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Place dossier plate
SheetGA-MADISON-GA · Madison, GA 4,714 pop · income 61st pct · 6 tracts
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Madison
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Madison on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Elberton · lowest
41,454
Elberton · lowest
41,454 median HH income
27.3% of the leader · rank #1
Billington He… · near
79,123
Billington He… · near
79,123 median HH income
52.2% of the leader · rank #2
Sabattus · near
79,125
Sabattus · near
79,125 median HH income
52.2% of the leader · rank #3
Pilot Point · near
79,128
Pilot Point · near
79,128 median HH income
52.2% of the leader · rank #4
Madison · this city
79,133
Madison · this city
79,133 median HH income
52.2% of the leader · rank #5
Ipswich · near
79,135
Ipswich · near
79,135 median HH income
52.2% of the leader · rank #6
Brisbane · highest
151,593
Brisbane · highest
151,593 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Madison on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 4,714.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Madison - the verdict
Madison ranks in the 61st percentile for household income and the 26th percentile for safety nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
61st
percentile, household income
67th
percentile, home value
51st
percentile, median rent
26th
percentile, safety
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Madison, GA
Georgia's Madison is a small town, with 4,714 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Median household income here is $79,133 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 4.2%. Home values in Madison run a median of $313,100, and the median resident age is 37.5 years. About 42.4% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 62.1% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 50 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Building Boom), up 127% from five years earlier. Crime here tracks close to the national norm: FBI UCR reporting places total crime at 2328.3 incidents per 100,000 residents, near the national average (voluntary agency reporting, reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
Living costs in Georgia run below the national norm: the state registers 96.3 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Below Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,203 per month statewide. Monthly utility costs average around $225 across Georgia, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 39.5 out of 100 (Very Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Madison's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from population change to housing and income to work and mobility to within-city variation to schools and households to comparison shortlist to reported crime; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Madison, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, annual population history, commute-mode shares, within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Population change
Is Madison growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +730 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +16.4% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 50 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
How far does income reach against housing in Madison?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 4.0 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 4.2%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Income and home value move within the same broad scale here. The useful next check is not a generic affordability label, but whether similar-size cities offer a materially different income, housing, or commute trade-off.
That layer breaks the citywide income, rent, and home-value medians into smaller Census geographies, which can reveal differences that one municipal median necessarily hides. A tract is a statistical area, not a locally defined neighborhood or a promise about conditions on a particular block. Start with the city profile for the broad comparison, then use the tract layer to test whether the same housing and income pattern is consistent across the city. Large within-city spreads are a reason to avoid treating any citywide median as a universal resident experience.
Which cities make useful reference points for Madison?
Within Georgia, the closest population matches are Montgomery (4,704 residents, $86,500 income); Grayson (4,699 residents, $125,704 income); Elberton (4,691 residents, $41,454 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Lake Pocotopaug, CT (4,715 residents); Osage Beach, MO (4,715 residents); Longbranch, WA (4,715 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Madison?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 83.6%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Public transit
1.5%
Work from home
6.7%
Drive alone
83.6%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 2,328 workers age 16+.
The NCES join finds 4 public schools within the city match. 42.4% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
The city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
Matched public schools
4
Bachelor's degree+
42.4%
Poverty estimate
4.2%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Madison?
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 2328.3 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, near the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 2% higher in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Property rate
2192.5
Violent rate
135.8
Total reported rate
2328.3
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
Above median income · poverty 4.2% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
96.3 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Georgia average
C+
City profile score · Madison, GA
64/100
5 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Bachelor's+ share B+
42.4%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate B
4.2%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime C+
136 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Household income C
$79,133
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Cost of living C
96.3 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Madison profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 77/100 (B+) · 42.4%
Poverty rate: 71/100 (B) · 4.2%
Violent crime: 62/100 (C+) · 136 /100k
Household income: 59/100 (C) · $79,133
Cost of living: 57/100 (C) · 96.3 index
Where Madison sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Madison's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Madison highlighted among 26 peers.Read the chart values
Madison, GA (this city): home $313,100, crime 2,328/100k
Osage Beach, MO : home $286,800, crime 2,871/100k
Montoursville, PA : home $196,300, crime 1,530/100k
Brisbane, CA : home $1,127,200, crime 1,603/100k
Elberton, GA : home $97,500, crime 3,315/100k
Palmetto, GA : home $203,600, crime 518/100k
New York, NY : home $751,700, crime 3,039/100k
Los Angeles, CA : home $879,500, crime 2,212/100k
Chicago, IL : home $315,200, crime 4,012/100k
Houston, TX : home $253,400, crime 5,442/100k
Phoenix, AZ : home $381,900, crime 3,125/100k
Philadelphia, PA : home $232,400, crime 5,457/100k
San Antonio, TX : home $219,700, crime 5,218/100k
San Diego, CA : home $848,500, crime 2,082/100k
Dallas, TX : home $295,300, crime 4,010/100k
San Jose, CA : home $1,187,800, crime 3,195/100k
Austin, TX : home $512,700, crime 3,709/100k
Fort Worth, TX : home $277,300, crime 3,158/100k
Columbus, OH : home $234,500, crime 3,088/100k
Indianapolis, IN : home $207,000, crime 4,214/100k
San Francisco, CA : home $1,380,500, crime 4,526/100k
Seattle, WA : home $912,100, crime 5,783/100k
Denver, CO : home $586,700, crime 5,755/100k
Oklahoma City, OK : home $215,100, crime 3,570/100k
El Paso, TX : home $171,700, crime 1,772/100k
Washington, DC : home $724,600, crime 4,514/100k
How does Madison compare to other US cities?
Where Madison sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income61% higher than other cities
Home value67% pricier than other cities
Median rent51% pricier than other cities
Safety26% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
National percentiles can mask local variation. Looking only at Georgia, Madison ranks #96 of 166 Georgia cities by lowest crime rate - a narrower, more locally useful cut than the national comparison above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Madison against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Georgia only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Georgia-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Madison near the bottom of Georgia's cities
Among the 638 Georgia cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Madison ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Madison only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#128 of 610
79th percentile in Georgia
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 638
0th percentile in Georgia
Median Home Value
#85 of 577
85th percentile in Georgia
Poverty Rate
#521 of 637
18th percentile in Georgia
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#73 of 638
89th percentile in Georgia
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Georgia only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
61st percentile nationally for median household income · 26th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Madison's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Madison's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Madison's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$313,10033rd percentilemore affordable than 33% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Madison's home-value-to-income ratio: 4.0×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#10,580 of 15,516
More affordable than 32% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#8,291 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 4.0×, Madison sits in the moderate band:
national rank #10,580 of 15,516 and #8,291 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$79,133Madison, GA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Madison, GA median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Madison, GA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)42.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)4.2%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)62.1%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
4,714
Median Income
$79,133
Median Home Value
$313,100
Median Age
37.5
Poverty Rate
4.2%
Labor force participation
62.1%
Bachelor's Degree+
42.4%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
2328.3
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
135.8
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
2192.5
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Schools
Total Schools
4
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Madison's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
4,449 residents
2021
4,894 residents
2022
4,911 residents
2023
4,965 residents
2024
5,126 residents
2025
5,179 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
50
housing units authorized
Single-Family
50
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
10.6
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
22
22
0
$5.2M
2020
275
129
146
$45.7M
2021
24
24
0
$3.6M
2022
19
17
2
$6.9M
2023
75
71
4
$11.9M
2024
50
50
0
$10.0M
Permit volume increased 127% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
83.6%
Carpool
5.4%
Public Transit
1.5%
Walk
0.6%
Work from Home
6.7%
Other
2.2%
Based on 2,328 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Georgia statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $225
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Georgia at $225 (electricity about $125 , water and sewer about $45 ).
These are Georgia statewide averages, not a meter reading for Madison. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Georgia's BEA cost-of-living index is 96.3 (Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Madison is $1,203/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Georgia statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 39.5 / 100 (Very Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Georgia statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Madison sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Madison compares to similar-size Georgia cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, FBI UCR, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.