Madison, Wisconsin Population 2024

Madison is the capital of the state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County in the southern part of the state, about 122 miles northwest of Chicago, Illinois and 77 miles west of Milwaukee. Madison is the second-largest city in Wisconsin and the 83rd largest in the United States.

The Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area, including Dane, Iowa, and Columbia counties, has a population estimated at 578,000, the 86th largest metro area in the United States.

Madison Religion

Madison is home to the third-largest congregation of Unitarian Universalists in the country, and the First Unitarian Society of Madison has its home in the Unitarian Meeting House, which was designed by world-famous architect and member, Frank Lloyd Wright. There are many Christian denominations present in the city, along with Buddhism, Hinduism and more. Long known as a center for non-theists, Madison is also home to the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Madison Population Growth

Madison is the fastest-growing municipality in Wisconsin, with a population growth rate of almost 3% in 2011 and 2012. Madison has a high quality of life, which has helped its population grow nearly 11% from 2000 to 2008. By 2030, Madison is projected to have a population of 270,000.

Madison Facts

• No buildings may be constructed in Madison that is taller than or overshadow the State Capital.
• Madison is one of just 2 U.S. cities built on an isthmus.
• Madison is named after James Madison, the fourth president of the United States who died the year of the city's founding. The streets of Madison were named for the other 39 signers of the Constitution.

Madison's history dates back to 1829 when former federal judge James Doty bought more than one thousand acres of forest and swamp land on the isthmus between Lakes Monona and Mendota. He intended to build a city. When the Wisconsin Territory was created seven years later, the legislature was tasked with choosing a permanent location for the capital. Doty lobbied for Madison as the new capital and offered buffalo robes to the cold legislators and promised the best lots in the city at a discount to undecided voters. The city -- which only existed on paper at this point -- was named the capital of the territory.

Madison was incorporated as a village in 1846 with a population of just over 600. When Wisconsin became a state two years later, Madison remained the capital, and it then became the site of the University of Wisconsin. It was incorporated as a city in 1856 with a population of nearly 6,700.

Madison served as the center for the Union Army in Wisconsin during the Civil War, and it was the last stop for soldiers heading to fight the Confederates. Camp Randall in Madison was used as a prison camp, military hospital and training camp, and it was absorbed into the University of Wisconsin and Camp Randall Stadium in 1917.