Madison

Life quality score

City ranking

Housing

6
180/265
Details
Large apartment$1600.00
Medium apartment$1300.00
Rent index [score]0.58
Small apartment$1000.00

Cost of Living

6
99/248
Details
5km taxi ride$17.00
A Cappuccino$3.60
A beer$1.70
A kilogram of Apples$2.50
Bread$1.20
Inflation [score]0.62
Lunch$14.00
Monthly fitness club membership$41.00
Monthly public transport$64.00
Movie ticket$11.00
Price of a meal at a restaurant$65.79

Startups

4
143/264
Details
Average monthly increase in number of startups1
Average monthly increase in number of startups [score]0.20
Coworking spaces [score]0.56
Coworking spaces on WorkFrom.co21
Meetups [score]0.28
Meetups groups67
Meetups members22935
Number of investors35
Number of startup events in the last 12 months398
Number of upcoming meetup events20
Startup climate scene [score]0.48
Startup events47
Startup events [score]0.56
Startups [score]0.60
Total number of startups188

Venture Capital

3
98/192
Details
Venture capital [score]0.29

Travel Connectivity

1
238/266
Details
Airport hub11
Airport hub [score]0.13
Intercity train connectivity [score]0.11

Commute

5
88/255
Details
Human city pagehttp://cities.human.co/details/United_States/Madison
Traffic handling [score]0.87

Business Freedom

9
69/264
Details
Business freedom84.70
Business freedom [score]0.86
Freedom from corruption74.00
Freedom from corruption [score]0.79
Lack of labor restrictions91.40
Lack of labor restrictions [score]1.00
Time to open a business5.60
Time to open a business [score]0.95

Safety

7
120/266
Details
Crime rate [score]0.85
Gun-related deaths per 100,000 residents per year10
Guns per 100 residents69
Lack of gun related deaths [score]0.73
Lack of guns [score]0.62
Lack of guns and gun-related deaths [score]0.68

Healthcare

9
28/265
Details
Healthcare expenditure [score]0.99
Healthcare quality [score]0.96
Life expectancy (years)79.28
Life expectancy [score]0.76

Education

5
56/240
Details
Best university in rankingUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison
Best university ranking45
Country mean scores in PISA math test478.04
Country mean scores in PISA reading test497.58
Country mean scores in PISA science test497.41
PISA math ranking (high school)30
PISA ranking24
PISA ranking (high school) [score]0.72
PISA reading (high school)16
PISA science (high school)19
Percent of happy students0.77
Percent of low performers in PISA math test0.26
Percent of low performers in PISA reading test0.17
Percent of low performers in PISA science test0.18
Percent of top performers in PISA math test0.09
Percent of top performers in PISA reading test0.08
Percent of top performers in PISA science test0.07
University quality [score]0.35

Environmental Quality

10
4/266
Details
Air quality [score]0.99
Cleanliness [score]0.99
Drinking water quality [score]0.83
Urban greenery [score]1.00

Economy

7
16/263
Details
Currency exchange rate per US dollar for urban area1.00
Currency for urban areaUSD
GDP growth rate0.02
GDP growth rate [score]0.43
GDP per capita$54596.65
GDP per capita [score]0.87

Taxation

4
163/266
Details
Effective company profit tax rate on payouts as dividends [score]0.54
Income tax level [score]0.30
Profit tax (% of profit)0.44
Time overhead to file company taxes175
VAT (Sales Tax)0.06

Internet Access

5
153/266
Details
Download speed (Mbps)56.50
Internet access (download) [score]0.67
Internet access (upload) [score]0.33
Upload speed (Mbps)7.13

Leisure & Culture

4
202/264
Details
Art galleries122
Art galleries [score]0.51
Cinemas46
Cinemas [score]0.61
Comedy clubs22
Comedy clubs [score]0.77
Concert venues121
Concerts [score]0.72
Historical sites36
Historical sites [score]0.40
Museums39
Museums [score]0.49
Performing art venues119
Performing arts [score]0.66
Sport venues34
Sports [score]0.71
Zoos8
Zoos [score]0.82

Tolerance

8
76/266
Details
LGBT Equality Index82.97
LGBT Equality Index [score]0.85
LGBT adoption rights✔ Legal
LGBT age of consent✔ Equal
LGBT blood donation regulations✖ Banned (indefinite deferral)
LGBT conversion therapy regulationsAmbiguous
LGBT discrimination legalityIllegal in some contexts
LGBT employment discrimination legalitySexual orientation only
LGBT gender changing rights✔ Legal, surgery not required
LGBT homosexuality rights✔ Legal
LGBT housing discrimination legalitySexual orientation only
LGBT marriage rights✔ Legal
Tolerance towards minorities [score]0.73

Outdoors

4
162/266
Details
Elevation (hills or mountains) [score]0.18
Median peak in meters316.00
Urban area elevation (meters)271.00
Water access [score]0.70
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Cost of living

Costs of living in Madison are in the 99th place of all 248 Teleport cities. Sign up for free to get access to our cost of living index and use our international  cost of living calculator to do cost comparison by city.

Housing costs (USD)

$1,100$1,600
$1300
Median rent for
apartments in city center

Daily living costs (USD)

Monthly fitness club membership$41
Movie ticket$11
Broadband internet connection$50
Monthly public transport$64
Lunch$14
-35%
compared to
San Francisco
See more prices and detailed cost of living data in Madison

Job salary calculator

Software Engineer salaries in Madison are high. For this job type, Madison ranks 30th for salaries among 265 cities. Get access to our salary comparison calculator by signing up. Compare salaries city by city with our free salary wizard and convert your own salary to a local salary in Madison.

Estimated annual salary (in USD)

$79,397
Median salary
See more details and salary rankings for all job types in Madison

Locals review Madison

Do locals recommend living in Madison?

What could Madison do better?#improveMadison

How could Madison improve to make it a more liveable city? We will make sure that the local government will know about the suggestions that reach enough votes*.
*Suggestions will be delivered to: Mayor of Madison - Paul Soglin
You can be the first! 😊  Tell us something that can be improved about your city.

What makes Madison a special place?#praiseMadison

Is Madison a great place to live? What makes it special for you? What makes it liveable? What should others know about? Why should they move here? Why do you love it?
You can be the first! 😊  Tell us something nice about your city.

Taxation

Personal taxation

Effective income tax rate

14%
For annual salary of $40000
20%
For annual salary of $80000

Value added tax (VAT)

6%
Standard tax rate. Different rates might apply for certain product categories.

Compared to other cities

195/266

Corporate taxation

Compared to other cities

113/263
See more details on taxation in Madison
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Safety

Overall crime rates

Assault
Moderate
43/51
Theft
Moderate
36/49
Robbery
Low
20/41

Crime rate development in the last 7 months

Change in the last 7 months

  • Assault-19%
  • Robbery-13%
  • Theft-15%

Gun crimes & Ownership

68.72
Guns per 100 people
9.93
Gun deaths per 100k people / year
HIGH GUN CRIMELOW GUN CRIMEFEW GUNSMANY GUNS
North America
Europe
Asia
South America
Africa
Oceania

Overall crime rate city ranking

The overall crime rate puts Madison in position 37 of 266 Teleport Cities in a ranking for the safest cities.

WORSTBEST
See more details on gun crime and safety in Madison

Visa

For visits up to 90 days

Required with citizenship of
Get more information about visas in Madison here
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People in Madison

Population of Madison

366,400
437 /km²
203/264
Density (people per unit of area)
5%
Growth in 2015-2020
Madison

Demographics of United States

Median age
38
Elderly people
15%
Life expectancy at birth
80
GDP per capita (in USD)
$54,597
12/263
Unemployment
5%
110/264

Languages

English proficiency score
100
1/228
Common spoken languages
English

Friends living in Madison

Find out which of your friends are living in Madison. Nothing is better than knowing a local 😉

Teleport Users  X  Madison

Teleport users who are      Madison

Work in:

Software Engineer
10.19%
Systems Administrator
5.56%
Project Manager
4.63%
Physician
4.63%
Graphic Designer
4.63%
Marketing Manager
3.70%
Mechanical Engineer
3.70%
Other
62.96%

Come from:

LGBT rights in Madison

Discrimination

Illegal In Some Contexts

Marriage

Legal

Adoption

Legal

Climate

Average number of clear days per year

90

Climate type

Warm Summer Continental

Average daily maximum temperature

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On living in Madison

Situated on an isthmus between Lake Mendota and Lake Monona, Madison is the capital of the State of Wisconsin and the anchor of the Greater Madison Area.

Madison is a fairly large city in south central Wisconsin. One of only two cities in North America situated on an isthmus (the other is Seattle), Madison is defined by its five lakes: Mendota, Monona, Wingra, Waubesa, and Kegonsa. Through a combination of factors, including the state capital and the University of Wisconsin–Madison, the city has more to offer than might be expected from a metropolitan area of about 500,000. Madison has many excellent restaurants, an active theater community, a great music scene, and good shopping. Madison is also just minutes away from a beautiful rural countryside featuring larger fields and a more scenic and hilly terrain, depending on which direction one travels outside of the city.

National groups and magazines rank Madison highly for being a very bike-friendly city, a great place to raise a family, having a healthy and fit population, and an overall high quality of life. Madison is a melting pot of the Midwest. You'll find professionals, students, families, hippies, musicians and everything in between. It has a vibrant nightlife scene with lots of live music and pubs. It shares many qualities of other well-known college towns like Berkeley and Austin—a creative and educated population—but retains a small-town feel.

Read more

Good Country Index

Every city comes with a country. How is this one doing in terms of giving back to the global community? Our friends at The Good Country Index measure what each country on earth contributes to the common good of humanity, and what it takes away, relative to its size.

Overall ranking

United States
23rd from a total of 163 countries

World Order

26th

Refugees hosted

Refugees generated

Charity giving

Birth rate

UN Treaties signed

International Peace & Security

66th

Dues in arrears to UN peace keeping budgets

International violent conflict

Peacekeeping troops

Arms exports

Internet security (2014)

Planet & Climate

34th

Ecological footprint

Reforestation since 1992

Hazardous pesticides exports

CO2 emissions

Ozone

Prosperity & Equality

46th

Development assistance

FDI outflows

Fairtrade market size

UN volunteers abroad

Open trading

Culture

53rd

Freedom of movement

Press freedom

Creative services exports

UNESCO dues in arrears as % of contribution

Creative goods exports

Science & Technology

20th

Nobel prizes

Patents

Journal exports

International publications

International Students

Health & Wellbeing

12th

Pharmaceutical exports

Voluntary excess donations to the WHO

Food aid

Humanitarian aid donations

International Health Regulations Compliance

See details ▽

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