Boone County Courthouse · Photo: Tim Kiser (w:User:Malepheasant) · CC BY-SA 3.0 usHousehold incomes in Madison are lower than in 76% of U.S. towns
About one in ten work in Madison; the top destination outside it is Charleston (16%, 22 miles). 12.9% of residents live below the poverty line, next to 16.7% for West Virginia as a whole. For jobs and income Madison is better than 29% of U.S. towns (C); for walkability it is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns (A).
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
Fewer jobs are based in Madison than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Madison fell from 1,628 in 2013 to 920 in 2023, −43%. 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 18 minutes, against 27 across West Virginia. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical West Virginia 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 937 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Inside Madison’s Jobs & income grade
Unemployment holds Madison’s grade up (3.6%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 24% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Madison could be anywhere from D to B.
What work there is in Madison: 920 jobs
920 jobs are based in Madison.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Madison, 2013 → 2023: 1,628 → 920. 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 18 minutes to work from Madison
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Madison workers work from home, vs 9% across West Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,300 commuters (the 4% who work from home are left out). Across West Virginia: 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.
How many people are in Madison by day
On a workday 845 residents head out to work, 92 work right here, and 828 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 (0.98 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.
Where Madison’s working residents head each day
Where Madison clocks in
16% of workers
7% 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.
Madison’s commute, mile by mile
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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Madison
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 19.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.5% across West Virginia, on an EPA index of 9.1.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,355 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). 11.1% of Madison households have no vehicle (West Virginia 8.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Madison’s commuters take a bus or train.
Madison places 3,255th of 4,797 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,900 to 3,600
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 976 | Williamstown WV | 2,922 | $89K | 5.2% | 1.9% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,379 | Bethlehem WV | 2,520 | $83K | 8.8% | 3.0% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,388 | Culloden WV | 3,040 | $73K | 11.8% | 0.0% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,253 | Madison NE | 2,162 | $63K | 15.0% | 3.9% | 9% | C |
| 3,254 | Winamac IN | 2,365 | $47K | 23.9% | 0.0% | 33% | C |
| 3,255 | Madison WV | 2,678 | $59K | 12.9% | 3.6% | 10% | C |
| 3,256 | Ovid Township MI | 2,217 | $73K | 8.9% | 7.1% | 2% | C |
| 3,257 | Ayr Township PA | 1,995 | $62K | 9.0% | 4.2% | 22% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 4,797 | 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 West Virginia.
Madison and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Danville (4%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Madison workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Madison | – | C | A | 18 min | $58,872 |
| Danville | 4% | — | — | 16 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Danville: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. 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?
$58,872 (±$8,028) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $59,608 across West Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Madison?
12.9%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Madison?
18 minutes each way on average, against 27 across West Virginia and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Madison work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Charleston (16%, 22 mi), South Charleston (7%, 20 mi), Danville (4%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Madison walkable?
Madison is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.1 out of 20, and 19% 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.