35,579 people (2024 Census estimate, +0.1% since 2020)
573 square miles of land · 62 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.
7 active community water systems list Madison County in the area they serve, reporting 31,805 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| NORFOLK, CITY OF groundwater · local government · NE3111910 | 26,147 served |
| MADISON, CITY OF groundwater · local government · NE3111916 | 2,135 served |
| BATTLE CREEK, CITY OF groundwater · local government · NE3111915 | 1,194 served |
| TILDEN, CITY OF groundwater · local government · NE3100301 | 957 served |
| NEWMAN GROVE, CITY OF groundwater · local government · NE3111905 | 721 served |
| KPR US LLC groundwater · private · NE3150471 | 350 served |
| MEADOW GROVE, VILLAGE OF groundwater · local government · NE3111917 | 301 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 81 people were held in Madison County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2019), or 363 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2014 it was about 94.
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.
5 school districts have their office in Madison County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $66.1 million — $60.7 million to run schools, about $13,425 per student, plus $4.7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $39 million local (mostly property tax), $17.9 million state, $9.2 million federal. Long-term debt: $14.3 million.
Spent $11.7 million — $7.4 million to run schools, about $13,092 per student, plus $3.8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $6.6 million local (mostly property tax), $1.8 million state, $399,000 federal. Long-term debt: $4.8 million.
Spent $12.7 million — $8.8 million to run schools, about $16,239 per student, plus $3.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $8.3 million local (mostly property tax), $1.3 million state, $2.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $2.9 million.
Spent $8.2 million — $7.3 million to run schools, about $16,321 per student, plus $228,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $6.8 million local (mostly property tax), $1.2 million state, $426,000 federal. Long-term debt: $12.9 million.
Spent $4.9 million — $3.8 million to run schools, about $17,142 per student, plus $689,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.7 million local (mostly property tax), $733,000 state, $509,000 federal. Long-term debt: $8.2 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: Relatively Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Madison County about $26.8 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Moderate; social vulnerability: Very Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
302 bridges in Madison County: 109 in good condition, 167 fair, and 26 poor (8.6%). “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.
| NORFLK AVE/FAU6020 over N FK ELKHORN RIVER · built 1968 | 8,130 vehicles a day |
| N32 over UNION CREEK · built 1957 | 2,045 vehicles a day |
| FAS 2915 over ELKHORN RIVER · built 1967 | 750 vehicles a day |
| N32/N45 over STREAM · built 1951 | 365 vehicles a day |
| COUNTY HIGHWAY over N FK ELKHORN RIVER · built 1906 | 100 vehicles a day |
| COLL 7697 over STREAM · built 1935 | 75 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $14.8 million of work in Madison County in fiscal 2025, about $416 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.
Registration deadlines, early voting and polling places for Nebraska are on the federal site vote.gov, which links to the state's official election office.
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 Nebraska: the state government and every county in Nebraska.
Nearby counties: Stanton County (22 mi) · Platte County (23 mi) · Pierce County (25 mi) · Boone County (28 mi) · Antelope County (30 mi) · Wayne County (32 mi).