Photo: Republic of Selmaria · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Madison top those of 93% of U.S. towns
19% of workers have no commute at all, next to 9% for Alabama as a whole. Poverty touches 4.3% of residents, against 15.6% across Alabama. The two grades for Madison are A for jobs and income and C+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Madison, in a few figures
More than half of Madison works in Huntsville
13,871 working residents, 56%, have their main job in Huntsville, 5 miles away. That’s 4 times as many as work in Madison itself. The commute map ↓
A lot of Madison works from home
19% of Madison workers work from home, against 9% across Alabama. Time on the road ↓
Most Madison residents work close to home
64% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
Commutes from Madison are quick
The average trip to work takes 20 minutes, against 26 across Alabama. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Alabama worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Madison’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Madison is better than 95% of U.S. towns, #10 of 187 in Alabama. Household income is its strongest input ($134,655, U.S. $80,734); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 73% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Madison could be anywhere from A to A+.
56% of working residents work in Huntsville
Where Madison clocks in
56% of workers
4% of workers
2% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
About 20 minutes to work from Madison
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Madison workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 24,529 commuters (the 19% who work from home are left out). Across Alabama: 88% drive alone, <1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Short hops and long hauls from Madison
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Who works in Madison, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 21,454 residents head out to work, 3,286 work right here, and 17,030 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.82 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Inside Madison’s 20,316 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Madison, 2013 → 2023: 15,681 → 20,316. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Madison’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Most of Madison commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Madison is more walkable than 43% of U.S. towns, #62 of 187 in Alabama. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 1.7% across Alabama.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 30,349 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 2.0% of Madison households have no vehicle (Alabama 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Madison’s commuters take a bus or train.
Madison next to U.S. towns of 48,000 to 92,000: 23rd of 645 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | Maple Grove MN | 73,893 | $133K | 4.0% | 3.5% | 13% | A+ |
| 22 | Huntersville NC | 68,535 | $121K | 3.1% | 3.2% | 10% | A |
| 23 | Madison AL | 67,968 | $135K | 4.3% | 2.2% | 13% | A |
| 24 | Cupertino CA | 58,333 | $235K | 4.1% | 4.0% | 11% | A |
| 25 | Wauwatosa WI | 48,649 | $101K | 5.8% | 2.1% | 17% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 350 | Auburn AL | 85,113 | $64K | 25.4% | 3.2% | 44% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 504 | Decatur AL | 58,056 | $62K | 13.1% | 4.5% | 33% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 562 | Dothan AL | 72,060 | $56K | 19.3% | 4.3% | 58% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 645 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 51% | D |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Madison, the top three, the last and three more from Alabama.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Madison: questions
What is the median household income in Madison?
$134,655 (±$8,335) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Madison?
4.3%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Madison?
20 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Madison work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Huntsville (56%, 5 mi), Decatur (4%, 16 mi), Redstone Arsenal (2%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Madison walkable?
Madison is more walkable than 43% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Madison without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Madison, from the people who make the trip.
More of Madison
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.