Administration -- City Administrator's Welcome

Welcome to Middleton! Welcome to the City of Middleton! This community of over 21,000 residents is very well-rounded, and whether you’re seeking a place to live, work, play or just visit, we’re glad you’re in the Good Neighbor City. Middleton is a vibrant urban ring city on the west side of Madison, the state capital. From 2005- 2013, Middleton was honored by Money Magazine and CNN as one of the top ten small city places to live in the U.S. (under 50,000 population), including “America’s Best Place to Live” (2007). Our community still offers the best of living and working in a small city while having all the great attributes of a dynamic larger city. Learn what Middleton residents and businesses think of the community in surveys taken during the midst of the pandemic in October 2020.  Following are some of our best attributes: 

  • The Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District, its high level of academic and co-curricular achievements, prominent athletic programs, outstanding staff, Green Ribbon awards, and quality facilities such as the community’s Performing Arts Center are keys to the community’s success. 
  • Corporate headquarters and /or primary facility for American Girl (Mattel), Capital Brewery, Electronic Theatre Controls (ETC), Fiskars, Gilson Medical Instruments, Mead & Hunt Engineering, the National Mustard Museum, Natus Neurology (North America), PPD, Springs Window Fashions, Standard Imaging (multiple winners of Wisconsin’s Best Small Manufacturer Award), Spectrum Brands, Lucigen, Hy Cite and Paradigm among many other great businesses in a dynamic regional economy. 
  • Proud of our environmental ethic, sustainable city plan, and initiatives, Tree City U.S.A. designation 28 years running, and as a Wisconsin Water Star, Bird City, and Legacy Green Tier community. Home of the environmental gem of the Pheasant Branch Conservancy. 
  • Home to the acclaimed Middleton Hills, the first “new urbanism” subdivision in the Midwest, and the Downtown Middleton neighborhood, honored as the State’s Best neighborhood in 2012 by the Thousand Friends of Wisconsin, the foremost statewide environmental group. 
  • Public amenities, in addition to the City’s varied service buildings, also include the scenic Pleasant View Golf Course; Middleton Municipal Airport—Morey Field; Capitol Ice arena; two Middleton historic museums (the Rowley House and the Depot), extensive and cost-effective public services and an Aa1 bond rating. Middleton continues to be heralded in many varied ways: City Awards
  • Visitors are welcomed by our historic Middleton Depot Visitors Center and nearly 80 eclectic dining establishments and 1,000 hotel rooms in nine hotels. 
  • A regional employment center, we are a net importer of nearly 10,000 employees and an exporter of income to surrounding communities. Moreover, the City, Middleton Chamber of Commerce, and Middleton Area Development Corporation have forged a sustainable and strong partnership in community development.
  • Host of Good Neighbor Festival since 1964, partners in economic development with the City of Madison, University of Wisconsin, and other communities through the Madison Regional Economic Partnership: Madison Region
  • Proud of our heritage which started with the advent of the railroad between Madison and the Mississippi River in 1856. On April 9, 1963, Middleton transitioned from a Village to a City.
  • For those in our larger community who struggle with life’s challenges, we exhibit good neighborliness through our local churches and service clubs, Middleton Outreach Ministry, Restoring Hope Transplant House, Gilda’s Club, Gio’s Garden, the Middleton Community Endowment, Middleton Equity Team, and many other individual and group philanthropic efforts.