Work & commute · Middletown

Work & commute in Middletown, DE

Most working residents leave Middletown for work: only 15% work in town. The top destinations are Wilmington (8%), New Castle (5%) and Dover (4%). Half commute less than 18 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

15%

1,525 of 10,473 working residents

Typical commute

18 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

30 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

19%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 8,948 Middletown residents head out of town to work, 1,525 work right here, and 9,061 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Middletown.

8,948live here, work elsewhere

1,525live and work here

9,061work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Middletown goes to work

Middletown (in town)right here

15%1,525

Wilmington22.6 mi away

8%825

New Castle17.7 mi away

5%489

Dover22.1 mi away

4%386

Philadelphia, PA50 mi away

3%338

Newark16.4 mi away

3%305

Smyrna11.7 mi away

2%176

Glasgow11.2 mi away

1%153

Elkton, MD12.6 mi away

1%108

Bear12.4 mi away

1%106

Everywhere elseother towns and states

58%6,062

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Middletown commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

19%

58%

14%

19%Under 10 mi

58%10–24 mi

14%25–50 mi

9%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Middletown is balanced between jobs and homes

1.01jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.01 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Middletown are

10,586 jobs are based in Middletown. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Middletown’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Middletown

10,586 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)63%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month51%

Jobs Middletown residents hold

10,473 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)11%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)68%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month66%

+101%

Jobs based in Middletown, 2013 → 2023: 5,276 → 10,586. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.