Side-by-side metrics and state or size-class ranks use the same Census and FBI fields shown on this profile. Results stay in the URL so you can bookmark or share them.
Place dossier plate
SheetSD-MADISON-SD · Madison, SD 6,158 pop · income 39th pct · 4 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
Quebradillas… · lowest
23,706
Quebradillas… · lowest
23,706 median HH income
19.2% of the leader · rank #1
Norfolk · near
62,175
Norfolk · near
62,175 median HH income
50.4% of the leader · rank #2
Decorah · near
62,177
Decorah · near
62,177 median HH income
50.4% of the leader · rank #3
Carthage · near
62,177
Carthage · near
62,177 median HH income
50.4% of the leader · rank #4
Madison · this city
62,180
Madison · this city
62,180 median HH income
50.4% of the leader · rank #5
Mountain · near
62,188
Mountain · near
62,188 median HH income
50.4% of the leader · rank #6
Dakota Dunes · highest
123,438
Dakota Dunes · highest
123,438 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: 6,158.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Madison - the verdict
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Madison places in the 39th percentile for household income and the 66th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
39th
percentile, household income
40th
percentile, home value
13th
percentile, median rent
66th
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, SD
South Dakota's Madison is a small town, with 6,158 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Median household income here is $62,180 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 4.9%. Home values in Madison run a median of $191,400, and the median resident age is 39.6 years. About 35.7% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 64.0% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 11 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Building Boom), up 83% from five years earlier. Madison reports a comparatively low crime rate: per-100,000 total crime stands at 939.2 in FBI UCR data, below the national average (a voluntary reporting program, read this as reporting activity, not a definitive danger score). The annual average temperature per NOAA climate normals runs 44.7°F with 26.4 inches of precipitation per year and 36.8 inches of snowfall.
Living costs in South Dakota run below the national norm: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, South Dakota scores 88.6 (Well Below Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $990 per month statewide. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts South Dakota's average monthly utility costs around $200 (state average). FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 26.8 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 comparison shortlist to population change to climate and hazard context to work and mobility to housing and income to within-city variation to schools and households 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, commute-mode shares, annual population history, within-city Census tract profiles, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Comparison shortlist
Which cities make useful reference points for Madison?
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.
Within South Dakota, the closest population matches are Tea (6,339 residents, $104,643 income); Belle Fourche (5,741 residents, $59,920 income); Sturgis (7,111 residents, $51,101 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, FL (6,159 residents); Rupert, ID (6,157 residents); Quebradillas zona urbana, PR (6,157 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.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -95 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -1.5% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 11 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Recent estimates point downward. A falling count can reflect migration, household size, annexation boundaries, or estimation noise, so it is a prompt to inspect the full series rather than a claim about local economic health.
The two sources should not be blended into one comfort or safety score. Use the climate values for baseline conditions and the risk index as a prompt to inspect specific hazards, insurance, and local emergency guidance for a particular address.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 44.7°F, with 26.4 inches of precipitation and 36.8 inches of annual snowfall. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for South Dakota is 26.8 out of 100. Climate normals describe long-run weather; the FEMA score on PlainCities is a state average of county NRI inputs and combines hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience.
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.
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?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 79.5%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
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.
Drive alone
79.5%
Work from home
5.9%
Public transit
2.3%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 3,234 workers age 16+.
How far does income reach against housing in Madison?
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.
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.1 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 4.9%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
3.1×
Home value
$191,400
Household income
$62,180
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
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.
The NCES join finds 4 public schools within the city match. 35.7% 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.
Poverty estimate
4.9%
Bachelor's degree+
35.7%
Matched public schools
4
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Madison?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 939.2 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 59% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
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.
Total reported rate
939.2
Violent rate
148.3
Property rate
790.9
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
Below median income · poverty 4.9% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
88.6 (US=100)
Very affordable · BEA RPP 2024, South Dakota average
C+
City profile score · Madison, SD
63/100
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.
Cost of living A+
88.6 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Bachelor's+ share B-
35.7%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate B-
4.9%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime C
148 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Household income F
$62,180
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Madison profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 91/100 (A+) · 88.6 index
Bachelor's+ share: 68/100 (B-) · 35.7%
Poverty rate: 66/100 (B-) · 4.9%
Violent crime: 59/100 (C) · 148 /100k
Household income: 38/100 (F) · $62,180
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 27 peers.Read the chart values
Madison, SD (this city): home $191,400, crime 939/100k
Rupert, ID : home $182,500, crime 1,391/100k
Cumberland, IN : home $241,200, crime 2,678/100k
Rockford, MI : home $294,800, crime 890/100k
Tea, SD : home $305,300, crime 1,279/100k
Belle Fourche, SD : home $188,800, crime 2,452/100k
Sturgis, SD : home $236,400, crime 1,984/100k
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 income39% higher than other cities
Home value40% pricier than other cities
Median rent13% pricier than other cities
Safety66% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Zoom in to just South Dakota and the picture shifts: Madison ranks #12 of 34 South Dakota cities by lowest crime rate, a different read than the national percentile above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Madison against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to South Dakota only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
South Dakota-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Madison near the bottom of South Dakota's cities
Among the 303 South Dakota 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
#137 of 285
52nd percentile in South Dakota
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 303
0th percentile in South Dakota
Median Home Value
#70 of 263
73rd percentile in South Dakota
Poverty Rate
#174 of 302
42nd percentile in South Dakota
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#34 of 303
89th percentile in South Dakota
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 South Dakota only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
39th percentile nationally for median household income · 66th 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+)
$191,400Among the most affordablemore affordable than 60% 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: 3.1×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#7,089 of 15,516
More affordable than 54% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#5,931 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.1×, Madison sits in the moderate band:
national rank #7,089 of 15,516 and #5,931 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
$62,180Madison, SD median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Madison, SD 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, SD.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)35.7%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)4.9%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)64.0%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
6,158
Median Income
$62,180
Median Home Value
$191,400
Median Age
39.6
Poverty Rate
4.9%
Labor force participation
64.0%
Bachelor's Degree+
35.7%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
939.2
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
148.3
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
790.9
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.
Climate
Avg Temperature
44.7°F
Annual Precipitation
26.4"
Annual Snowfall
36.8"
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
6,160 residents
2021
6,063 residents
2022
6,077 residents
2023
6,107 residents
2024
6,101 residents
2025
6,065 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
11
housing units authorized
Single-Family
9
detached homes
Multifamily
2
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
1.8
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
6
4
2
$1.2M
2020
39
18
21
$5.2M
2021
20
18
2
$5.4M
2022
15
11
4
$4.3M
2023
26
26
0
$2.6M
2024
11
9
2
$3.6M
Permit volume increased 83% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
79.5%
Carpool
4.5%
Public Transit
2.3%
Walk
6.5%
Work from Home
5.9%
Other
1.3%
Based on 3,234 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
South Dakota statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $200
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across South Dakota at $200 (electricity about $95 , water and sewer about $40 ).
These are South Dakota 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
South Dakota's BEA cost-of-living index is 88.6 (Well Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Madison is $990/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to South Dakota statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 26.8 / 100 (Very Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a South Dakota 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 South Dakota 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, NOAA Climate Normals, 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.