Chester profile

Living in Chester

Chester is a somewhat small city located in the state of South Carolina. With a population of 5,486 people and six constituent neighborhoods, Chester is the 71st largest community in South Carolina.

Unlike some cities where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Chester is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Chester is a city of sales and office workers, service providers, and professionals. There are especially a lot of people living in Chester who work in sales jobs (12.63%), office and administrative support (12.03%), and food service (9.04%).

In terms of college education, Chester is nearly on par with the US average for all cities of 21.84%: 18.69% of adults 25 and older in Chester have a bachelor's degree or advanced degree.

The per capita income in Chester in 2010 was $15,435, which is low income relative to South Carolina and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $61,740 for a family of four. Chester also has one of the higher rates of people living in poverty in the nation, with 41.75% of its population below the federal poverty line.

Chester is a very ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Chester home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Chester residents report their race to be Black or African-American, followed by White. Important ancestries of people in Chester include English, German, Scots-Irish, and Scottish.

The most common language spoken in Chester is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Arabic.