Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 3.0At 0.9%, unemployment in Middletown is lower than in 95% of U.S. towns
24% of workers have no commute at all, where New York as a whole has 15%. The two grades for Middletown are B− for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. About one in three stay in Middletown for work; outside it, New York City is the main destination (8%, 110 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Middletown, in brief
Middletown’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Middletown is New York City, 110 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (81) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A big share show a job far from home
42% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
A lot of Middletown works from home
25% of Middletown workers work from home, against 15% across New York. 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 965 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where Middletown’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Middletown is better than 47% of U.S. towns, #435 of 758 in New York. Unemployment holds Middletown’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (near the bottom of U.S. towns). 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 C to B.
How far Middletown goes to work
About 42% 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.
About 30 minutes to work from Middletown
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Middletown workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,122 commuters (the 24% who work from home are left out). Across New York: 57% drive alone, 25% 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 625 residents head out to work, 340 work right here, and 571 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 (0.94 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 Middletown goes to work
Where Middletown clocks in
8% 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.
Inside Middletown’s 911 jobs
911 jobs are based in Middletown.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Middletown, 2013 → 2023: 834 → 911. 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.
Most trips from Middletown start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Middletown is more walkable than 41% of U.S. towns, #573 of 758 in New York. 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 1,486 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). 8.2% of Middletown households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Middletown’s commuters take a bus or train.
Middletown next to U.S. towns of 2,300 to 4,400: 2,354th of 4,453 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | East Williston NY | 2,616 | $215K | 2.3% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 10 | Lloyd Harbor NY | 3,587 | $250K | 2.1% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 47 | Great Neck Estates NY | 3,139 | $238K | 5.7% | 1.7% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,352 | Carthage NC | 3,070 | $83K | 14.2% | 2.7% | 8% | B− |
| 2,353 | Yellowhead Township IL | 2,549 | $95K | 9.5% | 9.4% | 7% | B− |
| 2,354 | Middletown NY | 3,250 | $78K | 11.8% | 0.9% | 35% | B− |
| 2,355 | Shippensburg Township PA | 4,343 | $53K | 27.0% | 10.6% | 4% | B− |
| 2,356 | River Bend NC | 2,890 | $72K | 8.2% | 4.3% | 5% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,453 | 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 New York.
How Middletown compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Shandaken (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Middletown workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Middletown | – | B− | C+ | 30 min | $78,021 |
| Andes | under 1% | C− | B | 26 min | $75,000 |
| Roxbury | 2% | C | B | 23 min | $58,042 |
| Shandaken | 5% | C− | B− | 31 min | $66,031 |
| Bovina | under 1% | — | — | 21 min | — |
| Hardenburgh | under 1% | — | — | 29 min | — |
| Halcott | under 1% | — | — | 33 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Bovina, Hardenburgh and Halcott: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. 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?
$78,021 (±$7,449) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Middletown?
11.8%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Middletown?
30 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 24% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Middletown work?
35% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New York City (8%, 110 mi), Shandaken (5%, 16 mi), Albany (4%, 55 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Middletown walkable?
Middletown is more walkable than 41% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.1 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Middletown without a car?
<1% 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.