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Place dossier plate
SheetIL-CHESTER-IL · Chester, IL 6,830 pop · income 56th pct · 10 tracts
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
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Chester on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Murphysboro · lowest
42,367
Murphysboro · lowest
42,367 median HH income
19.5% of the leader · rank #1
Fivepointville · near
74,659
Fivepointville · near
74,659 median HH income
34.3% of the leader · rank #2
Upland · near
74,663
Upland · near
74,663 median HH income
34.3% of the leader · rank #3
Willow · near
74,669
Willow · near
74,669 median HH income
34.3% of the leader · rank #4
Chester · this city
74,673
Chester · this city
74,673 median HH income
34.3% of the leader · rank #5
Columbia Heig… · near
74,688
Columbia Heig… · near
74,688 median HH income
34.3% of the leader · rank #6
Darnestown · highest
217,679
Darnestown · highest
217,679 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
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.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Chester on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. 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: 6,830.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Chester - the verdict
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Chester places in the 56th percentile for household income and the 92nd percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
56th
percentile, household income
12th
percentile, home value
18th
percentile, median rent
92nd
percentile, safety
📝 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, IL
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 6,830 residents in Chester, a small town within Illinois. Households in Chester report a median income of $74,673 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 13.6%. Typical homes in Chester are valued around $107,800, and the median resident age is 43.5 years. About 7.8% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 33.5% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 0 residential units authorized here in 2024 (No Permits). Chester reports a comparatively low crime rate: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program logs 313.2 total incidents per 100,000 residents here, below the national average (agency reporting is voluntary, so this measures reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
Illinois tracks close to the national cost-of-living baseline: the state registers 100.0 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Near Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,063 per month. Monthly utility costs average around $240 across Illinois, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 54.5 out of 100 (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Chester'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 comparison shortlist to schools and households to reported crime to housing and income to work and mobility to within-city variation to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Chester, city-specific coverage includes within-city Census tract profiles, matched public-school count, commute-mode shares, annual population history, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
Question 1
Which cities make useful reference points for Chester?
Within Illinois, the closest population matches are Calumet Park (6,836 residents, $57,389 income); Litchfield (6,814 residents, $54,190 income); Murphysboro (6,804 residents, $42,367 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Ave Maria, FL (6,826 residents); Unionville, NC (6,826 residents); Darnestown, MD (6,835 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. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
The NCES join finds 2 public schools within the city match. 7.8% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
The matched institution count is small, so district boundaries and schools outside the city line may matter more than the municipal count suggests. Use the number as a coverage cue, then verify attendance zones with the district before making a household decision.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Chester?
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 313.2 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 86% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
That layer breaks the citywide income, rent, and home-value medians into smaller Census geographies, which can reveal differences that one municipal median necessarily hides. A tract is a statistical area, not a locally defined neighborhood or a promise about conditions on a particular block. Start with the city profile for the broad comparison, then use the tract layer to test whether the same housing and income pattern is consistent across the city. Large within-city spreads are a reason to avoid treating any citywide median as a universal resident experience.
PlainCities matches 10 Census tracts to this city.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Chester?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 1.4 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 13.6%, 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. The ratio makes housing the clearest place to start this profile, but a low multiple can coexist with slow demand, older stock, or household-level hardship. Compare the home-value distribution and same-state peer table before treating it as an advantage.
Household income
$74,673
Home value
$107,800
Value / income
1.4×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
What does the journey to work look like in Chester?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. The profile is strongly car-oriented, so a relocation comparison should put trip distance, vehicle access, and household fuel costs ahead of a citywide commute average. The same-state peer links offer a more relevant benchmark than a national label.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 90.5%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Public transit
0.0%
Work from home
1.4%
Drive alone
90.5%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 2,091 workers age 16+.
The recent population line is broadly flat. That makes the composition of change more important than the headline count: housing turnover, household size, and age structure can shift even when the total barely moves.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +30 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +0.4% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 0 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Period change
+0.4%
2025 estimate
6,847
2020 estimate
6,817
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
Above median income · poverty 13.6% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
100.0 (US=100)
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Illinois average
D
City profile score · Chester, IL
44/100
5 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.
Violent crime A
45 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Household income C-
$74,673
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Cost of living D
100.0 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Poverty rate F
13.6%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
7.8%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Chester profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Violent crime: 85/100 (A) · 45 /100k
Household income: 54/100 (C-) · $74,673
Cost of living: 40/100 (D) · 100.0 index
Poverty rate: 25/100 (F) · 13.6%
Bachelor's+ share: 0/100 (F) · 7.8%
Where Chester sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Chester's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Chester highlighted among 8 peers.Read the chart values
Chester, IL (this city): home $107,800, crime 313/100k
Monessen, PA : home $87,100, crime 3,070/100k
Huron, OH : home $205,900, crime 363/100k
Calumet Park, IL : home $180,800, crime 4,510/100k
Litchfield, IL : home $100,500, crime 3,366/100k
Murphysboro, IL : home $79,600, crime 3,466/100k
Mount Carmel, IL : home $88,500, crime 599/100k
Mendota, IL : home $121,100, crime 508/100k
How does Chester compare to other US cities?
Here's how Chester stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income56% higher than other cities
Home value12% pricier than other cities
Median rent18% pricier than other cities
Safety92% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
A national percentile can hide a lot of local variation: narrowed to Illinois alone, Chester ranks #71 of 455 Illinois cities by lowest crime rate - a different, more locally useful comparison than stacking it against the entire country.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Chester against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Illinois only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Illinois-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Chester near the bottom of Illinois's cities
Among the 1,336 Illinois cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Chester ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Chester only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#501 of 1,311
62nd percentile in Illinois
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,336
0th percentile in Illinois
Median Home Value
#749 of 1,315
43rd percentile in Illinois
Poverty Rate
#294 of 1,335
78th percentile in Illinois
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#1,168 of 1,336
12th percentile in Illinois
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 Illinois only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
56th percentile nationally for median household income · 92nd percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Chester's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Chester's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Chester's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$107,800Among the most affordablemore affordable than 88% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
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's home-value-to-income ratio: 1.4×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#319 of 15,516
More affordable than 98% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#314 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 1.4×, Chester sits in the affordable band:
national rank #319 of 15,516 and #314 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
The multiple is comparatively compact among tracked cities, but a low ratio can still coexist with slow demand or household-level hardship.
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
$74,673Chester, IL median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Chester, IL 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, IL.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)7.8%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)13.6%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)33.5%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
6,830
Median Income
$74,673
Median Home Value
$107,800
Median Age
43.5
Poverty Rate
13.6%
Labor force participation
33.5%
Bachelor's Degree+
7.8%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
313.2
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
44.7
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
268.4
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Schools
Total Schools
2
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Chester's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
6,817 residents
2021
6,824 residents
2022
6,645 residents
2023
6,621 residents
2024
6,748 residents
2025
6,847 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
Total Permits (2024)
0
housing units authorized
Single-Family
0
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
0
0
0
-
2020
0
0
0
-
2021
0
0
0
-
2022
0
0
0
-
2023
0
0
0
-
2024
0
0
0
-
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
90.5%
Carpool
2.8%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
3.0%
Work from Home
1.4%
Other
2.3%
Based on 2,091 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Illinois statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $240
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Illinois at $240 (electricity about $100 , water and sewer about $50 ).
These are Illinois statewide averages, not a meter reading for Chester. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Illinois's BEA cost-of-living index is 100.0 (Near Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Chester is $1,063/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Illinois statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 54.5 / 100 (Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Illinois statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Chester sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Chester compares to similar-size Illinois 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.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, FBI UCR, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, 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.