Richard IV Alsop House · Photo: Joseph C. Berlepsch · Public domainWhere Middletown earns its living
Middletown grades B for jobs and income and A for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 1.9 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 31.8 in Stamford. About one in five work in Middletown itself; outside it, Hartford draws the most (9%, 15 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Middletown and work: the main findings
Middletown trades workers with the towns around it
Middletown has about as many jobs (24,905) as working residents (21,697), but they are mostly different people: 17,967 residents leave for work each day while 21,175 people come in. Only 15% of the jobs in Middletown are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Middletown draws workers from far and wide
The 24,905 jobs in Middletown are filled from a wide area. Middletown’s own residents hold 15% and the ten next-biggest home towns 24%; the other 61% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Middletown
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Middletown is better than 59% of U.S. towns, #121 of 155 in Connecticut. Job access by car holds Middletown’s grade up (ahead of 86% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (12.0%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Middletown could be anywhere from B− to B+.
Who leaves Middletown for work, and who comes in
On a workday 17,967 residents head out to work, 3,730 work right here, and 21,175 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.15 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Out of Middletown to work: where people go
Where Middletown clocks in
9% of workers
6% of workers
4% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
69% of the jobs in Middletown pay over $3,333 a month
24,905 jobs are based in Middletown.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Middletown, 2013 → 2023: 23,924 → 24,905. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Middletown’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 23 minutes to work from Middletown
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Middletown workers work from home, vs 16% across Connecticut. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 22,096 commuters (the 14% who work from home are left out). Across Connecticut: 82% drive alone, 4% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
How many miles Middletown commutes
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Middletown is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Middletown is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns, #29 of 155 in Connecticut. Both inputs place Middletown near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 25,713 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 29% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 26% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 67% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 10.7% of Middletown households have no vehicle (Connecticut 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Middletown’s commuters take a bus or train.
542nd of 909: where Middletown ranks among U.S. towns of 34,000 to 65,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| 3 | Upper Arlington OH | 35,893 | $155K | 3.3% | 2.0% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 27 | Glastonbury CT | 35,503 | $157K | 3.8% | 2.9% | 15% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 99 | Southington CT | 44,242 | $124K | 4.9% | 3.4% | 17% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 167 | West Hartford CT | 64,242 | $130K | 6.3% | 4.1% | 14% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 540 | Perry Township IN | 52,290 | $67K | 21.4% | 5.1% | 20% | B |
| 541 | Montgomery Village MD | 34,110 | $95K | 13.1% | 6.3% | 2% | B |
| 542 | Middletown CT | 48,439 | $79K | 12.0% | 4.7% | 17% | B |
| 543 | La Porte TX | 37,983 | $81K | 12.2% | 5.4% | 10% | B |
| 544 | Coconut Creek FL | 58,626 | $75K | 11.0% | 5.0% | 6% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 909 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Middletown, the top three, the last and three more from Connecticut.
How Middletown compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Meriden (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Middletown workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Middletown | – | B | A | 23 min | $79,438 |
| Cromwell | 3% | A | A− | 24 min | $110,596 |
| Portland | under 2% | A | C+ | 28 min | $118,929 |
| Middlefield | under 2% | A− | C+ | 25 min | $99,837 |
| East Hampton | under 2% | A | C | 30 min | $124,577 |
| Haddam | under 2% | A− | B− | 31 min | $114,426 |
| Berlin | 2% | A+ | B− | 21 min | $113,598 |
| Higganum | under 2% | — | — | 29 min | — |
| Meriden | 4% | C+ | A | 23 min | $71,253 |
| Durham | under 2% | A | C− | 23 min | $158,857 |
Same-state neighbors only. Higganum: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Middletown’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Middletown: questions
What is the median household income in Middletown?
$79,438 (±$5,516) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,781 across Connecticut and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Middletown?
12.0%, against 10.0% across Connecticut and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Middletown?
23 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Connecticut and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Middletown work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Hartford (9%, 15 mi), New Haven (6%, 22 mi), Meriden (4%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Middletown walkable?
Middletown is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.6 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Middletown without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. 26% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Middletown, from the people who make the trip.
More of Middletown
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.