Best PlacesMiddletown, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Middletown, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Middletown ranks 552nd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Middletown
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Middletown's strengths and weaknesses
Where Middletown ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 94% of cities
- Household income$159,455 median, better than 94% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 93% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 92% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than 92% of cities
Where Middletown ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of cities
- Short commute33.9 minutes each way, better than only 8% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 15% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,493 a month, better than only 16% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 16% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Middletown
A household needs to earn about $178,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Middletown home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $159,455; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Middletown's effective rate of 1.63%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Middletown
Middletown runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Middletown.
Who works in Middletown, and how
Work in Middletown centers on professional & technical and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 70%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Middletown
Middletown has more restaurants and bars per resident than 72% of cities and more parkland per resident than 95% of cities. The coast is about 6 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Middletown and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Middletown, month by month
Middletown sees roughly 66 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 34° | 26° |
| April | 64° | 53° | 42° |
| July | 88° | 77° | 68° |
| October | 70° | 59° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Middletown
Newark Liberty International sits about 20 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 23.5 million passengers in 2025, with 242 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Middletown
Schools across Middletown average a C, better than 30% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Wolf Hill SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Nut Swamp Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Middletown Village Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- William R. Satz SchoolA− · 55% proficient
- Thompson Middle SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Maple Place Middle SchoolB− · 39% proficient
Top high schools
- Marine Academy Of Science And TechnologyA+ · 87% proficient
- Holmdel High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- Middletown High School SouthB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Middletown school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Middletown measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Middletown against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Middletown suits
Families
Schools land around the 30th percentile and crime safety beats 78%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 90% of cities and 19% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Middletown
Is Middletown a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Middletown ranks 552nd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on big-city access, high incomes, and tree cover, and lowest on state finances and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Middletown expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $611,774. The overall cost of living runs about 17% above the national average. Set against a $159,455 median income, cost of living beats 90% of cities.
Is Middletown safe?
Yes, Middletown is safer than 78% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $157 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Middletown?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 44 with lows near 26. That works out to about 66 pleasant days a year, more than 19% of cities.
Is Middletown good for families?
Schools beat 30% of cities, crime safety beats 78%, and childcare runs $1,493 a month.
Compare Middletown with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Middletown. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Middletown represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Middletown detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Middletown: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Middletown: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Middletown: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Middletown: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Middletown detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.