Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Madison grades B overall, 79th among New Hampshire's 125 graded towns, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. It reports less crime per resident than 94% of U.S. towns and it is healthier than 90% of U.S. towns. On the other side, its schools rank behind 75% of the state's. Madison’s trail density is 1.4 miles per square mile, near the New Hampshire town median (1.2) and above the median of U.S. towns (0.4). Only 12 of New Hampshire’s 187 towns score lower on history. Ossipee Pine Barrens Preserve, at 1,477 acres with 6.3 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
Where Madison beats most towns.
Where Madison’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Hampshire), ordered by how far Madison is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Joy Farm is a National Historic Landmark, the National Register’s top tier.
Census counts: 826 in 1860, a low of 429 in 1960, 2,565 in 2020. The archive holds 9 old photos and papers going back to 1900 and 4 maps from 1930 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
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 Nov 19, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Madison.
Madison is a second-home town, gets more snow than nearly all U.S. towns and has added a third more jobs in ten years.
Madison’s property crime rate is 2.2 per 1,000 residents, close to New Hampshire’s towns (4.5) and below U.S. towns (9.9).
| Madison | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.2 per 1,000 residents | 4.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.7 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its public schools are run by the Madison School District. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Madison Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 129 | C− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NH on state tests
14% of adults report frequent mental distress in Madison. Madison beats the New Hampshire average on 4 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 2. 28% of adults feel lonely in Madison.
| Madison | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 16% | 17% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 30% | 33% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 20% | 25% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 32% | 35% |
| What stands out | Madison | NH |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 7.1% | 8.9% |
| More adults screened for colon cancer | 75.2% | 69.5% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 11.7% | 9.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Ossipee Pine Barrens Preserve | 6.3 mi | 1,477 |
| 2. Madison Boulder Woods Preserve | 1.2 mi | 217 |
| 3. Goodwin-Burke Town Forest | 1 mi | 354 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Jobs based here grew from 480 in 2013 to 635.
Most working residents leave Madison for work: only 13% work in town. Jobs based in Madison grew to 635 in 2023, 155 more than in 2013. The average trip to work in Madison is 22 minutes.
| Madison | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 4.7% | 6.8% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 13% | 9.8% | 8% |
| Median household income | $103,000 | $103,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
41.9% of homes are seasonal or vacation homes, against 10.1% statewide, which helps explain the older median age.
Adults 18 to 34 are 9% of residents (21% statewide); children under 18 are 23% of residents (18% statewide). Madison’s median age is 50.3 years. Madison has grown 6.2% since 2020, to 2,728 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Madison | New Hampshire towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 50.3 years | 44.6 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 23% | 20% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 38% | 39% | 29% |
48% women, 52% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±5.5 points. Across New Hampshire, 50.1% of residents are women.
| Madison | NH | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10.1% | 9.3% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 13.1% | 8.9% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 5.9% | 8.7% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 2.9% | 12.7% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 14.7% | 12.4% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.9% | 12.4% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 19.4% | 15.5% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 16.4% | 12.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.7% | 7.9% | 7% |
| No diploma | 2% | 5.6% | 10.4% |
| High school | 25.1% | 26.8% | 26% |
| Some college | 22.9% | 17.2% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 12.1% | 9.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 20.8% | 24.5% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 17.1% | 16.1% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,700, single groups can be off by several points
The N Conway weather station, 10 miles away, records that 84 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, more than in 95% of U.S. towns.
Madison has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 81° and January nights drop to 9°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 62% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The typical Madison home is worth about $459,000, up 4.9% in a year, 10% below the New Hampshire typical home.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Madison. Close and well known come first.
Big draw26 mi MountainMount Washington
23 mi LakeLake Winnipesaukee
10 mi Scenic railwayConway Scenic Railroad
18 mi National forestWhite Mountain National Forest
14 mi Theme parkStory Land12 mi Ski areaAttitash Mountain Resort85 runs · 1,662 ft verticalMount Washington: wwoods, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Lake Winnipesaukee: No machine-readable author provided. JohnJHenderson~commonswiki assumed (based o, Public domain · Conway Scenic Railroad: Pi.1415926535, CC BY-SA 3.0 · White Mountain National Forest: Ken Gallager at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Story Land: AnotherMaker, CC BY-SA 4.0
None within 15 miles of Madison; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Madison residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across New Hampshire.
2 places in Madison on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in New Hampshire, United States
Madison is a town in Carroll County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,565 at the 2020 census and an estimated 2,728 in 2025. Madison includes the village of Silver Lake and the village district of Eidelweiss.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Madison.
| Town | NH rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Madison | #79 | B | C+ | A | C | A |
| Conway | #115 | C− | C | C | B− | A− |
| Eaton | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Freedom | — | — | C | — | — | B |
| Albany | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Tamworth | #82 | B− | C− | A | C− | A |
Freedom has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Freedom reports no FBI crime data of its own. Eaton and Albany aren’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.
By most measures, yes. Madison grades B overall, better than 58% of U.S. towns and #79 of 125 in New Hampshire. It grades A for health, A for safety and C for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a C.
That is 5.3 years of the area's median household income ($86,463 across the county). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
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