Madison, WI, Wisconsin: Urban anchor metro. In 2024, voted D+43%. Republican peak: R+65 in 1920.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- D+43MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- Urban anchorAkashic typology
- Population
- 691,8302024 5-year
- Median household income
- $88,9362024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 79.8%2024 5-year
- Black
- 4.5%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 7.1%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+44 in 2020MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+65 in 1920MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Madison, WI, WIOne cell per constituent county, colored by 2024 presidential margin from deep red (Republican) through neutral to deep blue (Democratic), ordered bluest first.
R+60D+60
One cell per constituent county. Ordered by 2024 D-vs-R margin (bluest first). Hover for county-level numbers.
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D | 309,036 | 120,916 | 437,596 | ||
| D | 295,210 | 111,799 | 413,995 | ||
| D | 247,016 | 98,940 | 370,312 | ||
| D | 252,557 | 108,814 | 366,583 | ||
| D | 242,134 | 95,817 | 342,714 | ||
| D | 212,049 | 119,170 | 334,594 | ||
| D | 168,658 | 98,788 | 284,143 | ||
| D | 130,509 | 75,427 | 235,355 | ||
| D | 134,006 | 79,231 | 258,440 | ||
| D | 123,967 | 90,494 | 216,120 | ||
| D | 110,994 | 99,295 | 211,805 | ||
| D | 103,814 | 79,805 | 212,670 | ||
| D | 101,662 | 84,821 | 194,176 | ||
| D | 93,415 | 77,951 | 173,321 | ||
| D | 73,047 | 59,057 | 138,542 | ||
| D | 88,379 | 42,016 | 130,632 | ||
| R | 60,934 | 66,609 | 127,780 | ||
| R | 48,839 | 61,390 | 110,739 | ||
| R | 49,307 | 64,017 | 113,585 | ||
| D | 48,899 | 37,488 | 89,025 | ||
| D | 50,759 | 41,052 | 92,502 | ||
| D | 55,942 | 40,794 | 97,678 | ||
| D | 55,721 | 28,163 | 86,915 | ||
| D | 45,323 | 30,356 | 78,078 | ||
| R | 29,886 | 41,931 | 72,411 | ||
| O | 4,100 | 23,217 | 67,442 | ||
| R | 7,655 | 41,130 | 51,492 | ||
| D | 16,075 | 15,019 | 32,174 | ||
| D | 15,309 | 11,194 | 30,846 | ||
| R | 14,114 | 19,116 | 34,901 | ||
| R | 10,691 | 22,091 | 34,365 | ||
| R | 11,829 | 20,425 | 33,543 | ||
| R | 13,300 | 20,133 | 34,885 | ||
| R | 14,178 | 14,362 | 31,127 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
33.5%
Irish
12.9%
English
10.1%
Polish
4.9%
Italian
3.6%
American
2.6%
French
2.1%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release. Hispanic/Latino is an ethnicity that overlaps the race categories, so these shares can total more than 100%. Ancestry is a self-reported, multiple-response item; ancestry percentages do not sum to the parent race percentage.
Age distribution by sex
Median age: 37.1 in this county, 39.1 nationally
Male
Age
Female
85+
75–84
65–74
55–64
45–54
35–44
25–34
18–24
5–17
<5
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Median household income
2024 inflation-adjusted dollars
$88,936
Madison, WI ranks near the middle of US counties.
Madison, WI$88,936
Wisconsin$77,485
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
10.1%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 188.7%
Working age (18–64)10.8%
Seniors (65+)7.2%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
89.8%
speak English only
Spanish4.3%
Asian & Pacific Islander2.8%
Other Indo-European2.4%
Other languages0.6%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 62.7% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
The seven-county Madison metro consistently posts some of the widest Democratic margins in the Midwest, driven by a dense concentration of university employees, students, and state-government workers in Dane County's urban core.
The Democratic margin in Madison, WI has been steady. It reached its modern peak at forty-four points in 2020; the 2024 margin was forty-three points, still in line with the metro's long pattern.
Its political identity is inseparable from its demographic profile: a 80% non-Hispanic-white share, a median household income of $88,936, and the full diversity of a major metropolitan center.
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Madison, WI, Wisconsin — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/31540/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Madison, WI, Wisconsin vote in 2024?
In 2024, Madison, WI, Wisconsin voted Democratic by 43.0 points (D+43), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 437,596 votes cast, 309,036 went Democratic and 120,916 went Republican.
What is Madison, WI, Wisconsin's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Madison, WI, Wisconsin as a "Urban anchor" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 23 times, Republican 10 times, and other 1 times.
When did Madison, WI, Wisconsin last vote Republican?
The most recent presidential election in which Madison, WI, Wisconsin voted Republican was 1960.
How many people live in Madison, WI, Wisconsin?
Madison, WI, Wisconsin has a population of 691,830 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Madison, WI, Wisconsin?
Median household income in Madison, WI, Wisconsin is $88,936 — above the national median of $80,734. The Wisconsin state median is $77,485.
What is the political history of Madison, WI, Wisconsin?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Madison, WI, Wisconsin from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 23 went Democratic and 10 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Urban anchor" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.