Census-designated place · Queen Anne's County, Maryland

Chester, Maryland

Chester is a census-designated place in Queen Anne's County, Maryland, part of the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD metro area. It has 4,797 residents. Chester, Maryland has a quality-of-life score of 62 out of 100 (high), ranking #6,004 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Maryland it ranks #181 of 334 cities and towns. It ranks best on child care cost burden (low), voter turnout (high) and public transit commuters (high). It ranks worst on average commute time (high), grocery stores (low) and primary care physicians (low).

62High

Quality-of-life score: #6,004 of 15,651 cities and towns
Maryland: #181 of 334 in MD
Population: 4,797 (2020-2024)
Land area: 5 mi²
Density: 915.9 /mi²
FIPS code: 2416125

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 71 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety63#5,732/15,637
Economy77#3,583/15,631
Housing30#10,483/14,977
Health79#3,250/15,609
Healthcare20#12,450/15,650
Environment71#4,449/15,453
Education88#1,802/15,649
Infrastructure40#9,398/15,650
Community55#7,000/15,651
Leisure & amenities39#9,509/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Chester, Maryland ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Queen Anne's County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Child care cost burden · low17.8%
98/100Maryland 26.1%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteQueen Anne's County value
Voter turnout · high81.5%
98/100Maryland 68.6%United States 65.2%2024U.S. Election Assistance CommissionQueen Anne's County value
Public transit commuters · high2.5%
86/100Maryland 4.2%United States 3.2%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08301High uncertainty
Reading scores · high3.28
86/100Maryland 3.00United States 3.052019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteQueen Anne's County value
Math scores · high3.33
85/100Maryland 2.96United States 3.032019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteQueen Anne's County value
Public EV charging ports · high10.5 /10k
83/100Maryland 8.9 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyQueen Anne's County value

Weaknesses

Average commute time · high33.0 min
6/100Maryland 31.0 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Grocery stores · low0.9 /10k
10/100Maryland 1.9 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsQueen Anne's County value
Primary care physicians · low29 /100k
11/100Maryland 86 /100kUnited States 76 /100k2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteQueen Anne's County value
Distance to an emergency room · high11.7 mi
12/100Maryland 4.6 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesQueen Anne's County value
Primary care shortage · high16.0
14/100Maryland 7.1United States 6.2Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationQueen Anne's County value
Dental care shortage · high16.0
18/100Maryland 5.0United States 5.7Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationQueen Anne's County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

Child poverty rateWorsening
3.4% (2015-2019) → 17.1% (2020-2024)
+14 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Income inequality (Gini index)Worsening
0.389 (2015-2019) → 0.490 (2020-2024)
+26%5 yearsCensus table B19083US 0.482 → 0.483
Home price to income ratioWorsening
3.8× (2015-2019) → 4.8× (2020-2024)
+26%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Uninsured residents (under 65)Worsening
4.5% (2015-2019) → 8.6% (2020-2024)
+4.1 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
37.4% (2015-2019) → 40.9% (2020-2024)
+3.5 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Median household incomeImproving
$88,475 (2015-2019) → $102,399 (2020-2024)
+16%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Chester, Maryland improved on 0 of 11 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 10 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved0

No measure improved by more than its margin of error.

Declined1

Inequality+0.1010.389 → 0.490

All 11 measures

Change of every measure of Chester, Maryland between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	37.7 min2015-2019	33.0 min2020-2024	−4.7 min	Within the margin of error	88%
Bachelor's degree or higher	37.4%2015-2019	40.9%2020-2024	+3.5 points	Within the margin of error	56%
Broadband subscriptions	89.0%2015-2019	87.8%2020-2024	−1.2 points	Within the margin of error	6%
Effective property tax rate	0.94%2015-2019	0.76%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	53%
High school diploma or higher	92.3%2015-2019	94.2%2020-2024	+2 points	Within the margin of error	58%
Home price to income ratio	3.8×2015-2019	4.8×2020-2024	+1.0×	Within the margin of error	23%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3892015-2019	0.4902020-2024	+0.101	Declined	4%
Median household income	$88,4752015-2019	$102,3992020-2024	+16%	Within the margin of error	25%
Rent as share of income	34.0%2015-2019	33.1%2020-2024	−0.9 points	Within the margin of error	62%
Rent-burdened households	54.7%2015-2019	56.5%2020-2024	+1.7 points	Within the margin of error	50%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	4.5%2015-2019	8.6%2020-2024	+4.1 points	Within the margin of error	13%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Chester, Maryland five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Chester, Maryland in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Chester, Maryland itself moved −9 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

4,797 residents (±621)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

2,117 households (±256)

Chester, Maryland
Maryland share

Under $25k5.0%†105
$25k–50k14%†293
$50k–75k

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

2,117 households (±256)

Chester, Maryland
Maryland share

Own71%1,505
Rent29%612

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+7.8 points).

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

2,677 workers (±403)

Chester, Maryland
Maryland share

Drive alone74%1,987
Carpool6.8%†183
Public transit2.5%†

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Queen Anne's County, the county holding most of Chester's residents.

Queen Anne's County has 1,421 employer establishments, 270 for every 10,000 residents (1.09× the US rate of 248; 1.17× Maryland's), with 12,926 paid employees at an average annual pay of $52,084. The Census Bureau also counts 5,612 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 1,421; 5,612 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 270; US 248 · Maryland 230
Paid employees: 12,926
Average annual pay: $52,084; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Queen Anne's County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Specialty trade contractors	155	29.5	1.90×More than typical	821	$62,285	413
Ambulatory health care services	93	17.7	0.85×About typical	695	$59,419	200
Restaurants and other eating places	78	14.8	0.81×About typical	1,715	$28,071	11
Building equipment contractors	64	12.2	2.02×More than typical	360	$67,322	83
Construction of buildings	63	12	1.58×More than typical	243	$56,588	201
Services to buildings and dwellings	60	11.4	1.69×More than typical	392	$45,679	297
Lessors of real estate	53	10.1	0.82×About typical	88	$51,864	654
Management, scientific and technical consulting	40	7.6	1.13×About typical	147	$119,537	303
Clothing and accessories stores	38	7.2	1.99×More than typical	439	$21,540	52
Limited-service restaurants	38	7.2	0.90×About typical	585	$23,296	8
Building finishing contractors	37	7	1.85×More than typical	129	$45,264	123
Automotive repair and maintenance	36	6.8	1.36×More than typical	207	$56,812	64

Rank places for an industry Open Queen Anne's County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 52,624 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $901.4K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Chester, Maryland: $188 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $901.4K; +54% vs FY2025
Per resident: $188; US $1,994
Sole-source: 22%; US 30%
Single offer: 16%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Department of the Navy$443.6K49%
Federal Acquisition Service$138.6K15%
Defense Logistics Agency$136.7K15%
U.S. Secret Service$48.3K5.4%
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement$37.5K4.2%
Department of the Air Force$25.9K2.9%
U.S. Coast Guard$21.2K2.4%
U.S. Customs and Border Protection$12.9K1.4%

Top recipients

MARINE POLYMERS, INC$430.4K48%
TECHOPS SPECIALTY VEHICLES, LLC$240.9K27%
FAIRWINDS TECHNOLOGIES LLC$65.2K7.2%
FEDERAL RESOURCES SUPPLY COMPANY, LLC$55K6.1%
NORTHERN DEFENSE INDUSTRIES LLC$27.8K3.1%

Spending by fiscal year

5.7MFY2017
6.9MFY2018
7.5MFY2019
31.8MFY2020
8.2MFY2021
2.8MFY2022
1.4MFY2023
673.3K

Top industries (NAICS)

Ship and boat building · 3366$400.4K44%
Motor vehicle manufacturing · 3361$229.8K25%
Semiconductor and other electronic component manufacturing · 3344$78.2K8.7%
Other general purpose machinery manufacturing · 3339$45.1K5.0%
Navigational, measuring, electromedical, and control instruments manufacturing · 3345$32.9K3.6%
Other miscellaneous manufacturing · 3399$26.7K

Largest awards whose ZIP code lies mostly in Chester, Maryland

M32227333/BLDG 10- 55AV37 SINK AERATOR ADAPTER,1" MANUFACTURER: NEPHROSPART NUMBER: 70-0273$20K
FASTENERS RX, INC· Queen Anne's County, MD· Other equipment & supplies· May 12, 2026 – May 12, 2026· 75N98026P00503

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Chester, Maryland, so they do not add up across cities.

Chester, Maryland's figures are part of those of Queen Anne's County, MD ($41.3M in FY2026), never added to them: 2.2% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Chester is mostly in Queen Anne's County.

See federal money in Queen Anne's County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Chester, Maryland is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Andy HarrisR-MD-1 · 100% of residentsWith party 96%Missed 2.7%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Queen Anne's County79100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD69

Other cities and towns in Queen Anne's County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/2416125

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends