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Middletown, Ohio
Inside Middletown's city limits, a shallow water table limits basements on 14% of mapped land. Shrink-swell clay limits houses without basements on 3%.
That water-table share is below Butler County's 30%. USDA doesn't rate the 28% of mapped land classed as urban land, so these shares are floors. FEMA's flood data list 23 flood losses since 2016 in the 3 ZIP codes overlapping the city. Of its 23,046 homes, 74% were built before 1980; the median dates from 1965.
Data as of September 22, 2026 · sources · in Butler County
expansive clay: shrink-swell limits slab homes
high water table: limits basements
flood losses since 2016 in 3 overlapping ZIPs
of homes built before 1980
Soil under Middletown city limits
| Expansive clay (limits slab homes) | 2.9% |
| High water table (limits basements) | 14.4% |
| Septic fields very limited | 55.5% |
| Clay swell (LEP, by area) | 4.0% |
| High-swell land (LEP 6%+) | 0.4% |
| Urban land, not rated | 27.6% |
| Mapped soil | 17,119 acres |
| Soil series | Share here | Series nationally: high water table |
|---|---|---|
| Eldean | 13% | 0% |
| Russell | 11% | 1% |
| Miamian | 10% | 78% |
| Patton | 4% | n/a |
| Genesee | 3% | n/a |
| Ockley | 3% | 0% |
What the numbers mean here
USDA rates 55% of the land very limited for septic absorption fields.
With shrink-swell clay on 3% and a shallow water table on 14% of the land, the soil survey points to neither problem across most of Middletown; conditions still vary lot by lot.
Drought in Butler County
0% of Butler County is in drought (D1 or worse) on the September 22, 2026 map. County detail.
Flood losses by ZIP code
FEMA flood records since 2016 in the ZIP codes that overlap Middletown. ZIP areas reach past city limits.
| ZIP | Share of city land | Flood losses | Paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| 45044 | 55% | 11 | $141,462 |
| 45042 | 32% | 7 | $32,322 |
| 45005 | 12% | 5 | $97,495 |
Homes in Middletown
| Housing units | 23,046 |
| Median year built | 1965 |
| Built before 1980 | 74% |
| Built 2000 or later | 11% |
| Owner-occupied | 54% |
| Median value, owner-occupied | $164,400 |
| Single-family detached | 66% |
Nearby cities
| Place | Distance | Expansive clay | High water table |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monroe | 4 mi | 27% | 41% |
| Franklin | 5 mi | 2% | 27% |
| Trenton | 6 mi | 1% | 4% |
| Carlisle | 6 mi | under 1% | 13% |
| Jacksonburg | 8 mi | 25% | 75% |
| Springboro | 8 mi | 8% | 28% |
| Germantown | 9 mi | 5% | 59% |
| Lebanon | 10 mi | 16% | 27% |
Sources: USDA SSURGO (August 5, 2026) · US Drought Monitor (September 22, 2026) · FEMA NFIP v3 (September 9, 2026) · Census ACS 2020-2024. Methods · Data status