PlainCompare

Metro Life Score

Madison, WI

56.9
Life Score / 100
B+
Grade (curved)
#98
of 387 metros
75%
of metros outranked

Data updated May 2026

Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census

The verdict

Madison ranks #98 of 387 US metros, ahead of 75% - carried by its wages (86/100) and held back most by cost of living (32/100).

86
strongest: Wages
64
then: Rent
32
weakest: Cost of Living
7
weighted dimensions

Where Madison sits among all US metros

Composite Life Score vs the national field

57 Top 25% higher than 75% of 387 US metros

25–30: 1 US metros (0%). Below this entry. 30–35: 16 US metros (4%). Below this entry. 35–40: 46 US metros (12%). Below this entry. 40–45: 53 US metros (14%). Below this entry. 45–50: 81 US metros (21%). Below this entry. 50–55: 67 US metros (17%). Below this entry. 55–60: 68 US metros (18%). This entry sits in this band. 60–65: 40 US metros (10%). Above this entry. 65–70: 12 US metros (3%). Above this entry. 70–75: 3 US metros (1%). Above this entry. This metro 25 75 every US metro, bucketed by value

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US metros. 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 PlainCompare composite of BEA, BLS, HUD, FBI, NCES, DOL, EPA data · May 2026

How the score is built

Reading the Madison Life Score

Madison's composite score of 56.9 out of 100, a grade of B+, places the metro at rank #98 of 387, ahead of 75% of US metros. The strongest inputs are Wages (86/100) and Rent (64/100), which pull the composite upward, while Cost of Living (32/100) and Childcare (41/100) drag it downward. (How the weighting works.)

BEA RPP 97.3 (rent-RPP 99.7). BLS median salary $72,527, 399,040 jobs (Registered Nurses, Fast Food and Counter Workers, Home Health and Personal Care Aides). HUD 2BR FMR $1,195/mo (studio $824).

FBI UCR (WI): 280 violent, 1157 property/100K. NCES: 14.4:1 ratio, 10.7% charter. DOL infant childcare $11,256/yr. EPA: 46 Superfund sites (WI). Ranks #95-#101 below.

Dimension detail

How Madison scores, dimension by dimension

Score Breakdown

Cost of Living Wages Rent Safety Schools Childcare Environment

Dimension Scores

Cost of Living 32/100 (20%)
Wages 86/100 (20%)
Rent 64/100 (15%)
Safety 61/100 (15%)
Schools 48/100 (10%)
Childcare 41/100 (10%)
Environment 56/100 (10%)

Key Data Points

97.3
Cost Index (RPP)
$72,527
Avg Median Salary
$1,195
2BR Fair Market Rent
280
Violent Crime/100K (WI)
14.4:1
Student-Teacher Ratio
$11,256
Infant Childcare/yr (WI)
46
Superfund Sites (WI)
399,040
Total Employment

Crime, schools, childcare, and environment data shown at state level where metro-specific data is unavailable.

Compare Madison With...

Madison vs Wausau Compare → Madison vs Duluth Compare → Madison vs Oshkosh Compare → Madison vs Wildwood Compare → Madison vs Waterloo Compare → Madison vs Paducah Compare →

Ranking Context

Madison outranks 75% of U.S. metros.

Rank Metro Score Grade
#95 Kokomo, IN 57.0 B+
#96 Rockford, IL 57.1 B+
#97 Wilmington, NC 57.2 B+
#98 Madison, WI 56.9 B+
#99 Dalton, GA 56.9 B+
#100 Greensboro-High Point, NC 56.9 B+
#101 Anniston-Oxford, AL 56.7 B+

WI Metro Scores

Wausau, WI A- 61.1 Duluth, MN-WI A- 60.2 Oshkosh-Neenah, WI A- 60.1 Sheboygan, WI A- 59.8 La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN A- 59.1 Fond du Lac, WI B+ 55.6

Using Madison's Life Score

Madison is a regional baseline, not a neighborhood reading, use it to shortlist, then dig into the dimensions that matter to you.

  • Its strongest dimension is wages (86/100) and its weakest is cost of living (32/100) - weigh those against your own priorities. How the score is built
  • Put Madison head-to-head against another metro before you decide, every dimension, side by side. Compare metros
  • See where Madison lands on the national rankings for cost, safety, pay and more. Browse rankings

Scores summarize federal data at the metro level; crime, schools and cost vary widely within a single metro.

Explore more

Frequently Asked Questions

What are Madison's biggest strengths? ▼
Madison's strongest dimensions are Wages (86/100), Rent (64/100), Safety (61/100). Wages is top-tier nationally.
What are Madison's weakest areas? ▼
Madison's lowest-scoring dimensions are Cost of Living (32/100), Childcare (41/100), Schools (48/100). Cost of Living weighs heavily on the composite.
How expensive is Madison compared to the national average? ▼
Madison's Regional Price Parity is 97.3 (2.7% less than national); rent RPP 99.7.
What is the average salary in Madison? ▼
Madison median salary: $72,527, 399,040 jobs. Top: Registered Nurses, Fast Food and Counter Workers, Home Health and Personal Care Aides.
How is the life score calculated? ▼
Madison's 56.9/100 blends 7 federal-data dimensions - see our methodology page for the weighting.

Research Guides

Data from BEA, HUD, FBI UCR, BLS OES, NCES, DOL, and EPA. Not affiliated with the U.S. Government.

Related

Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCompare Editorial

Disclaimer: This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Data is sourced from BEA, BLS, HUD, FBI, NCES, DOL, and EPA. Consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on this data.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

All federal data sources used on this page
  • U.S. Census Bureau ACS - multi-dimension demographic + housing + income aggregates for cross-area comparison. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
  • BEA Regional Economic Accounts - GDP, personal income, employment by state and metro. bea.gov/data/regional
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) - wage estimates for comparable-area indexing. bls.gov/oes
  • FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) - crime statistics for safety-score component. fbi.gov/ucr
  • NCES Common Core of Data - public-school quality indicators by area. nces.ed.gov/ccd
  • EPA AirNow + Air Quality System (AQS) - air-quality measurements by area. epa.gov/outdoor-air-quality-data
  • HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR) - county and metro housing-cost indicators. huduser.gov/datasets/fmr

Every figure on PlainCompare is loaded directly from BEA, HUD, FBI UCR, BLS OEWS, NCES, DOL, EPA, and the Census Bureau, no number is typed in by an editor. This metro's Life Score is computed directly from the 7 federal sources cited above. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026.