Madison serves as the state capital for Wisconsin and is America’s 15th-most highly populated state capital city. Wisconsin’s capital was named after James Madison, the fourth president of the United States.

Nicknames for Madison include Madtown, Mad City and The City of Four Lakes City. Monikers for Wisconsin are the Badger State and America’s Dairyland.

Research website numbeo ranks Madison in the top 3% compared to the 250 cities evaluated on its overall quality of life index at June 2020. Madison scored well on index factors such as pollution (cleanest 4%), purchasing power (strongest 7%), health care (best 8%), property price to income ratio (lowest 14%), traffic commute time (fastest 15%) and safety (upper 25%). On the negative side, Madison rates relatively poorly on climate (bottom 9%) and cost of living (highest 44%).

Madison hosts Dane County Farmers’ Market in its Capitol Square, the biggest producers-only farmers’ market in the U.S.

The Wisconsin State Capitol dome in Madison’s urban core was built based on the federal U.S. Capitol building’s design. Madison’s skyline is constrained by a state law that limits building heights in the city’s downtown. All buildings within a mile (1.6 kilometers) of the Wisconsin State Capitol must be under 1,032.8 feet (314.8 meters) above sea level. The intent of this law is to preserve the view of Wisconsin State Capitol from most areas in the city.

Living up to its “Mad” nicknames, Madison was the site of a wild Guinness World Record on July 21, 1996 when American Sam Tartamella performed the longest handstand on a skateboard ever. He travelled upside down for 2,255 feet (687.33 meters) along Madison’s Nakoma Road.

Madison serves as headquarters for one large corporation recognized as belonging to the Forbes Global 2000 world’s biggest companies: public holding utility holding company Alliant Energy.

From an international trade perspective, Wisconsin exported US$21.7 billion worth of goods around the globe in 2019. Its most valuable exports include civilian aircraft including parts (2.4% of Wisconsin’s global total), outboard marine engines (1.4%), spark-ignition engine parts (also 1.4%), computed tomography apparatus (1.3%), composite diagnostic or laboratory reagents (1.1%), primary battery cells scrap (1%), silica and quartz sands (0.9%), human or animal blood (0.9%), medical, dental or veterinarian instruments or appliances (0.9%) and miscellaneous plastic items (also 0.9%) according to United States Census Bureau data.

The non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for Madison was 5.9% at July 2020, up from 2.7% one year earlier.

Capital Facts for Madison, United States: Quick Reference

 
Madisonians celebrate Independence Day as a national holiday each July 4.

Madison’s land area occupies 79.57 square miles (206.09 square kilometers). The state capital’s population was 264,030 Madisonians at September 24, 2020.

At the state level, Wisconsin covers a land area measuring 54,310 square miles (140,663 square kilometers) home to a population of 5.9 million people.

Madison’s population density is more concentrated averaging 3,318 residents per square mile (1,218 per square kilometer).

Zooming out to Wisconsin’s land boundaries, population density dilutes to an average 108 inhabitants per square mile (42 per square kilometer).