AreaProfile

Fitchburg, Wisconsin

Area Profile

32,619 residents. Jobs, income, climate, physical risk, development and airport access for Fitchburg, in Dane County.

81
Area Score
Top 1% of 1,482 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 6% of 1,567 published cities83
GrowthTop 6% of 1,503 published cities78
Housing affordabilityTop 48% of 1,876 published cities77
Climate1715th of 1,876 published cities57
Physical resilienceTop 2% of 1,849 published cities97
AccessTop 40% of 1,876 published cities96
Economic stabilityTop 13% of 1,876 published cities75
The quick read

Fitchburg ranks in the top 6% of published city profiles for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 2.8% and median household income of $86,516.

Residential permitting has slowed: 432 units authorized over the past twelve months, 16% below the prior year.

Natural-hazard exposure is lower than in most comparable published city profiles, placing Fitchburg in the top 2% for physical resilience.

At a glance

Population
32,619
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$86,516
Top 28% nationally
Density
926/sq mi
35.2 sq mi of land
Median age
34.4
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Dane County
Wisconsin
Metro area
Madison, WI
Nearest major airport
MSN
12 mi · Dane County Rgnl/Truax Fld
Median home value
$417,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 2.8% is lower than 98% of the 1,567 measured US cities.

Employment fell 0.3% over the past year, to 20,446 employed residents.

58% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 92% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$8,914$86,516Top 28%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$3,909$59,210Top 10%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate9.3%Bottom 43%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute20.5 minBottom 19%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher57.7%Top 8%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment20,446Bottom 38%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)1.8%Top 26%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-0.3%Top 29%June 2026
Labor force21,043Bottom 37%June 2026
Labor force participation73.3%Top 11%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$70,990Top 41%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$58,080Top 24%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.4%Top 35%June 2026
Unemployment rate2.8%Bottom 2%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032026/012026/063.41.5
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 2.8% in June 2026.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202487k78k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $86,516 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 — Madison, WI
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Registered Nurses10,650$101,190
Fast Food and Counter Workers9,180$29,820
Home Health and Personal Care Aides8,360$37,220
Retail Salespersons8,330$35,830
Cashiers7,960$34,550
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand7,130$44,190

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.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,373 takes 19% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 4.8 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
19.0%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.8×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,373
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$417,200
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income4.82Top 17%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate47.6%Bottom 8%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±66215,929Top 4%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$53$1,373Top 25%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$23,479$417,200Top 17%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income19.0%Top 47%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate1.4%Bottom 14%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
78/ 100
Top 6% of 1,503 published city profiles
Permitting is increasing, measured from 2020 to 2025.

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 10% since 2020, reaching 34,357 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before.

Population is still rising, but more slowly than in the preceding year.

69% of recently permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

At 13.2 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
432
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
13.2
Top 7% nationally
Year over year
−16%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
69.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202434k31k
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.
Housing units permitted per year
202020212022202320242025487117
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+306%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 82°F and January a low of 12°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 37.1 inches, including 51.8 inches of snow.

0°20°40°60°80°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station MADISON DANE RGNL AP, 11.4 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND5.3"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation37.1"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall51.8"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low12°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high82°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing52°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

97 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are tornado and hail.

HailModerate
TornadoModerate

Low or minimal exposure: cold wave, heat wave, inland flooding, winter weather, strong wind, lightning, landslide, ice storm, earthquake, wildfire, drought, hurricane.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Taxes

AreaProfile does not yet publish tax comparisons. No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, methodology transparency and update cadence, and the product rule is to omit a dimension rather than estimate it. The Area Score is calculated without a tax component and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Nothing on AreaProfile is individualized tax advice.

Access

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 12 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Dane County Rgnl/Truax FldMSN12 mi9,006 ft
Wittman RgnlOSH82 mi8,002 ft
Appleton IntlATW99 mi8,003 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
81
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Other cities in Madison, WI

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
MadisonDane County278,00178vs Fitchburg
Sun PrairieDane County37,57079vs Fitchburg

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)

Profile recalculated August 29, 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 browse every source.

ZIP codes in Fitchburg

2 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
5371151,279$100,73583
5357518,204$107,88583