Best PlacesChester, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Chester, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Chester ranks 44,493rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. Crime pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on walkability.
The best neighborhoods in Chester
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Chester's strengths and weaknesses
Where Chester ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 83% of towns
- Cheap childcare$582 a month, better than 80% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 72% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 71% of towns
- BikingBetter than 69% of towns
Where Chester ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 9% of towns
- Household income$50,663 median, better than only 13% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 14% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 15% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Chester
A household needs to earn about $38,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Chester home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $50,663, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Chester's effective rate of 0.64%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Chester
Chester runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Chester.
Who works in Chester, and how
Work in Chester centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Chester
Chester has more restaurants and bars per resident than 68% of towns and more parkland per resident than 94% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Chester and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Chester, month by month
Chester sees roughly 92 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 43° | 35° |
| April | 73° | 61° | 50° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 70° |
| October | 74° | 63° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Chester
Charlotte/Douglas International sits about 37 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 25.9 million passengers in 2025, with 213 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Chester
Schools across Chester average a D+, better than 18% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Jefferson ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Hickory Grove-sharon ElementaryB− · 40% proficient
- Academy For Teaching And LearningC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lewisville MiddleC · 35% proficient
- York IntermediateC · 33% proficient
- Chester MiddleD− · 15% proficient
Top high schools
- Lewisville HighA− · 60% proficient
- York Comprehensive HighB+ · 57% proficient
- Chester Senior HighB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Chester school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Chester measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Chester against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Chester
Is Chester a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Chester ranks 44,493rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, affordable childcare, and fast internet, and lowest on crime and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Chester expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $150,150. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $50,663 median income, cost of living beats 15% of towns.
Is Chester safe?
Chester is safer than 9% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $772 per resident a year.
Compare Chester with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Chester. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Chester represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Chester detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Chester: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Chester: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Chester: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Chester: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Chester detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.