CITY PROFILE

Madison, WI

Cold winters and limited nightlife for reasonable housing prices.

By the numbers

Typical home value$453K · Zillow, May 2026 (ZHVI)
Typical rent$1,683/mo · Zillow, May 2026 (ZORI)
Average temperature8.1°C · warmest 22.5°C · coolest -7.9°C · NASA POWER
Annual precipitation969 mm · NASA POWER
Sunshine (solar energy)3.85 kWh/m²/day · NASA POWER (annual mean)
Metro size rank (US)#88 · Zillow SizeRank

Match scores

  • Affordable to buy80
  • Affordable to rent75
  • Climate comfort31
  • Plenty of sunshine39
  • Big-city amenities43

Scores are 0–100, normalised across the metros we cover, derived from the sourced figures above (higher = better on that factor). A research aid, not a recommendation to move. Job market, safety, and healthcare access need key-gated feeds (BLS, FBI, Census) not yet wired — see the methodology.