Photo: Acroterion · CC BY-SA 4.0Middletown’s household incomes are higher than in 97% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Middletown A; getting around on foot earns it C+. 1.1% of residents live below the poverty line; Maryland has 9.4%. 29% of workers have no commute at all, where Maryland as a whole has 19%.
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 Frederick trade workers both ways
Frederick is the top workplace for Middletown residents (18%) and also where the most people who work in Middletown come from (11% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
A lot of Middletown works from home
29% of Middletown workers work from home, against 19% across Maryland. 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.
The four measures behind Middletown’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Middletown is better than 91% of U.S. towns, #72 of 261 in Maryland. The poverty rate is its strongest input; unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (4.0%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Middletown could be anywhere from A− to A+.
18% of working residents work in Frederick
Where Middletown clocks in
18% of workers
3% 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 long Middletown spends getting to work: about 33 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Middletown workers work from home, vs 19% across Maryland. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,712 commuters (the 29% who work from home are left out). Across Maryland: 80% drive alone, 5% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Who commutes out of Middletown, and who commutes in
On a workday 2,221 residents head out to work, 109 work right here, and 1,125 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,000 people are in Middletown on a workday afternoon, 22% fewer than live here.
0.53 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.
In Middletown, services account for most jobs
1,234 jobs are based in Middletown.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Middletown, 2013 → 2023: 1,073 → 1,234. 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.
Short hops and long hauls 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.
Most of Middletown commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Middletown is more walkable than 40% of U.S. towns, #232 of 261 in Maryland. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 8.0% across Maryland.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,423 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 1.7% of Middletown households have no vehicle (Maryland 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Middletown’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Middletown ranks: 370th of 3,758 U.S. towns of 3,500 to 6,800
| # | 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 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 16 | Fulton MD | 5,677 | $222K | 0.7% | 1.7% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Riva MD | 4,976 | $176K | 1.1% | 1.2% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 36 | Hampton MD | 5,372 | $171K | 3.8% | 0.5% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 368 | Covedale OH | 6,500 | $91K | 5.5% | 1.1% | 1% | A |
| 369 | Glenarden MD | 6,422 | $106K | 5.3% | 3.6% | 1% | A |
| 370 | Middletown MD | 5,056 | $173K | 1.1% | 4.0% | 5% | A |
| 371 | Monroe Township IN | 6,541 | $102K | 4.2% | 2.3% | 6% | A |
| 372 | Peninsula Township MI | 6,160 | $138K | 4.2% | 0.7% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,758 | 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 Middletown, the top three, the last and three more from Maryland.
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?
$173,333 (±$35,063) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,678 across Maryland and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Middletown?
1.1%, against 9.4% across Maryland and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Middletown?
33 minutes each way on average, against 31 across Maryland and 26 nationally. 29% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Middletown work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Frederick (18%, 7 mi), Ballenger Creek (8%, 7 mi), Washington (3%, 46 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Middletown walkable?
Middletown is more walkable than 40% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.9 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 2% 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.