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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 constituent 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.

A relatively large number of people in Madison telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 12.07% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. 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.

Madison is made interesting by being both a reasonably big city and having a major college student population: students here will find that the city provides a lot of amenities, culture, and opportunities for them. Madison is more than just a college town, however, though the thousands of students certainly are a major part of the character of the city, as well as a contributor to the local economy.

Not only is Madison a city with many college students, but it also retains many recent graduates who are looking to start new careers, creating a very large population of people who are young, single, educated, and upwardly-mobile. That’s because Madison is full of single people in their 20s and 30s and who have undergraduate or graduate degrees and are starting careers in professional occupations. This makes Madison a great place for young, educated career starters looking to find many people like themselves, with good opportunities for friendships, socializing, romance, and fun. In fact, Madison is one of the top larger cities in America for educated single professionals to flock.

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. 58.46% 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 $42,693, which is wealthy relative to Wisconsin and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $170,772 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.