County Maps US

Madison County, North Carolina

A county in North Carolina, ranked 76 of 100 by population.

CountyFIPS 37115

Within North Carolina
Madison County, highlighted, with the areas around it. Boundaries generalised from the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file; neighbour fills carry no data. The dot marks Marshall, the county seat, located via the 2025 Census Gazetteer.

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Population
22,553
+1,261 (+5.9%) since 2020
Land area
449.6
square miles. A further 0.4% of the total area is water
Population density
50.2
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Marshall
Seat of county government.
Established
1851
174 years ago
Largest city
Mars Hill town
Population 2,280.

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; Wikidata (CC0), Wikidata. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

Satellite view

Aerial imagery of Madison County with its boundary drawn on top. A map shows you the shape; this shows you what is inside it, and which side of the line a place falls on.

Aerial view of Madison County, North Carolina from the USGS National Map, with its boundary outlined
Imagery: USGS National Map, USGS Imagery Only, public domain, requested from USGS by your browser when you reach this point on the page, at 800 by 702 pixels. The boundary is the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file, reprojected to Web Mercator to match the imagery. You can also open the USGS National Map viewer.

Where Madison County ranks

Position among the 100 counties of North Carolina, and among all 3,144 US counties and county-equivalents. Computed from the figures on this page.

MeasureValueIn North CarolinaNationally
Population22,55376th of 1001,702nd of 3,144
Land area449.6 sq mi53rd of 1002,270th of 3,144
Population density50.2 per sq mi84th of 1001,473rd of 3,144
Median household income$58,53159th of 1002,222nd of 3,143

Full data for Madison County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population22,553Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202021,292Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?21,201Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area449.6 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area1.9 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area451.5 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?50.2 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$58,531American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$284,600American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age44.5American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households8,342American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units11,356American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates, released 29 January 2026. Population density is computed here, not published: it divides the Vintage 2025 population estimate by the 2025 Gazetteer land area, which are two different Census products. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

How the population changed

The Census Bureau publishes the components behind an estimate, not just the total. For the year to July 2025:

Births minus deaths
-100
202 births, 302 deaths
Net migration
+185
More people moved in than moved out.

Source: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

The 6 areas bordering Madison County

Ordered by the length of the border actually shared, which the Census Bureau publishes in its county adjacency file and which no other county reference presents.

Bordering areaStateShared borderPopulation
Buncombe CountyNorth Carolina37 mi277,417
Greene CountyTennessee27 mi73,831
Cocke CountyTennessee17 mi37,889
Yancey CountyNorth Carolina17 mi19,084
Unicoi CountyTennessee14 mi17,856
Haywood CountyNorth Carolina13 mi63,369

Source: US Census Bureau, County Adjacency File, 2025 County Adjacency File, released 15 September 2025. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

All 100 counties of North Carolina

Open the interactive North Carolina county map, or jump straight to any of them.

Data on this page last rebuilt 30 August 2026. How these figures are produced.