Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Middletown grades B+ overall, 24th among Rhode Island's 38 graded towns. Residents are healthier than 87% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. What holds it back is price: homes are expensive, about $766K for a typical one and 8.8 times the Providence metro’s $87K median household income. 17% of the land in Middletown is conserved, above both Rhode Island’s towns (11%) and U.S. towns (4.3%). Middletown is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings include Whitehall and Lyman C. Joseph House.
Where Middletown beats most towns.
Whitehall
Census counts: 840 in 1790, a peak of 29,290 in 1970, 17,075 in 2020. The archive holds 34 old photos and papers going back to 1896 and 7 maps from 1890 on.
15 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Rhode Island), ordered by how far Middletown is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for hazard risk (better than 98% of comparable towns) to D− for cost of living (better than 2%), so the B+ overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Middletown. Close and well known come first.
Big draw4 mi MuseumThe Breakers
7 mi Ancient siteHMS Endeavour
4 mi MuseumMarble House
Big draw39 mi Stadium & arenaGillette Stadium
3 mi MuseumThe Elms
14 mi MuseumUSS MassachusettsThe Breakers: UpstateNYer, CC BY-SA 3.0 · HMS Endeavour: Samuel Atkins (c.1760-1810), Public domain · Marble House: [email protected], Public domain · Gillette Stadium: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0 · The Elms: The original uploader was Daderot at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 3.0 · USS Massachusetts: USN, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Middletown, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 30, 2026.
Ordered by what stands out in Middletown.
Middletown has a longer frost-free season than almost anywhere else in Rhode Island and draws workers from Portsmouth and beyond, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of Rhode Island.
20 miles of trail in 9 parks and preserves. Middletown’s trail density is 1.4 miles per square mile, above both the Rhode Island town median (0.8) and the median of U.S. towns (0.4). Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge, at 232 acres with 2.7 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge | 2.7 mi | 232 |
| 2. Middletown Valley Park | 1.4 mi | 51 |
| 3. Norman Bird Sanctuary | 1.2 mi | 223 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Middletown school district. Three of its 6 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Middletown High School, with 523 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gaudet Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 431 | B− |
| Middletown High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 523 | A− |
| Aquidneck SchoolTop results in townGrades PK–3 | Grades PK–3 | 302 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within RI on state tests and graduation
11,375 jobs are based in Middletown, 1.7 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
Middletown’s average trip to work is 20 minutes. Jobs based in Middletown grew to 11,375 in 2023, 1,786 more than in 2013. 26% of Middletown working residents work locally.
| Middletown | Rhode Island towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 26% | 12% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $102,000 | $105,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 8.5% | 6.5% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 95% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 37 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Middletown.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
At 8.8 years of the Providence metro’s $87K median household income, the typical home (about $766K) costs more against local pay than in 84% of Rhode Island towns; that ratio is one input to its D− for cost of living.
The median rent in Middletown is $1,990 a month. Typical home values rose 5.6% in the year to September 2026. 58% of households own their home in Middletown.
| Middletown | Rhode Island towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,990 a month | $1,366 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 58% | 76% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Middletown beats the Rhode Island average on 11 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1.
| Middletown | Rhode Island towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 34% | 36% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 34% | 33% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 30% | 35% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 85% | 85% | 79% |
| What stands out | Middletown | RI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 10.6% | 15.1% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 9.3% | 13.1% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.3% | 8.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Rhode Island has less reported crime than most states, so among its own towns Middletown sits closer to the middle.
| Middletown | Rhode Island towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 6.5 per 1,000 residents | 4.9 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.1 per 1,000 residents | 0.6 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The Newport Rose weather station records that the frost-free season runs about 216 days, the highest of 67 Rhode Island places with climate records. The Newport Rose weather station records that about 2 days a year reach 90°, fewer than in 95% of U.S. towns.
Middletown has chilly winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 81°, January nights drop to 23° and about 26 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Adults 18 to 34 are 19% of residents (24% statewide). Middletown has lost 3.4% of its people since 2020, down to 16,502 in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 47% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 38% across Rhode Island.
| Middletown | Rhode Island towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 47% | 37% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 22% | 21% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 19% | 18% | 22% |
| Median age | 43.8 years | 44 years | 40.5 years |
47% women, 53% men
About 113 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±2 points). Across Rhode Island, 50.9% of residents are women.
| Middletown | RI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10.2% | 10% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.8% | 8.8% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.3% | 10% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 12.8% | 13.8% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.2% | 12.7% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.7% | 11.9% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15.7% | 13.9% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 12.4% | 11% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9.9% | 7.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.9% | 10.3% | 10.4% |
| High school | 26.5% | 26.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 15.9% | 17.4% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 5.3% | 8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 27.6% | 22.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 19.8% | 15.4% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
4 within 15 miles of the center of Middletown
About 7 of every 100 Middletown residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Rhode Island.
Where Middletown’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
15 places in Middletown on the National Register of Historic Places.
3 notable people were born in Middletown.
Town in Rhode Island, United States
Middletown is a town in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 17,075 at the 2020 census. It lies to the south of Portsmouth and to the north of Newport on Aquidneck Island, hence the name "Middletown."
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Middletown.
| Town | RI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Middletown | #24 | B+ | D− | B+ | B | A |
| Newport East | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Portsmouth | #5 | A+ | D | A | A | A |
| Newport | #34 | C | D− | C+ | C− | A |
| Melville | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Jamestown | #2 | A+ | D | A | A+ | A+ |
Newport East and Melville aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Middletown with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Middletown grades B+ overall, better than 67% of U.S. towns and #24 of 38 in Rhode Island. It grades A for health, B+ for safety and B for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D−.
Yes, by national standards. Rhode Island has less crime than most states, so among its own towns Middletown sits nearer the middle.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D−.
3 notable people were born here, including Wilder Dwight Bancroft and Bill Cowsill.
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