Head House · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainA job hub: Middletown has 1.8 jobs per working resident, and 8,229 people come in to work
There are 8,455 jobs in Middletown, against 4,577 working residents. The two grades for Middletown are B+ for jobs and income and B for walkability. Only 5% work in Middletown itself; outside it, Louisville draws the most (23%, 8 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Middletown apart on work
Middletown and Louisville trade workers both ways
Louisville is the top workplace for Middletown residents (23%) and also where the most people who work in Middletown come from (28% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Middletown is where the jobs are
Middletown has 8,455 jobs, 1.9 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Middletown
67% of Middletown residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 49% of the jobs based in Middletown pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 95% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Middletown are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 24 across Kentucky. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Kentucky worker. Time on the road ↓
Middletown draws workers from far and wide
The 8,455 jobs in Middletown are filled from a wide area. The ten biggest home towns of its workers supply 41%; the other 56% 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.
The four measures behind Middletown’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Middletown is better than 67% of U.S. towns, #39 of 142 in Kentucky. Job access by car holds Middletown’s grade up (ahead of 88% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (4.7%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Middletown could be anywhere from B− to A.
Where Middletown’s workforce comes from
Where Middletown clocks in
9% 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.
How many people are in Middletown by day
On a workday 4,351 residents head out to work and 226 work right here.
About 14,000 people are in Middletown on a workday afternoon, 39% more than live here.
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 kinds of work in Middletown
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Middletown, 2013 → 2023: 7,061 → 8,455. 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.
A commute of about 19 minutes in Middletown
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Middletown workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,276 commuters (the 12% who work from home are left out). Across Kentucky: 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Middletown
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 a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Middletown is more walkable than 58% of U.S. towns, #68 of 142 in Kentucky. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.1% across Kentucky.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,862 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 28% 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 3.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 76% 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). 8.4% of Middletown households have no vehicle (Kentucky 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Middletown’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Middletown is 1,166th among 2,722 U.S. towns of 7,000 to 13,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 33 | Francisville KY | 10,565 | $159K | 1.7% | 1.3% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 57 | Union KY | 7,937 | $137K | 2.9% | 1.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 164 | Oakbrook KY | 10,211 | $95K | 2.5% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,164 | Grand Rapids WI | 7,622 | $97K | 7.2% | 2.8% | 4% | B+ |
| 1,165 | Terrace Heights WA | 10,041 | $83K | 14.4% | 0.5% | 5% | B+ |
| 1,166 | Middletown KY | 9,944 | $83K | 9.1% | 4.7% | 5% | B+ |
| 1,167 | Ephrata Township PA | 10,675 | $85K | 6.7% | 5.4% | 7% | B+ |
| 1,168 | La Riviera CA | 11,492 | $98K | 10.8% | 5.5% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,722 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Kentucky.
Next door to Middletown
The biggest share goes to Jeffersontown (9%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Middletown workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Middletown | – | B+ | B | 19 min | $82,537 |
| Douglass Hills | under 1% | B | B− | 19 min | $78,482 |
| Anchorage | under 1% | A− | C+ | 22 min | $199,375 |
| Jeffersontown | 9% | A− | B+ | 22 min | $81,506 |
Same-state neighbors only. 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?
$82,537 (±$8,569) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Middletown?
9.1%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Middletown?
19 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Middletown work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Louisville (23%, 8 mi), Jeffersontown (9%, 4 mi), St. Matthews (5%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Middletown walkable?
Middletown is more walkable than 58% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 10.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Middletown without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 0% 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.