Methodist Episcopal Church · Photo: Josconklin · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Madison earn more than those in 97% of U.S. towns
Poverty touches 3.2% of residents, where New Jersey as a whole has 9.7%. Jobs and income earn Madison A; getting around on foot earns it A+. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 3.5 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 43.7 in Jersey City.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Madison
Madison trades workers with the towns around it
Madison has about as many jobs (6,524) as working residents (7,035), but they are mostly different people: 6,425 residents leave for work each day while 5,914 people come in. Only 9% of the jobs in Madison are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Madison draws workers from far and wide
The 6,524 jobs in Madison are filled from a wide area. Madison’s own residents hold 9% and the ten next-biggest home towns 19%; the other 72% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
A lot of Madison works from home
28% of Madison workers work from home, against 17% across New Jersey. Time on the road ↓
Madison’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Madison is New York City, NY, 26 miles away as the crow flies. 13% of working residents (920) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
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.
Where Madison’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Madison is better than 89% of U.S. towns, #136 of 468 in New Jersey. Job access by car holds Madison’s grade up; unemployment pulls it down (6.3%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Madison could be anywhere from A− to A+.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 6,425 residents head out to work, 610 work right here, and 5,914 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.93 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.
13% of working residents work in New York City
Where Madison clocks in
13% of workers
4% 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.
Commuting from Madison: about 28 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Madison workers work from home, vs 17% across New Jersey. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,862 commuters (the 28% who work from home are left out). Across New Jersey: 75% drive alone, 10% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Where in the region Madison works
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 6,524 jobs based in Madison
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Madison, 2013 → 2023: 5,051 → 6,524. 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.
Madison is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Madison is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns, #132 of 468 in New Jersey. Both inputs place Madison near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 8,112 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 62% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 21% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 78% 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). 6.5% of Madison households have no vehicle (New Jersey 11.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 11% of Madison’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Madison ranks: 365th of 1,888 U.S. towns of 12,000 to 22,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | Hanover Township NJ | 15,105 | $157K | 3.2% | 2.6% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | East Greenwich Township NJ | 12,610 | $149K | 2.0% | 2.6% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 36 | Berkeley Heights Township NJ | 15,140 | $205K | 1.9% | 3.3% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 363 | Somers NY | 21,374 | $170K | 4.2% | 4.3% | 7% | A |
| 364 | Los Alamos NM | 13,317 | $141K | 4.1% | 0.8% | 77% | A |
| 365 | Madison NJ | 16,607 | $171K | 3.2% | 6.3% | 9% | A |
| 366 | Coventry CT | 12,446 | $108K | 5.1% | 3.0% | 7% | A |
| 367 | Blackberry Township IL | 17,903 | $156K | 4.4% | 4.6% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,888 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 New Jersey.
Madison and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Florham Park (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Madison workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Madison | – | A | A+ | 28 min | $171,471 |
| Florham Park | 4% | A− | A+ | 26 min | $158,696 |
| Chatham Township | 2% | — | — | 32 min | — |
| Green Village | under 2% | — | — | 23 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Chatham Township: not graded. Green Village: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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?
$171,471 (±$19,397) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,556 across New Jersey and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Madison?
3.2%, against 9.7% across New Jersey and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Madison?
28 minutes each way on average, against 31 across New Jersey and 26 nationally. 28% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Madison work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New York City (13%, 26 mi), Morristown (4%, 4 mi), Florham Park (4%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Madison walkable?
Madison is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 11.2 out of 20, and 22% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Madison without a car?
11% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 21% 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.