Chester is an unincorporated community of 2,130 in Plumas County, about 50 miles northeast of downtown Chico · Updated November 2026
Is Chester, CA safe?
Yes. An overall CrimeGrade™ of A- means crime in Chester is low. Most US neighborhoods have little crime too, so Chester sits near the middle: 50% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime, and 50% in neighborhoods with less. Violent crime grades A and property crime A-.
A-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 836 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
50% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Chester as a whole, and 50% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Chester scores 836.
Crime is concentrated in a small share of places, so most neighborhoods score high on the 0 to 1,000 scale. That is why a score in the 800s can still mean more crime than most US neighborhoods.
How to read the map: each area's color compares its crime with the people, homes and cars there, on one national scale, from green for the least crime to red for the most. Each area gets its own color, so a busy shopping center can show red while the homes beside it stay green. The interactive maps load faster on a strong connection. Compare high speed internet in Chester, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Chester, and anyone thinking about buying or renting a home there.
Business and enterprise customers: this free map shows neighborhood areas. CrimeGrade™ business reports map crime at about 66-meter detail and estimate it for one address and type of business. See business reports
What stands out in Chester
Thefts run high for an A-graded city. Chester has 64.0 thefts a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of an A-graded US city, the figure is 8.3.
Crime rates and types in Chester
CrimeGrade™ estimates Chester has about 107 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, about triple the rate for the US as a whole and more than double the rate for California.
Overall crime
Violent crime
Property crime
Reported crimes a year, per 1,000 residents. These figures include simple assaults and vandalism, which the FBI's violent and property crime rates leave out.
Theft is the most common crime in Chester, about 60% of everything reported, but assault costs more, because each one does far more harm.
Each CrimeGrade™ compares a crime with what it affects: people for assaults and robbery, homes for burglary, parked cars for vehicle theft. Rates count crimes per 1,000 residents.
Select a crime's name to see its map above. CrimeGrade™ business reports map each crime at about 66-meter detail.
How Chester compares with nearby cities
Chester has the most crime of its 2 nearest cities.
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Chester about $2,044 a year per household, 70% more than the US figure of $1,205.
Cost of crime per resident, per year
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, which comes almost entirely from violent crime, the full cost comes to about $7.3 million a year, or $3,411 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$270,000
$127
Rape
$140,000
$67
Robbery
$120,000
$55
Assault
$760,000
$355
Burglary
$94,000
$44
Theft
$700,000
$328
Vehicle theft
$140,000
$67
Arson
$79,000
$37
Vandalism
$91,000
$43
Total
$2.4 million
$1,124
How CrimeGrade™ works
A CrimeGrade™ shows how much crime an area has compared with the rest of the country, from A+ for the least crime to F for the most. Every neighborhood in the US is graded on the same scale, so a B in Chester means the same as a B anywhere else.
CrimeGrade™ starts from the crimes people report to police and measures each kind of crime against what it affects: people for assaults, homes for burglaries, parked cars for car thefts.
The rates on this page count crimes for every 1,000 people who live here, the way police departments report them.
Comparisons with US neighborhoods use the Census Bureau's block groups, small areas of about 1,400 residents, and count the people who live in each. The figures count crimes reported to police; many crimes, shoplifting above all, never are. Behind the grades, CrimeGrade™ tested 21,607 factors from 125 data families. For business owners, paid CrimeGrade™ location reports estimate crime at a single address for each type of business.
Where the numbers come from
Crime reports that police departments file with the FBI
State crime records and city crime data, where they are published
Published research on what crime costs victims and communities
These are estimates of reported crime for whole areas, not a record of what happened on any one street. CrimeGrade™ updates them once a year and provides them free and without guarantee. Check local sources before you rely on them for a decision.
Schools in Chester, CA average a SchoolGrade of C-: 29% of students test proficient, against 34% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Chester on SchoolGrade
