Madison, United States
Madison does not currently appear in the North American Top-400 Regional Markets list. At 77 miles from Milwaukee it functions as its own regional centre rather than a satellite of a larger metro.
Overview
Madison had 269,840 residents at the 2020 census (a 2024 estimate of 285,300, and the fastest-growing city in Wisconsin as of 2024) across roughly 79.57 square miles of land — Wisconsin's second-most populous city. It sits 77 miles west of Milwaukee and 122 miles northwest of Chicago (general Wikipedia geographic distances), on an isthmus between Lake Mendota and Lake Monona. The University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW Health, and Wisconsin state government are the largest employers; Epic Systems, headquartered in nearby Verona, represents the largest private-sector employer. The economy emphasizes government, education, information technology, and healthcare, supplemented by agribusiness and precision manufacturing. Capital Square serves as the central business district, with State Street connecting the university campus to downtown through a corridor of bars and theatres. As of 2020, 58.5 percent of residents held bachelor's degrees or higher, with a median household income of $67,565.
Regional Market Standing
Madison does not currently appear in the [[atlas-top-400-north-america|Top 400 Regional Markets — North America]] list. This is not a data defect; at 77 miles (124 km) from Milwaukee, it functions as its own regional centre. The co-location qualification system selects on anchor composition, not on distance from a metro core.
See Also
References
- Madison, Wisconsin — Wikipedia, accessed 2026-07-10
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Cite this record: /wiki/us-wi-madison — revision d578b342, last updated 26 August 2026.