Welcome to Madison ...
The city of Madison is located in Dane County<1>. It is the County Seat and the capital of Wisconsin.
While we don't have a date for the founding of Madison, you might consider that their post office opened in 1837.
When the people of Madison refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Madisonian<2>
From the Census Estimates for 2019, Madison has a population of 260,337 people<3> (see below for details).
Madison is 900 feet [274 m] above sea level.<4>.
Time Zone: Madison lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time
Madison is within the (608) area code.
The ZIP codes for Madison: 53562, 53593, 53701-53708, 53711, 53713-53719, 53725-53726, 53744, 53774, 53777-53779, 53782-53786, 53788-53794<5>
Websites for Madison ...
Chamber of Commerce: www.greatermadisonchamber.com/
Junior League: www.juniorleagueofmadison.org/
Population Details ...
Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Madison had an population of 260,337 people. This is an increase of 11.63% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 25.13% since the 2000 Census).
At the time of the 2010 Census, Madison had a population of 233,209 people (or 47.78% of the total population of Dane County). This makes Madison the county's most populous community.
The population of Madison represents 4.1% of the total population of Wisconsin (which has 5,686,986 people), making it the state's 2nd most populous community.
With a 2010 count of 233,209 people, the population of Madison increased 12.09% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 208,054 people).
More information can be found on the Census Page for Madison.
Communities Also Named Madison ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 41 communities that are also named Madison - they are located in Alabama (3), Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas (3), Maine, Maryland, Michigan (3), Minnesota (2), Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio (3), Pennsylvania, Saskatchewan, South Carolina (2), South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia (2) and West Virginia.
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Madison.
Communities near Madison ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Madison.
- Sun Prairie
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sun Prairie have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun Prairie
- Sun Prairie is located in Dane County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 35,119 people
- Waunakee
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north) - Verona
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest) - Stoughton
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast) - DeForest
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for DeForest
- DeForest is located in Dane County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 10,915 people
- Oregon
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south) - McFarland
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast) - Windsor
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windsor
- Windsor is located in Dane County
- Mount Horeb
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Horeb have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Horeb
- Mount Horeb is located in Dane County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,563 people
- Cottage Grove
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottage Grove
- Cottage Grove is located in Dane County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,158 people
To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.
We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Madison. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Madison.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Madison. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Madison.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Madison. Our list includes 131 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Madison.
Adding Madison to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Madison in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.
From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Madison was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<7>
From that list, the Madison post office opened in 1837.
We also found Madison in the book titled U.S. Post Offices (Oct. 1846).
For more details, see References and Mentions for Madison.
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Madison. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Dane County: www.co.dane.wi.us/
The official website for State of Wisconsin: https://www.wisconsin.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If you're interested in how the shape of Wisconsin's counties, including Dane, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <2> | A demonym is the name for a resident of a community which is usually derived from (or is related to) the name of that community. In other words, it's how the residents of Madison refer to themselves. It's important to note that there aren't any rules for taking a city's name and turning it into a demonym. A demonym is informal and while the majority of Madison may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different. |
| <3> | Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Madison. |
| <4> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Madison - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <5> | ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a city (such as Madison). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Madison or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS). Our list of ZIP Codes for Madison includes: 53562, 53593, 53701, 53702, 53703, 53704, 53705, 53706, 53707, 53711, 53713, 53714, 53715, 53716, 53717, 53718, 53725, 53744, 53774, 53777, 53778, 53782, 53783, 53784, 53785, 53788, 53789, 53790, 53791, 53792, 53793 & 53794. |
| <6> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <7> | A copy of their list with background information can be found at: https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/ |