David Robbins Homestead · Photo: Smallbones · CC0Milton has higher unemployment (6.2%) than 76% of U.S. towns
The average commute takes 25 minutes each way, where Delaware has 26 and the U.S. 26. Jobs and income earn Milton B−; getting around on foot earns it B+. Only 7% work in Milton; the top destination outside it is Lewes (8%, 9 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs & income in Milton: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Milton is better than 50% of U.S. towns, #25 of 37 in Delaware. The poverty rate holds Milton’s grade up (5.5%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Milton could be anywhere from C to A−.
The workday shuffle in and out of Milton
On a workday 1,321 residents head out to work, 99 work right here, and 1,013 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 (0.78 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.
Where Milton goes to work
Where Milton clocks in
8% of workers
5% of workers
5% 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.
What work there is in Milton: 1,112 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Milton, 2013 → 2023: 940 → 1,112. 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 Milton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 25 minutes each way for Milton’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Milton workers work from home, vs 15% across Delaware. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,092 commuters (the 17% who work from home are left out). Across Delaware: 84% drive alone, 2% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
The distance from Milton to work
About 20% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
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.
Most of Milton commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Milton is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns, #27 of 37 in Delaware. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 4.9% across Delaware.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,314 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 64% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 56% 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). 4.0% of Milton households have no vehicle (Delaware 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Milton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,264 U.S. towns of 2,700 to 5,200, Milton comes 2,188th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 390 | Clayton DE | 4,527 | $107K | 5.3% | 1.3% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 406 | Greenville DE | 3,713 | $143K | 4.0% | 4.2% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 493 | Townsend DE | 2,985 | $153K | 2.4% | 3.7% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,186 | Wildwood Lake TN | 3,495 | $63K | 15.0% | 2.3% | 1% | B− |
| 2,187 | Seward AK | 2,892 | $85K | 9.3% | 2.3% | — | B− |
| 2,188 | Milton DE | 3,860 | $81K | 5.5% | 6.2% | 7% | B− |
| 2,189 | Tuckerton NJ | 3,734 | $89K | 6.7% | 7.4% | 5% | B− |
| 2,190 | Columbiana AL | 5,106 | $81K | 9.8% | 5.0% | 10% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,264 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Milton, the top three, the last and three more from Delaware.
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 Milton: questions
What is the median household income in Milton?
$80,875 (±$17,632) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $84,954 across Delaware and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Milton?
5.5%, against 10.4% across Delaware and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Milton?
25 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Delaware and 26 nationally. 17% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Milton work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lewes (8%, 9 mi), Georgetown (5%, 7 mi), Milford (5%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Milton walkable?
Milton is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 10.2 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Milton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Milton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Milton
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.