Pine Hall · Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ MD · CC BY-SA 3.0Madison has higher unemployment (10.3%) than 95% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Madison C−; getting around on foot earns it B. Measured by household income, Madison is behind 84% of U.S. towns. About one in ten stay in Madison for work; outside it, Greensboro is the main destination (19%, 22 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Madison in brief
Madison is where the jobs are
Madison has 1,867 jobs, 1.9 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 3,100 people are in town, 41% more than the 2,200 who live here. Day and night ↓
Madison’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Madison is Greensboro, 22 miles away as the crow flies. 19% of working residents (182) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
The biggest group of Madison’s workers comes from Eden
115 of the people who work in Madison live in Eden, 15 miles away, more than from any other town. The commute map ↓
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; with 979 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How Madison earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Madison is better than 23% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Madison’s grade up (8.0%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Madison could be anywhere from D to B.
Madison by day and by night
On a workday 896 residents head out to work, 83 work right here, and 1,784 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,100 people are in Madison on a workday afternoon, 41% more than live here.
1.9 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Madison’s commute, mile by mile
About 25% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
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 travels to work in Madison, and from where
Where Madison clocks in
19% of workers
4% 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.
A place that makes things: 34% of Madison’s jobs are in goods
1,867 jobs are based in Madison.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Madison, 2013 → 2023: 2,141 → 1,867. 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.
About 20 minutes each way, quicker than most of North Carolina
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 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 954 commuters (the 10% who work from home are left out). Across North Carolina: 85% 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 in Madison is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Madison is more walkable than 63% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 2.9% across North Carolina.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,061 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 10.8% of Madison households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Madison’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 5,641 U.S. towns of 1,500 to 3,000, Madison comes 4,013th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 60 | Governors Club NC | 1,787 | $236K | 0.0% | 8.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 112 | Avery Creek NC | 2,887 | $113K | 1.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 163 | Wrightsville Beach NC | 2,397 | $152K | 4.0% | 0.4% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,011 | Agua Dulce TX | 2,697 | $47K | 20.4% | 5.4% | 1% | C− |
| 4,012 | Lake Odessa MI | 2,089 | $63K | 13.5% | 9.5% | 11% | C− |
| 4,013 | Madison NC | 2,190 | $53K | 8.0% | 10.3% | 8% | C− |
| 4,014 | Deshler OH | 1,576 | $64K | 14.0% | 5.7% | 7% | C− |
| 4,015 | East Pittsburgh PA | 1,835 | $39K | 45.4% | 2.8% | 2% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,641 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 North Carolina.
The towns around Madison
The biggest share goes to Mayodan (6%).
Jobs & commute next door
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?
$52,593 (±$9,148) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Madison?
8.0%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Madison?
20 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Madison work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Greensboro (19%, 22 mi), Mayodan (6%, 2 mi), Raleigh (4%, 84 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Madison walkable?
Madison is more walkable than 63% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.1 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Madison without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
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.