Chester, Georgia.
Typical home $177,065 (+13.7% in a year).
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$540 (+139%) since Jan 2020.
- 1 year
- Up $21,369 +14%
- $155,695$177,065 since Sep 2025
- 5 years
- Up $38,108 +27%
- $138,957$177,065 since Sep 2021
Monthly payment to buy the typical home
Home value × that month's 30-year mortgage rate, 20% down, principal and interest. This is the line households feel: prices and rates compound each other.
- Chester$929
- Georgia$1,727
- United States$1,922
At the last five years' pace, a typical home here doubles in price every 14 years.
Typical home values in Chester, GA rose 13.7% over the past year — faster than the nation's +1.2%.
Living in Chester, Dodge County, Georgia
Chester is a town of 525 people in Dodge County. Half its households earn more than $56,048 a year and half less, against $51,587 across Dodge County. Unemployment in Dodge County was 3.3% in August 2026, and the county had 1.2% more jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most people in Dodge County work in schools and health care, then manufacturing.
Written by AI Claude Sonnet 5.5 wrote this on 23 October 2026 from the figures here, a list of nearby places and what it knows. It can be wrong or out of date.
What it’s like
The place. Chester is a very small town in Dodge County, Georgia, where everyone is likely to know one another. Residents are somewhat younger than in many small towns, and household incomes run a little above the county's. Homes here are priced modestly, and few adults hold a four-year degree. Winters are mild and cool, with January the coldest month, while summers turn hot, especially in July, and rain is steady through the year.
Work. Residents work mostly in schools, hospitals and social care, with others in manufacturing, government and the building trades. Across Dodge County, some of the largest workplaces are Dodge County Schools, Walmart and Dodge County Hospital. Unemployment across the county is a little lower than a year earlier, and the county has added a few more jobs.
Things to do. Whitley Branch, a river, is a short drive away and suits time by the water. A longer drive brings you to Little Ocmulgee State Park, a protected area, and to the Hawkinsville Opera House, a theatre. The Museum of Aviation is also a longer drive away, for those who enjoy a museum outing.
Report a mistake
- 5%of adults have a degree
What people in Dodge County work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Dodge County had 5,013 jobs in 2025, 1.2% more than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 59° and lows near 38°; warmest in July, with highs near 91° and lows near 72°. About 47 inches of rain and melted snow a year.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Eastman West weather station, 14 miles away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Dodge County
- Dodge County SchoolsSchool district464FTE
- WalmartWarehouse clubs and supercenters300
- Dodge County HospitalGeneral hospital167FTE
- Mondi Bags USABags, multiwall, made from purchased uncoated paper125
- Hoover Architectural SolutionsFabricated structural metal manufacturing106
- Valence Surface TechnologiesPolishing metals and metal products for the trade102
- Selectis HealthNursing homes79
- Ocmulgee Electric MembershipDistribution of electric power40
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 7 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 778 people in all across the county; Chester has none of its own. School districts come from the Common Core of Data (NCES, 2023–24) and hospitals from their Medicare cost reports (CMS, 2023); FTE marks full-time equivalent staff. Not listed: many offices and banks, which need not report to OSHA; military bases, whose staff OPM withholds; and, in about half the states, city and county governments.
Natural hazards
- Cold wavesVery high
- DroughtRelatively moderate
- HurricanesRelatively moderate
- Heat wavesRelatively moderate
- LightningRelatively moderate
- Strong windRelatively moderate
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in Chester’s census tracts, against the rest of the country; all of them together, relatively low. It is meant for planning, not a substitute for a local risk assessment or a flood map: FEMA’s index.
From the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census and its American Community Survey (2020–2024 five-year estimates), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A survey, so each figure has a margin of error, and figures it is not sure of are left out. More on Dodge County.
Chester home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
- Chester$177,065
- Georgia$329,115
- United States$366,157
When this market ran hot
Each cell is that month's year-on-year home-value growth. Read left to right, top row is the latest year — the 2021–22 band is the boom.
Zip codes with a Chester address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Chester — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.