Report: Middletown's Crime Rate Has Plummeted, Population on the Rise

Middletown's population growth is projected to be more than twice the state average by 2020 and its crime rate has plunged by more than half in the last 17 years, according to new data released this week by The Connecticut Economic Resource Center.

The city comprised 47,510 residents in 2011 and that number is expected to rise by nearly 4,000 by 2020 to 51,372, according to CERC findings, and crime per capita dropped by more than half from 468 per 10,000 residents in 1994 to 221 per 10,000 residents in 2011

The average Middletown resident is between the ages of 25 and 49 and either college educated or has a high school degree and most likely works in the city, according to CERC.

The latest town profiles, which are derived from 2011 and 2012 Census and other information, offer demographic, economic, housing, education and workplace data for each of Connecticut’s 169 municipalities via an interactive map. 

“The CERC Connecticut Town Profiles is the only succinct two page summary of current demographic, economic, housing, municipal government fiscal, education and labor force data for all 169 municipalities in the state of Connecticut,” said Alissa DeJonge, Vice President of research at CERC. 

Data collection categories which determine such elements of life in Middletown as economics, education and the labor force have changed dramatically since first collected in 1994-95. For example, the number of miles to Connecticut's State Capitol was considered a factor in one's quality of life 23 years ago, as was the number of banks in town.

In 1995, the average Middletown resident was Caucasian and between the ages of 15-34 and was just as about as likely to have a high school diploma, completed some college or have a college degree. 

The population makeup of the city has changed dramatically — the number of Caucasian residents has remained steady in the last 23 years, the number of blacks has decreased, those of Asian-Pacific or Native American ethnicity have risen and the residency of Hispanics and individuals of multiple races has exploded.

The ACS consists of demographic estimates based on the decennial Censuses. Other notable additions to the CERC Town Profiles include populations receiving Temporary Assistance and populations receiving Food Stamps in the Other Information section of the profiles.