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Where am ILOCATED

Madison, WI Metro Area

The Madison, WI metro area is made up of 4 counties in Wisconsin: Dane, Columbia, Green, and Iowa, largest first. About 709,685 people lived there on July 1, 2025 (Census estimate), 4.2% more than in April 2020.

Columbia County, outlyingDane County, centralGreen County, outlyingIowa County, outlyingMadison
Central Outlying 4 counties in Wisconsin
Population, July 2025
709,685 4.2% more than in April 2020
Type
Metropolitan statistical area
Counties
4: 1 central, 3 outlying
Land area
3,309 sq mi (8,570 km²)
Time zone
Central TimeUTC-06:00 in January; UTC-05:00 in July
State
Wisconsin
Combined statistical area
Madison-Janesville-Beloit, WI
CBSA code
31540
Open this area in the metro area finder

Counties in the Madison, WI metro area, largest first

CountyRolePopulation, July 2025Share of the area
Dane CountyCentral590,37583.2%
Columbia CountyOutlying58,1328.2%
Green CountyOutlying37,2275.2%
Iowa CountyOutlying23,9513.4%

A central county holds the area’s core, an urban area of at least 50,000 people. An outlying county is in the area because of commuting: at least a quarter of its workers have jobs in the central county, or at least a quarter of the people working there live in them. A county belongs to one metro or micro area at most, and it counts whole, countryside included.

Principal city

  1. Madison278,001 people

OMB names the area after its largest principal cities. A principal city is the area’s largest city, plus any other city that is very large or a big job center, and smaller ones with at least as many jobs as working residents (2020 Census and commuting figures). People counts are American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates.

Part of the Madison-Janesville-Beloit, WI combined statistical area

OMB joins neighboring metro and micro areas into a combined statistical area when enough people commute between them. The other 2 areas in this one, largest first:

  1. Janesville-Beloit, WI Metro Area166,472 people
  2. Baraboo, WI Micro Area66,652 people

Bordering metro and micro areas, nearest first

Areas with a county on this area’s edge. Distances are straight lines between the areas’ largest cities.

  1. Baraboo, WI Micro Area31 mi northwest
  2. Janesville-Beloit, WI Metro Area35 mi southeast
  3. Watertown-Fort Atkinson, WI Micro Area36 mi east
  4. Beaver Dam, WI Micro Area40 mi northeast
  5. Freeport, IL Micro Area56 mi south
  6. Platteville, WI Micro Area58 mi southwest
  7. Rockford, IL Metro Area60 mi south

Before using this answer on a form

A metro or micro area is a statistical area that OMB draws for federal statistics. It is not a city, a local government or a mailing address, and it is not a measure of urban and rural: whole counties count, rural parts included. Programs that use metro areas, such as housing income limits or wage rates, can use their own version of these lists; check the program’s own list for an address.

Find the metro area where you are now, find your county, or see every metro and micro area by population.

See this area on Census.gov ↗