Photo: Chris Flook · CC BY-SA 4.0Middletown has lower household incomes than 80% of U.S. towns
Only 4% stay in Middletown for work; outside it, Anderson is the main destination (19%, 8 miles). 12.7% of residents live below the poverty line (Indiana 12.3%). For jobs and income Middletown is better than 33% of U.S. towns (C); for walkability it is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns (B+).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Middletown, in a few figures
Middletown and Anderson trade workers both ways
Anderson is the top workplace for Middletown residents (19%) and also where the most people who work in Middletown come from (12% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Middletown than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Middletown fell from 828 in 2013 to 508 in 2023, −39%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Middletown workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 32 minutes each way, against 24 across Indiana. Over a year that’s about 245 hours of commuting, 61 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
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; with 803 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Middletown’s Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds Middletown’s grade up (ahead of 61% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($56,008, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Middletown could be anywhere from D to B+.
Commuting out of Middletown: the destinations
Where Middletown clocks in
19% of workers
10% of workers
9% 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 the 508 jobs in Middletown are
508 jobs are based in Middletown.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Middletown, 2013 → 2023: 828 → 508. 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.
Time on the road from Middletown: about 32 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Middletown workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 863 commuters (the 6% who work from home are left out). Across Indiana: 85% drive alone, 1% 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 people are in Middletown by day
On a workday 772 residents head out to work, 31 work right here, and 477 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,000 people are in Middletown on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.63 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The commute from Middletown, by distance
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 trips from Middletown start in a car
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.3% across Indiana, on an EPA index of 6.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 921 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 2.2% of Middletown households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Middletown’s commuters take a bus or train.
Middletown places 3,100th of 5,102 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Meridian Hills IN | 1,800 | $212K | 0.8% | 3.6% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 159 | Foxcliff Estates IN | 1,674 | $142K | 2.8% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 167 | Swan Township IN | 2,327 | $112K | 0.7% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,098 | Monroe Township PA | 2,029 | $67K | 7.3% | 3.2% | 4% | C |
| 3,099 | Koloa HI | 2,907 | $78K | 7.1% | 7.8% | 3% | C |
| 3,100 | Middletown IN | 2,248 | $56K | 12.7% | 5.2% | 4% | C |
| 3,101 | Jamestown OH | 2,121 | $57K | 16.4% | 4.3% | 9% | C |
| 3,102 | Brady Township MI | 2,138 | $67K | 7.5% | 4.9% | 4% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 5,102 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Indiana.
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?
$56,008 (±$9,231) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Middletown?
12.7%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Middletown?
32 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Middletown work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Anderson (19%, 8 mi), Indianapolis (10%, 37 mi), Muncie (9%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Middletown walkable?
Middletown is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 6.9 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Middletown without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
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.