22,352 people (2024 Census estimate, +5.0% since 2020)
450 square miles of land · 50 people per square mile
“Highest” and “lowest” are just order, not grades: a high rank for poverty or hazard losses means more of it. Each figure's source is in its section below.
4 active community water systems list Madison County in the area they serve, reporting 7,138 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| MARS HILL, TOWN OF surface water · local government · NC0158010 | 3,030 served |
| WOLF LAUREL RESORT groundwater · private · NC0158101 | 1,819 served |
| MARSHALL, TOWN OF groundwater · local government · NC0158015 | 1,402 served |
| HOT SPRINGS, TOWN OF groundwater · local government · NC0158020 | 887 served |
Source: U.S. EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), active community systems, . Look up any system's violations and test results with EPA's search using its ID.
About 73 people were held in Madison County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2024), or 527 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2019 it was about 60.
Source: Vera Institute of Justice, Incarceration Trends (built from federal Bureau of Justice Statistics jail surveys). Counties without their own jail, or that share one, may show no figure.
1 school district has its office in Madison County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $37.5 million — $32 million to run schools, about $15,167 per student, plus $3.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $7.3 million local (mostly property tax), $23.1 million state, $6.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $3.9 million.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Annual Survey of School System Finances. Districts are listed by the county of their main office; some serve neighboring counties too.
Source: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025 (University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute), which gathers federal data (CDC, Census, and others); measures cover different recent years. Blank lines aren't reported for small counties.
Overall risk: Very Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Madison County about $9.1 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Moderate; social vulnerability: Relatively Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
242 bridges in Madison County: 67 in good condition, 127 fair, and 48 poor (19.8%). “Poor” means a main part — the deck, the beams, or the supports — is rated 4 or lower on the federal 0–9 scale. It doesn't mean unsafe to drive; unsafe bridges are closed.
| US23 over BIG LAUREL CREEK · built 1938 | 2,000 vehicles a day |
| NC208 over SHELTON LAUREL CREEK · built 1962 | 1,800 vehicles a day |
| SR1355 over GABRIEL CREEK · built 1968 | 1,700 vehicles a day |
| SR1370 over WEST FORK BULL CREEK · built 1958 | 1,400 vehicles a day |
| SR1198 over HAYES RUN · built 1959 | 850 vehicles a day |
| SR1135 over WALNUT CREEK · built 1985 | 850 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $7.8 million of work in Madison County in fiscal 2025, about $369 per resident — to the county, cities, schools, hospitals, nonprofits and others.
Source: USAspending.gov, grants by place of performance, fiscal 2025 (Oct. 2024 to Sept. 2025). Search it by county to see each award.
From Grants.gov: posted grants listing county governments as eligible, soonest deadline first; research-only and overseas programs left out; list updated 2026-10-13, refreshed weekly. 62 are open in all. Cities, towns, school districts and nonprofits have their own lists there.
General election: Tuesday, November 3, 2026. Last day to register to vote: 2026-10-09. Early voting: 2026-10-15 to 2026-10-31. Mail ballot request deadline: 2026-10-20. Election Day: 2026-11-03.
Source: NC State Board of Elections: upcoming election · NC State Board of Elections: vote in person · NC State Board of Elections: voter ID
The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Madison County come from the county's own records, which we haven't gathered — not gathered, never hidden. See what a full county site looks like, or ask to have Madison County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of North Carolina: the state government and every county in North Carolina.
Nearby counties: Buncombe County (20 mi) · Yancey County (23 mi) · Cocke County, TN (23 mi) · Greene County, TN (23 mi) · Unicoi County, TN (23 mi) · Haywood County (26 mi).