Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainMadison has 0.5 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Home is the office for 3% of workers (Nebraska 11%). 537 jobs are based in Madison, and 987 of its residents work somewhere. For jobs and income Madison is better than 30% of U.S. towns (C); for walkability it is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns (B).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Madison: the gist
Fewer jobs are based in Madison than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Madison fell from 746 in 2013 to 537 in 2023, −28%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Madison are quick
The average trip to work takes 14 minutes, against 19 across Nebraska. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Nebraska 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; with 987 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Why Madison gets the Jobs & income grade it does
Unemployment holds Madison’s grade up (3.9%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down (15.0%, U.S. 12.5%).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Madison could be anywhere from D to B.
Jobs in Madison: what the 537 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Madison, 2013 → 2023: 746 → 537. 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.
The trip to work from Madison: about 14 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Madison workers work from home, vs 11% across Nebraska. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 952 commuters (the 3% who work from home are left out). Across Nebraska: 86% 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 workday shuffle in and out of Madison
On a workday 895 residents head out to work, 92 work right here, and 445 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,700 people are in Madison on a workday afternoon, 21% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
14% of working residents work in Norfolk
Where Madison clocks in
14% of workers
5% 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.
How far it is to work from Madison
About 26% 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.
Most trips from Madison start in a car
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 985 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). 6.0% of Madison households have no vehicle (Nebraska 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Madison’s commuters take a bus or train.
3,440th of 5,404: where Madison ranks among U.S. towns of 1,500 to 2,900
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 333 | Beaver Lake NE | 2,114 | $122K | 1.7% | 3.0% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 350 | Township 7 NE | 2,760 | $93K | 5.3% | 0.3% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 492 | Bennington NE | 1,968 | $98K | 5.3% | 3.0% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,438 | Denmark NY | 2,619 | $63K | 16.7% | 2.2% | 5% | C |
| 3,439 | Poydras LA | 2,260 | $59K | 24.3% | 1.3% | 3% | C |
| 3,440 | Madison NE | 2,162 | $63K | 15.0% | 3.9% | 9% | C |
| 3,441 | Michigan Township IN | 1,567 | $51K | 9.1% | 3.7% | 5% | C |
| 3,442 | Drexel OH | 1,751 | $32K | 15.7% | 16.8% | 2% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 5,404 | 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 Nebraska.
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?
$62,738 (±$8,126) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,475 across Nebraska and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Madison?
15.0%, against 10.6% across Nebraska and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Madison?
14 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Nebraska and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Madison work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Norfolk (14%, 14 mi), Omaha (5%, 82 mi), Columbus (4%, 28 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Madison walkable?
Madison is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 6.9 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Madison without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% 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.