Photo: Jayu from Harrisburg, PA, U.S.A. · CC BY-SA 2.0Fewer people are out of work in Madison (0.2%) than in 98% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 5% of workers; New York has 15%. Madison grades B for jobs and income and B− for walkability. Only 6% work in Madison itself; outside it, Hamilton draws the most (23%, 7 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Madison apart
Commutes from Madison are quick
The average trip to work takes 22 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 84 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker. Time on the road ↓
Madison and Hamilton trade workers both ways
Hamilton is the top workplace for Madison residents (23%) and also where the most people who work in Madison come from (10% of its jobs). 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.
The figures behind Madison’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Madison is better than 57% of U.S. towns, #359 of 758 in New York. Unemployment holds Madison’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 31% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Madison could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
How long Madison spends getting to work: about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Madison workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,216 commuters (the 5% who work from home are left out). Across New York: 57% drive alone, 25% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Where the trip to work from Madison ends
Where Madison clocks in
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.
How a workday changes Madison
On a workday 1,116 residents head out to work, 76 work right here, and 561 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,200 people are in Madison on a workday afternoon, 20% fewer than live here.
0.53 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
What work there is in Madison: 637 jobs
637 jobs are based in Madison.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Madison, 2013 → 2023: 610 → 637. 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.
Miles to work from Madison
About 18% 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.
Few in Madison walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Madison is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns, #502 of 758 in New York. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 6.1.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,277 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). 2.1% of Madison households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Madison’s commuters take a bus or train.
Madison next to U.S. towns of 1,900 to 3,700: 1,924th of 4,969 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Old Brookville NY | 2,098 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | East Williston NY | 2,616 | $215K | 2.3% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 10 | Laurel Hollow NY | 1,949 | $250K | 3.5% | 2.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,922 | Leslie MI | 1,937 | $74K | 12.9% | 3.1% | 5% | B |
| 1,923 | Collinsville TX | 2,076 | $60K | 11.5% | 0.7% | 2% | B |
| 1,924 | Madison NY | 2,726 | $77K | 12.5% | 0.2% | 6% | B |
| 1,925 | Crescent WI | 1,986 | $84K | 2.3% | 4.7% | 2% | B |
| 1,926 | Burnt Store Marina FL | 2,157 | $93K | 8.8% | 9.4% | 8% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,969 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 York.
Work next door: 27% of Madison’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Madison workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Madison | – | B | B− | 22 min | $76,895 |
| Hamilton | 23% | B− | A− | 18 min | $75,398 |
| Sangerfield | under 3% | B+ | B+ | 24 min | $91,563 |
| Eaton | 4% | C− | A− | 20 min | $53,281 |
| Brookfield | under 3% | C− | D | 36 min | $69,205 |
| Augusta | under 3% | C− | C | 27 min | $57,852 |
| Hamilton | under 3% | C+ | A | 15 min | $66,750 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Hamilton. 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?
$76,895 (±$19,664) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Madison?
12.5%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Madison?
22 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Madison work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Hamilton (23%, 7 mi), Syracuse (4%, 34 mi), Eaton (4%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Madison walkable?
Madison is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 6.1 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 2% 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.