Madison County, TN

County Profile

99,295 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Madison County, TN.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

53out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 27% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
Opportunity894th of 1,463 counties measured50
Schools1,373rd of 1,377 counties measured2
GrowthTop 50% of 1,453 counties measured50
Housing affordability1,029th of 1,462 counties measured68
ClimateTop 25% of 1,463 counties measured75
Physical resilienceTop 38% of 1,463 counties measured68
Access1,152nd of 1,463 counties measured64
Economic stability1,054th of 1,463 counties measured42
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.1% and median household income $60,042, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.

238 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, essentially level with the prior year — steady rather than turning.

Rent takes 32% of renter income here, above the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 2.6 times what its owners earn.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
99,295
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$60,042
Bottom 35% nationally
Density
178/sq mi
557.2 sq mi of land
Median age
38.3
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Madison County
Tennessee
Metro area
Nearest major airport
NQA
61 mi · Millington/Memphis
Median home value
$211,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.1%, lower than in 50% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 1.3% over the past year, to 43,787 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$52,20929th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$52,97434th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$3,1882024 ACS 5-Year$60,042Bottom 35%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,3732024 ACS 5-Year$33,572Bottom 43%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$55,964Bottom 48%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year17.6%Bottom 23%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.7 min2024 ACS 5-Year21.8 minTop 24%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year26.6%Top 32%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year76.2%40th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202643,787Top 43%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+1.7%Top 30%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−1.3%Bottom 34%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202645,63857th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year76.6%Top 45%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year0.7%78th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.3%Top 39%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.1%Top 50%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year8.5%49th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/075.82.9
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.1% in July 2026. It has been falling, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202460k52k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $60,042 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — Jackson, TN

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand2,410$36,710
Retail Salespersons2,390$30,990
Fast Food and Counter Workers2,370$26,360
Home Health and Personal Care Aides2,280$31,120
Registered Nurses1,930$75,610
Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators1,890$40,340

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

21% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 25% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

Public schools
26
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
—
Math proficiency
21.1%
Bottom 2% in Tennessee
Reading proficiency
25.0%
Bottom 2% in Tennessee
The 12 largest of 26 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
North Side High SchoolMadison County903—3%21%
Northeast Middle SchoolMadison County804—33%24%
Thelma Barker ElementaryMadison County776—36%27%
South Side High SchoolMadison County756—21%25%
Community Montessori SchoolMadison County665—47%56%
Pope SchoolMadison County628—33%27%
Arlington Elementary SchoolMadison County626—8%9%
Liberty Technology Magnet High SchoolMadison County604—2%16%
Andrew Jackson Elementary SchoolMadison County566—20%14%
Isaac Lane Technology Magnet ElementaryMadison County563—12%12%
Rose Hill SchoolMadison County511—15%16%
Jackson Central Merry High SchoolMadison County507———

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Tennessee’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 13% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 86.8, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Jackson, TN Metro Area is up 56% over five years, and up 6.1% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $1,185 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.56% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,260, some 12% above the $1,123 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,260 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $50,400 a year, about 84% of the median household income here of $60,042.

The typical renter household here spends 32% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,123 a month.

A median home at $211,800 costs 2.6 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $80,141, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
86.8

Prices here run about 13% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Jackson, TN Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
32.3%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.6×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,260
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,123
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$211,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Madison County’s median household income of $60,042, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Jackson, TN Metro Area’s figure202386.8Top 3%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Jackson, TN Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+6.1%89th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Jackson, TN Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+56.4%88th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Jackson, TN Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+116.5%85th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year2.6Bottom 43%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year62.0%10th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±732024 ACS 5-Year44,09181st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$960Top 50%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,677Bottom 39%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,260Bottom 42%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$262024 ACS 5-Year$1,123Bottom 21%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$8,1572024 ACS 5-Year$211,80060th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$682024 ACS 5-Year$1,18532nd percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$3,8492024 ACS 5-Year$80,141Top 42%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.04%2024 ACS 5-Year0.56%23rd percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year32.3%Bottom 13%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1292024 ACS 5-Year25341st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.6%14th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year8.4%45th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±4652024 ACS 5-Year3,93874th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

50/ 100
Top 50% of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, in a series running from 2022 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 2% since 2020, reaching 100,409 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 236 units authorized in 2025, 4% below the prior year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 238 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Madison County lost about 0.3% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $52,209, close to the $52,974 of households that moved out.

At 2.4 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
238
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.4
Bottom 43% nationally
Year over year
−1%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

20202021202220232024100k99k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been rising for the last 3 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.3%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
38%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$52,209
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$52,974
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Gibson County, TN 545 people · 12% of arrivals
  2. Shelby County, TN 336 people · 7.2% of arrivals
  3. Chester County, TN 222 people · 4.7% of arrivals
  4. Haywood County, TN 221 people · 4.7% of arrivals
  5. Henderson County, TN 169 people · 3.6% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Gibson County, TN 753 people · 15% of departures
  2. Shelby County, TN 299 people · 6.0% of departures
  3. Chester County, TN 231 people · 4.7% of departures
  4. Henderson County, TN 211 people · 4.3% of departures
  5. Rutherford County, TN 190 people · 3.8% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2022202320242025248235
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was close to 2022 (−5%).

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 90°F and January a low of 29°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 53.9 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 33, in the Good band, and no day in the year passed 100.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station JACKSON MCKELLAR AP, 4.8 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.6"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year542024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals53.9"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals29°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals90°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year02024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year332024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals41°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
33
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
54
90th percentile index
Days above 100
0
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

68 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are earthquake, tornado and cold wave, with earthquake alone responsible for 51% of it. cold wave is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

EarthquakeModerate
TornadoModerate
Ice stormModerate
LandslideModerate

Low or minimal exposure: cold wave, heat wave, lightning, strong wind, inland flooding, hurricane, drought, winter weather, wildfire, hail, coastal flooding, tsunami, volcanic activity, avalanche.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Madison County records 14.1 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 17.1 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 20.2 per 100,000 residents in Madison County.

Homicide
14.1
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
17.1
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
20.2
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
16.0
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe Madison County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Millington/Memphis at 61 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year89.0%Top 34%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle61 miBottom 20%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 35%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year9.1%Top 41%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Millington/MemphisNQA61 mi8,001 ft
Arkansas IntlBYH67 mi11,602 ft
Frederick W Smith Intl/MemphisMEM75 mi11,120 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
53
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—

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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
Housing, IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated September 26, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

Cities in Madison County, TN

ZIP areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.