redistribute weight. How it is calculated.

Bachelor's+ share B-
35.5%

Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.

Household income C-
$73,542

Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.

Poverty rate F
13.1%

Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.

Cost of living F
103.6 index

BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.

Violent crime N/A
N/A

No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).

Chester Center profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions) 4-axis radar comparing 1 series across Bachelor's+ share, Household income, Poverty rate, Cost of living. Bachelor's+ shareHousehold incomePoverty rateCost of living 42 D
Chester Center profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)
Read the chart values
  • Bachelor's+ share: 67/100 (B-) · 35.5%
  • Household income: 53/100 (C-) · $73,542
  • Poverty rate: 27/100 (F) · 13.1%
  • Cost of living: 24/100 (F) · 103.6 index

How does Chester Center compare to other US cities?

Chester Center measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.

Household income 54% higher than other cities
Home value 77% pricier than other cities
Median rent 86% pricier than other cities

"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.

How we calculate these percentiles & ranks

Each percentile compares Chester Center against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Connecticut only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.

Connecticut-relative analysis

Median Gross Rent places Chester Center near the bottom of Connecticut's cities

Among the 207 Connecticut cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Chester Center ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Chester Center only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.

Median Household Income
#159 of 198
20th percentile in Connecticut
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 207
0th percentile in Connecticut
Median Home Value
#84 of 201
58th percentile in Connecticut
Poverty Rate
#25 of 204
87th percentile in Connecticut
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#145 of 207
30th percentile in Connecticut
How in-state ranks are ordered

Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Connecticut only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.

54thIncome percentile
Gauge source note

54th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.

How Chester Center's home value compares nationally

Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)

$397,400 23rd percentile more affordable than 23% of 15,600 US cities

Show national distribution $0–$25,000: 5 US cities (0%). Below this entry. $25,000–$50,000: 54 US cities (0%). Below this entry. $50,000–$75,000: 352 US cities (2%). Below this entry. $75,000–$100,000: 1,086 US cities (7%). Below this entry. $100,000–$125,000: 1,516 US cities (10%). Below this entry. $125,000–$150,000: 1,170 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $150,000–$175,000: 1,278 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $175,000–$200,000: 1,229 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $200,000–$225,000: 1,035 US cities (7%). Below this entry. $225,000–$250,000: 976 US cities (6%). Below this entry. $250,000–$275,000: 754 US cities (5%). Below this entry. $275,000–$300,000: 712 US cities (5%). Below this entry. $300,000–$325,000: 521 US cities (3%). Below this entry. $325,000–$350,000: 526 US cities (3%). Below this entry. $350,000–$375,000: 465 US cities (3%). Below this entry. $375,000–$400,000: 393 US cities (3%). This entry sits in this band. $400,000–$425,000: 317 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $425,000–$450,000: 300 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $450,000–$475,000: 307 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $475,000–$500,000: 250 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $500,000–$525,000: 160 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $525,000–$550,000: 156 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $550,000–$575,000: 172 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $575,000–$600,000: 172 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $600,000–$625,000: 163 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $625,000–$650,000: 167 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $650,000–$675,000: 135 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $675,000–$700,000: 101 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $700,000–$725,000: 95 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $725,000–$750,000: 71 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $750,000–$775,000: 65 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $775,000–$800,000: 70 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $800,000–$825,000: 57 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $825,000–$850,000: 67 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $850,000–$875,000: 60 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $875,000–$900,000: 58 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $900,000–$925,000: 47 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $925,000–$950,000: 37 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $950,000–$975,000: 31 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $975,000–$1,000,000: 470 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $1,000,000–$1,025,000: 0 US cities (0%). Above this entry. Chester Center $0 $1,025,000 every US city, bucketed by value

Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023

Chester Center's home-value-to-income ratio: 5.4×

ACS median home value divided by median household income.

Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#13,458 of 15,516
More affordable than 13% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#10,081 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)

At 5.4×, Chester Center sits in the pressured band: national rank #13,458 of 15,516 and #10,081 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000). Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median, a comparison flag, not a verdict on any household.

How this ratio is calculated

Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000. Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0). This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.

Income distribution context

$73,542 Chester Center, CT median household income (Census ACS)

Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Household income distribution - Chester Center, CT Chester Center, CT's median household income ($73,542) against the U.S. national quintile-share pattern. The Lorenz curve and quintile bars are national context, not Chester Center, CT-specific shares. $ Household Income Distribution Chester Center, CT median $73,542/yr, vs. U.S. national quintile pattern QUINTILE SHARE OF AGGREGATE INCOME Lowest 20% 3.4% Second 20% 9.2% Middle 20% 15.1% Fourth 20% 23.2% Top 20% 49.1% LORENZ CURVE cumulative income vs. population 100% 0% 100% pop. 0%
Chester Center, CT median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Chester Center, CT.

Key socioeconomic indicators

Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+) 35.5%

Census ACS S1501, educational attainment

Poverty rate (households below FPL) 13.1%

Census ACS S1701, poverty status

Labor force participation (adults 16+) 57.0%

Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force

Population
1,876
Median Income
$73,542
Median Home Value
$397,400
Median Age
50.6
Poverty Rate
13.1%
Labor force participation
57.0%
Bachelor's Degree+
35.5%

Commute Patterns

Commute source

How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023

Drive Alone
76.9%
Carpool
3.3%
Public Transit
0.5%
Walk
1.1%
Work from Home
17.7%

Based on 883 workers 16 and over.

Monthly Utility Costs

Connecticut statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $345

EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Connecticut at $345 (electricity about $175 , water and sewer about $60 ).

These are Connecticut statewide averages, not a meter reading for Chester Center. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.

Living Costs & Risk

Connecticut's BEA cost-of-living index is 103.6 (Above Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Chester Center is $1,955/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Connecticut statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 87.6 / 100 (Very High).

Cost/risk geography note

Cost of living is a Connecticut statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Chester Center sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.

How Chester Center compares to similar-size Connecticut cities

Same-state peer method

Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.

City Population Median Household Income
Chester Center (this city) 1,876 $73,542
Madison Center 1,818 $190,769
Moodus 1,815 $88,482
Suffield Depot 1,947 N/A
Primary sources on this page

Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Citation & verification links Data sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCities

Primary sources: Census ACS, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES. Joins use OMB Bulletin 23-01 / FIPS keys.

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Estimate caveats

ACS and UCR figures are citywide estimates with vintage lags; they do not replace a local visit, school visit, or insurance quote.

Editorial standards, provenance, and how to cite this page

Every figure on PlainCities is rendered directly from Census ACS source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on Census ACS source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

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