Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Madison is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C− overall, 110th of 142 graded towns in Maine, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is cost of living: homes are within reach, about $215K for a typical one, or 3.7 years of the county’s $58K median household income. Its lowest everyday mark is in health: residents are less healthy than 86% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. Madison’s trail density is 1.2 miles per square mile, above both Maine’s towns (0.7) and U.S. towns (0.4). Its National Register listings include Lakewood Theater and Weston Homestead. Among 143 Maine towns, just 7 have a lower share of households owning their home than Madison.
Where Madison beats most towns.
Census counts: 686 in 1810, 4,726 in 2020. The archive holds 32 old photos and papers going back to 1849 and 4 maps from 1904 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Maine), ordered by how far Madison is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Madison, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Aug 3, 2026.
Ordered by what stands out in Madison.
Madison has better schools than Norridgewock or any other neighbor and has home values climbing faster than Maine’s.
For Madison, that is below both the Maine town median (4.8%) and the median of U.S. towns (4.3%). 66 miles of trail in 9 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Weston Woods & Waters, 365 acres with 4.9 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Weston Woods & Waters | 4.9 mi | 365 |
| 2. Jackson Woods | — | 201 |
| 3. Jacobs Pines | — | 53 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its C+ is the best School Grade on its borders; Norridgewock (C) is next.
Its public schools are run by RSU 59/MSAD 59. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main Street Middle SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades 3–6 | Grades 3–6 | 160 | – |
| Madison Jr/Sr High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | 243 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within ME on state tests and graduation
Home values rose 49% in five years, to about $215K, against 27% across Maine.
Madison’s median rent is $906 a month. The typical Madison home is worth about $215,000, up 3.9% in a year, 48% below the Maine typical home.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
20% of Madison adults smoke cigarettes. Only 8 of the 143 Maine towns we compare have a higher share of adults who sleep under 7 hours than Madison. 29% of Madison adults get no exercise outside work.
| Madison | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 15% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 14% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 18% | 17% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 27% | 23% |
| What stands out | Madison | ME |
|---|---|---|
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 11% | 7.4% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 15.3% | 10.7% |
| More smokers | 20.4% | 14.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Most working residents leave Madison for work: only 8% work in town. 15% of residents live below the poverty line in Madison. Jobs based in Madison fell to 1,002 in 2023, 149 fewer than in 2013.
| Madison | Maine towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 15% | 9% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $62,000 | $78,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 7.7% | 12% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 68% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 4 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Madison.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Madison has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. The July high in Madison is 79°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
None within 15 miles of Madison; the nearest are
About 4 of every 100 Madison residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Maine.
Where Madison’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
3 places in Madison on the National Register of Historic Places.
5 notable people were born in Madison.
Town in Maine, United States
Madison (formerly Norridgewock) is a town in Somerset County, Maine, United States. The population was 4,726 at the 2020 census. It contains the census-designated place of the same name.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Madison.
| Town | ME rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Madison | #110 | C− | B− | — | C+ | D |
| Anson | — | — | B | — | C− | C− |
| Norridgewock | #142 | D− | B− | — | C | D |
| Starks | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Solon | — | — | B+ | — | C− | C+ |
| Skowhegan | #128 | D | C+ | — | C | C− |
| Cornville | — | — | C | — | C | C− |
Anson, Solon and Cornville have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Madison, Anson, Norridgewock, Solon, Skowhegan and Cornville report no FBI crime data of their own. Starks isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Madison with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Madison grades C− overall, better than 19% of U.S. towns and #110 of 142 in Maine. It grades D for health and C+ for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.
5 notable people were born here, including Louis J. Brann and Robert Aitken Rushworth.
