Middletown, Delaware

Area Profile

24,661 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Middletown, in New Castle County.

64out of 100
Area Score
Top 31% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 16 sources
Opportunity2,906th of 4,199 cities measured47
GrowthTop 37% of 4,224 cities measured56
Housing affordabilityTop 4% of 4,218 cities measured87
ClimateTop 47% of 4,225 cities measured71
Physical resilienceTop 47% of 4,226 cities measured61
Access2,571st of 4,226 cities measured90
Economic stabilityTop 18% of 4,226 cities measured73
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.8% and median household income $112,831, putting employment conditions in the middle range of cities measured.

Housing is more affordable relative to local incomes than in most cities measured: rent takes 23% of renter income and the median home is 3.2 times what its owners earn.

A typical July reaches 87°F and a typical January falls to 26°F, on thirty-year normals.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
24,661
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$112,831
Top 12% nationally
Density
1,827/sq mi
13.5 sq mi of land
Median age
38.7
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Delaware
Nearest major airport
DOV
26 mi · Dover AFB
Median home value
$409,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.8% — higher than in all but 32% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment fell 2.0% over the past year, to 11,809 employed residents.

44% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 85% of measured US cities.

Median household income of $112,831 is higher than in 88% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsNew Castle County, DE’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$77,41359th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftNew Castle County, DE’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$79,02863rd percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$15,4592024 ACS 5-Year$112,831Top 12%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$9,1162024 ACS 5-Year$52,839Top 15%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year8.0%Top 38%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±2.6 min2024 ACS 5-Year32.5 minBottom 24%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year44.0%Top 15%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year73.7%38th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202611,809Bottom 5%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−2.1%Bottom 22%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−2.0%Bottom 19%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202612,3995th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year85.8%Top 21%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wagePhiladelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$71,730Top 41%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wagePhiladelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$54,310Top 41%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year0.7%82nd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.1%Top 50%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.8%Bottom 32%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year18.9%84th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2023/012023/102024/072025/042026/074.92.5
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.8% in July 2026. It has been rising for the last 2 months, over a series running from 2023-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

2021202220232024115k94k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $112,831 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Home Health and Personal Care Aides158,280$29,800
Registered Nurses73,790$101,180
Fast Food and Counter Workers69,080$32,220
General and Operations Managers68,730$121,630
Retail Salespersons63,990$34,810
Cashiers54,100$33,050

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

46% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 64% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 15.0 students for every full-time teacher across 16 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
16
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
15.0
across all schools here
Math proficiency
45.9%
2018-19 school year
Reading proficiency
63.6%
2018-19 school year
The 12 largest of 16 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
MOT Charter School · charterMOT Charter School1,40717.463%77%
Appoquinimink High SchoolAppoquinimink School District1,35715.240%64%
Middletown High SchoolAppoquinimink School District1,23115.434%60%
St. Georges Technical High SchoolNew Castle County Vocational-Technical School District1,19815.028%49%
Waters (Alfred G.) Middle SchoolAppoquinimink School District93517.060%69%
Meredith (Everett) Middle SchoolAppoquinimink School District86714.033%58%
Cedar Lane Elementary SchoolAppoquinimink School District63415.862%73%
Bunker Hill Elementary SchoolAppoquinimink School District56614.959%68%
Silver Lake Elementary SchoolAppoquinimink School District55213.847%55%
Brick Mill Elementary SchoolAppoquinimink School District52414.248%65%
Lorewood Grove Elementary SchoolAppoquinimink School District49215.4——
Redding (Louis L.) Middle SchoolAppoquinimink School District45114.543%60%

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Delaware’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 2% above the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 102.4, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Wilmington, DE-MD-NJ Metropolitan Division is up 47% over five years, and up 4.4% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $2,632 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.64% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $2,010, some 27% above the $1,583 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $2,010 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $80,400 a year, about 71% of the median household income here of $112,831.

The typical renter household here spends 23% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,583 a month.

A median home at $409,600 costs 3.2 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $129,924, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Cost of living
102.4

Prices here run about 2% above the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
23.1%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.2×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$2,010
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,583
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$409,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Middletown’s median household income of $112,831, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metro Area’s figure2023102.4Top 49%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Wilmington, DE-MD-NJ Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+4.4%71st percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Wilmington, DE-MD-NJ Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+46.9%68th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Wilmington, DE-MD-NJ Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+82.6%35th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.42024 ACS 5-Year3.2Bottom 31%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±6%2024 ACS 5-Year76.8%52nd percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±5652024 ACS 5-Year9,13693rd percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,690Bottom 33%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$2,410Bottom 38%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$2,010Bottom 32%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$1842024 ACS 5-Year$1,583Bottom 17%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$27,3152024 ACS 5-Year$409,60083rd percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1782024 ACS 5-Year$2,63268th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$16,1492024 ACS 5-Year$129,924Top 12%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.06%2024 ACS 5-Year0.64%24th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year23.1%Top 24%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±242024 ACS 5-Year01st percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year1.3%19th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±1092024 ACS 5-Year12369th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

56/ 100
Top 37% of 4,224 published city profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, in a series running from 2020 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 10% since 2020, reaching 25,686 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 31 units authorized in 2025, 71% below the prior year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 56 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across New Castle County, which contains Middletown, in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $77,413, close to the $79,028 of households that moved out.

At 2.3 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
56
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.3
Bottom 46% nationally
Year over year
+100%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202426k23k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been rising for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.1%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
91%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$77,413
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$79,028
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Philadelphia County, PA 2,129 people · 11% of arrivals
  2. Delaware County, PA 1,997 people · 10% of arrivals
  3. Chester County, PA 1,083 people · 5.5% of arrivals
  4. Cecil County, MD 878 people · 4.5% of arrivals
  5. Montgomery County, PA 440 people · 2.2% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Philadelphia County, PA 1,299 people · 6.8% of departures
  2. Delaware County, PA 1,243 people · 6.5% of departures
  3. Chester County, PA 1,179 people · 6.2% of departures
  4. Cecil County, MD 1,151 people · 6.0% of departures
  5. Montgomery County, PA 300 people · 1.6% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. This is the figure for New Castle County, DE. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

20202021202220232024202535531
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−91%).

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 87°F and January a low of 26°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 45.3 inches, including 20.2 inches of snow.

Air quality measures a median index of 43, in the Good band, and about 4 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station WILMINGTON NEW CASTLE CO AP, 17.0 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.7"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year672024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals45.3"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals20.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals26°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals87°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals61991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year42024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year432024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals44°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
43
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
67
90th percentile index
Days above 100
4
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

61 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, cold wave and earthquake, with inland flooding alone responsible for 74% of it. Cold wave is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

Winter weatherModerate
Inland floodingModerate
EarthquakeModerate
HurricaneModerate
Strong windModerate
DroughtModerate
Coastal floodingModerate
LandslideModerate

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, cold wave, ice storm, tornado, lightning, wildfire, hail, tsunami, avalanche, volcanic activity.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Violent crime
186
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
1,392
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Middletown's police department reported 186 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,392.

New Castle County records 5.4 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 10.4 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 27.5 per 100,000 residents in New Castle County.

Homicide
5.4
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
10.4
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
27.5
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
10.4
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Middletown’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe the county around Middletown (New Castle County) rather than Middletown itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

6 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Dover AFB at 26 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year96.7%Top 17%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle26 miBottom 34%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle6Top 27%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1.0%2024 ACS 5-Year1.6%Top 17%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Dover AFBDOV26 mi9,602 ft
Philadelphia IntlPHL39 mi12,000 ft
Baltimore/Washington Intl Thurgood MarshallBWI54 mi10,503 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
64
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Other cities in Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia County1,579,70660Philadelphia vs Middletown
WilmingtonNew Castle County71,72753Wilmington vs Middletown
CamdenCamden County71,49651Camden vs Middletown
LevittownBucks County50,92668
SicklervilleCamden County44,99862
NorristownMontgomery County35,89362
ChesterDelaware County33,61953
Drexel HillDelaware County30,45169
NewarkNew Castle County30,33047
King of PrussiaMontgomery County25,85779
GlassboroGloucester County23,71770
PottstownMontgomery County23,47664

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put Middletown side by side with a similar place.

Middletown vs Pike Creek ValleyMiddletown vs Clemmons

Moving to Middletown from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

ZIP codes in Middletown

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Middletown with census figures of its own, largest first.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
1970953,234$132,956$470,90064