Advertising services for Madison, WI

Who lives in Madison, WI

The metropolitan statistical area is centered on Madison, Wisconsin.

The median household in Madison, WI earns $88,804 a year, 10 percent above the national figure (the US median is $80,734). Owner-occupied homes carry a median value of $372,400, 12 percent above the national figure; the national comparison point is $332,700.

Three quick reads on the people of Madison, WI. Bachelor's degree or higher: 50.1% of adults, 14 points above the US share. Homeownership stands at 60.3%, 5 points below the US share. Of 396,942 people in the labor force, 2.5% are unemployed, 3 points below the US share. Madison, WI has a median age of 37 (1.9 years below the national median).

How does that compare with the state as a whole? Income in Madison, WI is 15 percent higher than the Wisconsin figure, the median home value is 40 percent higher than the Wisconsin figure, and business density is 5 percent denser than the Wisconsin figure; the full numbers are on the Wisconsin page.

Competition, counted

How crowded is the market overall? Madison, WI has 17,791 employer establishments. Density runs 25.7 businesses for every 1,000 residents, 3 percent above the national figure. The home-services trades that most often advertise locally number 859 establishments, a 4.8% share, about the same as the US share.

Reading the index: 1.00 matches the national mix, 1.50 means half again as common here, 0.50 half as common.

The market over-indexes on child day care services, beauty salons, concrete contractors and landscaping services. The sharpest example is child day care services: 242 establishments, 1.4 times the share seen nationally. Under-represented categories: self-storage operators, physicians' offices, grocery stores and general freight trucking. Self-storage operators are the clearest gap with 15 establishments, about 38% of the share they hold across the US. In line with the country: roofing contractors, electrical contractors and road and paving contractors.

Counted by establishments, the order is restaurants (1,302), personal care services (378), landscaping services (302). Adjusted for population, restaurants are the thickest on the ground (188.2 per 100,000), with personal care services and landscaping services next. Across the groups, automotive businesses run about the same as the US share and medical and dental practices about half of.

Implications for a local business

Because child day care services, beauty salons and concrete contractors are over-represented, a new entrant in those categories competes for a fixed pool of searches against many established profiles. Reviews, photos, response time and a page that answers the exact query are what move the needle; simply outbidding is expensive. With self-storage operators, physicians' offices and grocery stores in short supply, the map pack often has room; a complete listing and a handful of recent reviews can put a business in it. Homeownership of 60.3% is below the national share, so a larger part of the housing stock is managed by landlords and property managers; for home-services trades that argues for a commercial and property-management pitch alongside the consumer one. The population is younger than the national median (1.9 years below the national median), which raises the value of Instagram, streaming and AI-answer visibility next to search.