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Data on this report is based on areas within the legal city boundary, outlined in black on the map. Any additional neighborhoods shown on the map are associated with the city by name and are included for reference only.

Madison, WI
Real Estate & Demographic Data






Madison profile


Living in Madison



Madison is a large city located in the state of Wisconsin. With a population of 272,903 people and 69 associated neighborhoods, Madison is the second largest community in Wisconsin.

Madison real estate is some of the most expensive in Wisconsin, although Madison house values don't compare to the most expensive real estate in the U.S.

Also of interest is that Madison has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

And if you like science, one thing you'll find is that Madison has lots of scientists living in town - whether they be life scientists, physical scientists (like astronomers), or social scientists (like geographers!). So, if you're scientific-minded, you might like it here too.

Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 15.34% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

Combining city textures and college town sensibilities, Madison really has a nice blend of characteristics. While not a huge city, Madison is big enough to offer a healthy dose of diversion, opportunity, and amenity to its residents and to the thousands of college students who descend on it every fall. Its size and diversity makes Madison more than just a college town, but removing the students from the equation would undeniably change Madison’s character and quality of life.

This makes it a good place to live for young singles in their 20s and 30s and who have undergraduate or graduate degrees and are starting their professional careers. Although Madison is a large city, this demographic is significant enough that young professionals will find many others like themselves here, with really good opportunities for friendships, recreation, romance, and more.

For the size of the city, public transportation in Madison is quite heavily used. Mostly, people who use it for their daily commute are taking the bus. For Madison, the benefits are reduced air pollution and congestion on the highways.

Do you have a 4-year college degree or graduate degree? If so, you may feel right at home in Madison. 58.89% of adults here have a 4-year degree or graduate degree, whereas the national average for all cities and towns is just 21.84%.

The per capita income in Madison in 2018 was $46,652, which is wealthy relative to Wisconsin and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $186,608 for a family of four. However, Madison contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Madison is a very ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Madison home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Madison residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Madison include German, Irish, English, Norwegian, and Polish.

The most common language spoken in Madison is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Polish.