Photo: Justinsanders · Public domainHouseholds in Madison earn more than those in 88% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Madison is better than 94% of U.S. towns (A); for walkability it is more walkable than 33% of U.S. towns (C). Below the poverty line: 4.8% of residents, next to 18.9% for Mississippi as a whole. 14% of workers have no commute at all, where Mississippi as a whole has 6%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Madison apart on work
The better-paid jobs are outside Madison
68% of Madison residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 37% of the jobs based in Madison pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 91% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Madison and Jackson trade workers both ways
Jackson is the top workplace for Madison residents (33%) and also where the most people who work in Madison come from (16% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Young people hold many of the jobs here
32% of the jobs based in Madison are held by workers 29 or younger, against 17% of Madison’s own working residents. The jobs ↓
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
All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Madison’s grade. 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+.
What work there is in Madison: 9,400 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Madison, 2013 → 2023: 7,838 → 9,400. 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.
Where people from Madison work
Where Madison clocks in
33% 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.
In and out of Madison on a workday
On a workday 11,212 residents head out to work, 1,042 work right here, and 8,358 people come in from elsewhere.
About 26,000 people are in Madison on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.77 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.
A commute of about 24 minutes in Madison
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Madison workers work from home, vs 6% across Mississippi. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 11,434 commuters (the 14% who work from home are left out). Across Mississippi: 87% 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.
The commute from Madison, by distance
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.
The commute in Madison is mostly behind the wheel
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 1.8% across Mississippi.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 13,275 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). 3.6% of Madison households have no vehicle (Mississippi 6.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Madison’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 1,467 U.S. towns of 20,000 to 39,000, Madison comes 138th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 136 | Scarborough ME | 24,547 | $134K | 4.4% | 2.2% | 19% | A |
| 137 | South Riding VA | 34,352 | $196K | 3.8% | 3.8% | 5% | A |
| 138 | Madison MS | 28,575 | $119K | 4.8% | 2.0% | 9% | A |
| 139 | Gahanna OH | 35,986 | $109K | 5.6% | 2.6% | 7% | A |
| 140 | Batavia Township IL | 35,974 | $132K | 4.9% | 3.2% | 10% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 744 | Clinton MS | 26,640 | $75K | 9.6% | 3.2% | 14% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 787 | Brandon MS | 26,122 | $93K | 8.5% | 5.2% | 10% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 892 | Ridgeland MS | 24,750 | $66K | 9.9% | 4.1% | 17% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,467 | Barstow CA | 24,804 | $53K | 23.1% | 11.9% | 17% | 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 Mississippi.
Bordering towns draw 17% of Madison’s workers
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Ridgeland. Darker towns draw more of Madison’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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?
$119,338 (±$11,920) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $56,447 across Mississippi and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Madison?
4.8%, against 18.9% across Mississippi and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Madison?
24 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Mississippi and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Madison work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Jackson (33%, 12 mi), Ridgeland (17%, 4 mi), Flowood (6%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Madison walkable?
Madison is more walkable than 33% 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 4% 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.