Madison is the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the seat of Dane County. The population was 269,840 as of the 2020 census, making it the second-most populous city in Wisconsin, after Milwaukee, and the 77th-most populous in the United States. The Madison metropolitan area had a population of 680,796. The city is located on an isthmus and lands surrounding five lakes—Lake Mendota, Lake Monona, Lake Wingra, Lake Kegonsa and Lake Waubesa. Madison was founded in 1836 and is named after American Founding Father and President James Madison.

As the state capital, Madison is home to government chambers including the Wisconsin State Capitol building. The University of Wisconsin–Madison, the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System, is located in the city. Other cultural institutions include the Henry Vilas Zoo, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Olbrich Botanical Gardens, Overture Center for the Arts, and Wisconsin Historical Museum. Madison is home to an extensive network of parks, the most parks and playgrounds per capita of any of the 100 largest U.S. cities, and is considered a bicycle-friendly community. Madison is also home to nine National Historic Landmarks, including several buildings designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright, such as the UNESCO World Heritage Site Jacobs I House.

Residents of Madison are known as Madisonians. Madison has long been a center for progressive political activity, protests, and demonstrations, and contemporary Madison is considered the most politically liberal city in Wisconsin. The presence of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, as well as other educational institutions has a significant impact on the economy, culture, and demographics of Madison.

As of 2021, Madison is the fastest-growing city in Wisconsin. Madison's economy features a large and growing technology sector, and the Madison area is home to the headquarters of Epic Systems, American Family Insurance, Exact Sciences, Promega, American Girl, Sub-Zero, Lands' End, Spectrum Brands, a regional office for Google, and the University Research Park, as well as many biotechnology and health systems startups. Madison is a popular visitor destination, with tourism generating over $1 billion for Dane County's economy in 2018.

Before Europeans, humans inhabited the area in and around Madison for about 12,000 years. The Ho-Chunk called the region Teejop (pronounced Day-JOPE [J as in Jump]) meaning "land of the four lakes" (Mendota, Monona, Waubesa, and Kegonsa). Numerous effigy mounds, constructed for ceremonial and burial purposes over 1,000 years earlier, dotted the rich prairies around the lakes.

Madison's modern origins begin in 1829, when former federal judge James Duane Doty purchased over a thousand acres (4 km) of swamp and forest land on the isthmus between Lakes Mendota and Monona, with the intention of building a city in the Four Lakes region. He purchased 1,261 acres for $1,500. When the Wisconsin Territory was created in 1836 the territorial legislature convened in Belmont, Wisconsin. One of the legislature's tasks was to select a permanent location for the territory's capital. Doty lobbied aggressively for Madison as the new capital, offering buffalo robes to the freezing legislators and choice lots in Madison at discount prices to undecided voters. He had James Slaughter plat two cities in the area, Madison and "The City of Four Lakes", near present-day Middleton.

Doty named his city Madison for James Madison, the fourth President of the U.S. who had died on June 28, 1836, and he named the streets for the other 38 signers of the U.S. Constitution. Although the city existed only on paper, the territorial legislature voted on November 28, 1836, in favor of Madison as its capital, largely because of its location halfway between the new and growing cities around Milwaukee in the east and the long-established strategic post of Prairie du Chien in the west, and between the highly populated lead mining regions in the southwest and Wisconsin's oldest city, Green Bay, in the northeast.

The cornerstone for the Wisconsin capitol was laid in 1837, and the legislature first met there in 1838. On October 9, 1839, Kintzing Prichett registered the plat of Madison at the registrar's office of the then-territorial Dane County. Madison was incorporated as a village in 1846, with a population of 626. When Wisconsin became a state in 1848, Madison remained the capital, and the following year it became the site of the University of Wisconsin (now University of Wisconsin–Madison). The Milwaukee & Mississippi Railroad (a predecessor of the Milwaukee Road) connected to Madison in 1854. Madison incorporated as a city in 1856, with a population of 6,863, leaving the unincorporated remainder as a separate Town of Madison. The original capitol was replaced in 1863 and the second capitol burned in 1904. The current capitol was built between 1906 and 1917.

During the Civil War, Madison served as a center of the Union Army in Wisconsin. The intersection of Milwaukee, East Washington, Winnebago, and North Streets is known as Union Corners because a tavern there was the last stop for Union soldiers before heading to fight the Confederates. Camp Randall, on the west side of Madison, was built and used as a training camp, a military hospital, and a prison camp for captured Confederate soldiers. After the war ended, the Camp Randall site was absorbed into the University of Wisconsin and Camp Randall Stadium was built there in 1917. In 2004 the last vestige of active military training on the site was removed when the stadium renovation replaced a firing range used for ROTC training.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the Madison counterculture was centered in the neighborhood of Mifflin and Bassett streets, referred to as "Miffland". The area contained many three-story apartments where students and counterculture youth lived, painted murals, and operated the co-operative grocery store, the Mifflin Street Co-op. Residents of the neighborhood often came into conflict with authorities, particularly during the administration of the Republican mayor Bill Dyke. Dyke was viewed by students as a direct antagonist in efforts to protest the Vietnam War because of his efforts to suppress local protests. The annual Mifflin Street Block Party became a focal point for protest, although by the late 1970s it had become a mainstream community party.

During the late 1960s and early 1970s, thousands of students and other citizens took part in anti-Vietnam War marches and demonstrations, with more violent incidents drawing national attention to the city and UW campus. These include:

• the 1967 student protest of Dow Chemical Company, with 74 injured;
• the 1969 strike to secure greater representation and rights for African-American students and faculty, which resulted in the involvement of the Wisconsin Army National Guard;
• the 1970 fire that caused damage to the Army ROTC headquarters housed in the University of Wisconsin Armory and Gymnasium, also known as the Red Gym; and
• the 1970 late-summer predawn ANFO bombing of the Army Mathematics Research Center in Sterling Hall, killing a postdoctoral researcher, Robert Fassnacht. (See Sterling Hall bombing)

These protests were the subject of the 1979 documentary The War at Home. David Maraniss's 2004 book, They Marched into Sunlight, incorporated the 1967 Dow protests into a larger Vietnam War narrative. Tom Bates wrote the book Rads on the subject (ISBN 0-06-092428-4). Bates wrote that Dyke's attempt to suppress the annual Mifflin Street Block Party "would take three days, require hundreds of officers on overtime pay, and engulf the student community from the nearby Southeast Dorms to Langdon Street's fraternity row. Tear gas hung like heavy fog across the Isthmus." In the fracas, student activist Paul Soglin, then a city alderman, was arrested twice and taken to jail. Soglin was later elected mayor of Madison, serving several times.

In early 2011, Madison was the site for large protests against a bill proposed by Governor Scott Walker that abolished almost all collective bargaining for public worker unions. The protests at the capitol ranged in size from 10,000 to over 100,000 people and lasted for several months.

On October 31, 2022, the city of Madison annexed the majority of the remaining Town of Madison.

Madison is located in the center of Dane County in south-central Wisconsin, 77 miles (124 km) west of Milwaukee and 122 miles (196 km) northwest of Chicago. Madison completely surrounds the city of Monona, and the villages of Maple Bluff and Shorewood Hills. Madison shares borders with its largest suburb, Sun Prairie, and three other suburbs, Middleton, McFarland, and Fitchburg. Other suburbs include the city of Verona and the villages of Cottage Grove, DeForest, and Waunakee as well as Mount Horeb, Oregon, Stoughton, and Cross Plains.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 94.03 square miles (243.54 km), of which 76.79 square miles (198.89 km) is land and 17.24 square miles (44.65 km) is water.

The city is sometimes described as The City of Four Lakes, comprising the four successive lakes of the Yahara River: Lake Mendota ("Fourth Lake"), Lake Monona ("Third Lake"), Lake Waubesa ("Second Lake") and Lake Kegonsa ("First Lake"), although Waubesa and Kegonsa are not actually in Madison, but just south of it. A fifth smaller lake, Lake Wingra, is within the city as well; it is connected to the Yahara River chain by Wingra Creek. The Yahara flows into the Rock River, which flows into the Mississippi River. Downtown Madison is located on an isthmus between Lakes Mendota and Monona. The city's trademark of "Lake, City, Lake" reflects this geography. The city's lowest elevation is the intersection of Regas Road and Corporate Drive on the east side, at 836.9 ft (255.1 m). The highest elevation is located along Pleasant View Road on the far west side of the city, atop a portion of a terminal moraine of the Green Bay Lobe of the Wisconsin glaciation, at 1,190 ft (360 m).

Local identity varies throughout Madison, with over 120 officially recognized neighborhood associations, such as the east side Williamson-Marquette Neighborhood. Historically, the north, east, and south sides were blue collar while the west side was white collar, and to a certain extent this remains true. Students dominate on the University of Wisconsin campus and to the east into downtown, while to its south and in Shorewood Hills on its west, faculty have been a major presence since those neighborhoods were originally developed. The turning point in Madison's development was the university's 1954 decision to develop its experimental farm on the western edge of town; since then, the city has grown substantially along suburban lines.

The Hilldale area comprises the Hill Farms neighborhood, Sunset Village Neighborhood, and part of the suburb of Shorewood Hills. The area has long winding streets, and according to a planning document issued by the neighborhood association, a "suburban-like feel". The area is also a commercial district, and contains Hilldale Shopping Center, an outdoor shopping center containing restaurants and national retail chains.

The Capitol Square Area is Madison's central business district. It is home to high-rise apartments, restaurants, and shopping outlets. It contains several museums and is home to the Wisconsin State Capitol building and the Monona Terrace. The capitol square holds several public events for the city of Madison including the Dane County Farmers' Market, Concerts on the Square, Taste of Madison and Art Fair on the Square. The area's nightlife is served by several bars and live music venues.

State Street, which links the University of Wisconsin campus with the Capitol Square, is lined with restaurants, espresso cafes, and shops. Only pedestrians, buses, emergency vehicles, delivery vehicles, and bikes are allowed on State Street. State Street is home to much of the nightlife of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, as it is the location of several bars and performance venues ranging from comedy clubs to multiple large theaters, including the Overture Center, which features local ballets and Broadway touring casts. State Street is also home to Freakfest, the annual Halloween party in Madison. A newer event on State Street is the Madison Night Market occurring four nights during the year.

The Park Street Area, located in the south of Madison, contains multiple official neighborhoods, including Burr Oaks and Greenbush. It has been described as the "racially and economically diverse area of Madison". This is especially the case between the Beltline and Wingra Creek. Park Street is home to ethnic restaurants and specialty grocery stores, as well as retail. Residential areas to the sides of Park Street tend to have smaller houses or condos, and a higher density of houses.

The Dudgeon-Monroe neighborhood neighbors downtown Madison. It is located around Monroe Street, a commercial area which has local shops, coffee houses, dining and galleries. It is home to a neighborhood jazz fest and Wingra Park, where people can rent paddle boats and canoes at the boathouse on Lake Wingra.

The Marquette neighborhood sits on the near east side of Madison. Willy (Williamson) Street contains locally owned shops, restaurants, and entertainment establishments, as well as art galleries, and the Willy Street Co-op. The houses in the Marquette neighborhood fall into two separate historic districts, Third Lake Ridge Historic District and Marquette Bungalow Historic District. The area is also the location of festivals like the Waterfront Festival (June), La Fete de Marquette (July), Orton Park Festival (August), and Willy Street Fair (September). The Willy Street neighborhood is a hub for Madison's bohemian culture. Houses lining the street are often painted colorfully, and the area has several murals.

Madison, along with the rest of the state, has a humid continental climate (Köppen: Dfa), characterized by variable weather patterns and a large seasonal temperature variance: winter temperatures can be well below freezing, with moderate to occasionally heavy snowfall and temperatures reaching 0 °F or −17.8 °C on 17 mornings annually; high temperatures in summer average in the lower 80s °F (27–28 °C), reaching 90 °F (32.2 °C) on an average 12 afternoons per year, with lower humidity levels than winter but higher than spring. Summer accounts for a greater proportion of annual rainfall, but winter still sees significant precipitation.

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1840	172		—
1850	1,525		786.6%
1860	6,611		333.5%
1870	9,176		38.8%
1880	10,324		12.5%
1890	13,426		30.0%
1900	19,164		42.7%
1910	25,531		33.2%
1920	38,378		50.3%
1930	57,899		50.9%
1940	67,447		16.5%
1950	96,056		42.4%
1960	126,706		31.9%
1970	171,809		35.6%
1980	170,616		−0.7%
1990	191,262		12.1%
2000	208,054		8.8%
2010	233,209		12.1%
2020	269,840		15.7%
2023 (est.)	280,305		3.9%
U.S. Decennial Census

As of the census of 2020, the population was 269,840. The population density was 3,391 inhabitants per square mile (1,309.3/km). There were 126,070 housing units at an average density of 1,584 per square mile (611.6/km). Ethnically, the population was 8.7% Hispanic or Latino of any race. When grouping both Hispanic and non-Hispanic people together by race, the city was 71.0% White, 9.5% Asian, 7.4% Black or African American, 0.5% Native American, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 3.8% from other races, and 7.8% from two or more races.

Racial and ethnic composition as of the 2020 census

Race or Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)	Alone		Total
White (NH)	69.2%	69.2	73.6%	73.6
Asian (NH)	9.5%	9.5	11.0%	11
African American (NH)	7.2%	7.2	9.0%	9
Hispanic or Latino	—		8.7%	8.7
Native American (NH)	0.3%	0.3	1.2%	1.2
Pacific Islander (NH)	0.05%	0.05	0.10%	0.1
Other	0.4%	0.4	1.3%	1.3

The 2020 census population of the city included 548 people incarcerated in adult correctional facilities and 9,909 people in university student housing.

Madison city, Wisconsin – Racial and Ethnic Composition
Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.

Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)	Pop 2000	Pop 2010	Pop 2020	% 2000	% 2010	2020
White alone (NH)	170,509	176,463	186,764	81.95%	75.67%	69.21%
Black or African American alone (NH)	11,987	16,507	19,557	5.76%	7.08%	7.25%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)	648	763	710	0.31%	0.33%	0.26%
Asian alone (NH)	12,000	17,126	25,547	5.77%	7.34%	9.47%
Pacific Islander alone (NH)	73	67	140	0.04%	0.03%	0.05%
Some Other Race alone (NH)	300	374	1,158	0.14%	0.16%	0.43%
Mixed Race or Multi-Racial (NH)	4,025	5,961	12,556	1.93%	2.56%	4.65%
Hispanic or Latino (any race)	8,512	15,948	23,408	4.09%	6.84%	8.67%
Total	208,054	233,209	269,840	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%

According to the American Community Survey estimates for 2016–2020, the median income for a household in the city was $67,565, and the median income for a family was $96,502. Male full-time workers had a median income of $56,618 versus $48,760 for female workers. The per capita income for the city was $39,595. About 6.0% of families and 16.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.3% of those under age 18 and 6.4% of those age 65 or over. Of the population age 25 and over, 95.9% were high school graduates or higher and 58.5% had a bachelor's degree or higher.

As of the census of 2010, there were 233,209 people, 102,516 households, and 47,824 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,037 inhabitants per square mile (1,172.6/km). There were 108,843 housing units at an average density of 1,417 per square mile (547.1/km). The racial makeup of the city was 78.9 percent white, 7.3 percent black, 0.4 percent American Indian, 7.4 percent Asian, 2.9 percent other races, and 3.1 from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.8 percent of the population.

There were 102,516 households, of which 22.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.1% were married couples living together, 8.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.2% had a male householder with no wife present, and 53.3% were non-families. 36.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.17 and the average family size was 2.87.

The median age in the city was 30.9 years. 17.5 percent of residents were under the age of 18; 19.6% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 31.4% were from 25 to 44; 21.9% were from 45 to 64; and 9.6% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49.2% male and 50.8% female.

The Madison metropolitan area, as defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget, is the area consisting of Columbia, Dane, Green, and Iowa counties anchored by the city of Madison. As of the 2020 census, the metro area had a population of 680,796. The Madison–Janesville–Beloit combined statistical area consists of the four counties in the Madison metro area as well as Rock County (Janesville–Beloit metropolitan area) and Sauk County (Baraboo micropolitan area). The population of this region as of the 2020 census was 910,246.

Madison is the episcopal see for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Madison. InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA has its headquarters in Madison.

The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod has three churches in Madison: Eastside Lutheran Church, Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, and Wisconsin Lutheran Chapel. The Evangelical Lutheran Synod has fifteen churches in Madison, including Grace Lutheran Church, Holy Cross Lutheran Church, and Our Saviour's Lutheran Church.

Most American Christian movements are represented in the city, including mainline denominations, evangelical, charismatic and fully independent churches, including an LDS stake. The city also has multiple Sikh Gurdwaras, Hindu temples, three mosques and several synagogues, a community center serving the Baháʼí Faith, a Quaker Meeting House, and a Unity Church congregation. The nation's third largest congregation of Unitarian Universalists, the First Unitarian Society of Madison, makes its home in the historic Unitarian Meeting House, designed by one of its members, Frank Lloyd Wright.

The Gates of Heaven Synagogue in James Madison Park is the eighth-oldest-surviving synagogue building in the U.S. Madison is home to the Freedom from Religion Foundation, a non-profit organization that promotes the separation of church and state.

Year	Homicides	Robbery	Burglary
1976	6	114	2292
1977	4	122	2440
1986	3	211	1988
1996	1	301	1389
1999	6	265	1356
2000	4	286	1267
2001	6	295	1358
2002	5	269	1570
2003	6	282	1611
2004	3	292	1467
2005	3	330	1462
2006	4	435	1627
2007	8	410	2059
2008	10	368	2038
2009	4	364	1523
2010	2	333	1652
2011	7	272	1446
2012	3	249	1594
2013	5	301	1360
2014	5	225	1126
2015	6	222	1208
2016	8	235	1001
2017	11	223	936
2018	5	266	1078
2019	4	243	1081
2020	10	190	1316
2021	10	158	978

There were 53 homicides reported by Madison Police from 2000 to 2009. The highest total was 10 in 2008. Police reported 28 murders from 2010 to 2015, with the highest year being 7 murders in 2011.

Madison's economy is marked by the sectors of government, education, information technology and healthcare, and is supplemented by agribusiness, food and precision manufacturing in the greater Madison region. Many businesses are attracted to Madison's skill base, taking advantage of the area's high level of education; 48.2% of Madison's population over the age of 25 holds at least a bachelor's degree. The University of Wisconsin–Madison, University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics (UW Health), and Wisconsin state government remain the largest employers in the city, while Epic Systems is the largest private sector employer.

The Madison metropolitan area is home to multiple financial services companies, including the headquarters of the Credit Union National Association (CUNA), American Family Insurance, CUNA Mutual Group, and National Guardian Life.

The Onion satirical newspaper, as well as the pizza chains Glass Nickel Pizza Company and Rocky Rococo, originated in Madison.

As Madison is the state capital of Wisconsin, it is home to the primary offices of most state agencies. It also has multiple federal-level bureaus, such as the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, and government-adjacent nonprofit organizations and lobbying groups such as CatholicVote.org, the Center for Media and Democracy, Freedom From Religion Foundation, League of Wisconsin Municipalities, and MacIver Institute. Other non-governmental business and research associations and organizations are also based in Madison, including Advanced Media Workflow Association, International Dairy-Deli-Bakery Association, Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, Soil Science Society of America, and Tavern League of Wisconsin.

Madison also contains the University of Wisconsin–Madison, a research institution that employs over 25,000 faculty and staff. It is the official state university of Wisconsin and the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System.

Madison is home to a large biotech and health information technology scene. Notable companies headquartered in Madison in this field include Epic Systems, Panvera (now part of Invitrogen), Exact Sciences, and Promega. Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Thermo Fischer Scientific, pipette manufacturer Gilson, Catalent, and Fortrea have operations in the city.

The University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics is an important regional teaching hospital and regional trauma center, with strengths in transplant medicine, oncology, digestive disorders, and endocrinology. Other Madison hospitals include St. Mary's Hospital, Meriter Hospital, and the VA Medical Center.

Information technology companies in Madison include Broadjam, Zendesk, Full Compass Systems, Raven Software, EatStreet, and TDS Telecom. Madison's community hackerspaces/makerspaces are Sector67, which serves inventors and entrepreneurs, and The Bodgery, which serves hobbyists, artists, and tinkerers. Start up incubators and connectors include StartingBlock, gener8tor and University Research Park. Epic Systems was based in Madison from 1979 to 2005, when it moved to a larger campus in the nearby Madison suburb of Verona. Other firms include Nordic, Forward Health, and Forte Research Systems.

The Madison metropolitan area is home to the headquarters or manufacturing of three notable bicycle brands: Trek, Mongoose, and Pacific Cycle. The area is home to the luxury appliance companies Sub-Zero & Wolf Appliance and Spectrum Brands (formerly Rayovac). Other advanced manufacturing and consumer goods companies headquartered in the area include American Girl, Lands' End, Shopbop, Colony Brands, and John Deere.

Supported by naturally fertile soil, Madison's infrastructure supports food production, processing, and distribution. Major employers include Hormel Foods, Del Monte, and Frito-Lay. The meat producer Oscar Mayer was a Madison fixture for decades, and was a family business for many years before being sold to Kraft Foods. Its Madison headquarters and manufacturing facility were shuttered in 2017.

The Memorial Union is a central gathering place on Lake Mendota. Memorial Union Terrace is home to uniquely designed "terrace chairs" with a sunburst design that have become a symbol of the city. The Memorial Union hosts concerts, plays, and comedy and is home to multiple restaurants and ice cream shops serving both the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus and the greater city.

Henry Vilas Zoo is a 28-acre (11 ha) public zoo owned by Dane County which receives over 750,000 visitors annually. It is one of ten remaining free zoos in North America.

Olbrich Botanical Gardens contains a 16-acre outdoor botanical garden and 10,000-square-foot conservatory. Founded in 1952 and named for its founder, Michael Olbrich, the gardens are owned and operated jointly by the City of Madison Parks and the non-profit Olbrich Botanical Society. Noteworthy is the Thai sala, a gift to the University of Wisconsin–Madison from the Thai Chapter of the Wisconsin Alumni Association and the government of Thailand through its king, Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Art museums include the University of Wisconsin–Madison's Chazen Museum of Art and the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, which annually organizes the Art Fair on the Square. Madison also has independent art studios, galleries, and arts organizations, with events such as Art Fair Off the Square. Other museums include Wisconsin Historical Museum (run by the Wisconsin Historical Society), the Wisconsin Veterans Museum, the LR Ingersoll Physics Museum, and the Madison Children's Museum.

Madison's architectural landmarks reflect a wide range of styles, ranging from the first Usonian house designed by modern architect Frank Lloyd Wright to imposing brutalist buildings on the campus of UW–Madison and art deco towers interspersed through the downtown. Some of the most prominent buildings on the skyline include the Beaux-Arts Wisconsin State Capitol, the Renaissance Revival University of Wisconsin Memorial Union, the Wright-designed Monona Terrace, and the postmodern Overture Center for the Arts designed by César Pelli.

The height of Madison's skyline is limited by a state law that restricts building heights in the downtown area. All buildings within one mile (1.6 km) of the Wisconsin State Capitol have to be less than 1,032.8 feet (314.8 m) above sea level to preserve the view of the building from most areas of the city. The Wisconsin State Capitol dome was modeled after the dome of the U.S. Capitol, and was erected on the high point of the isthmus. Capitol Square is located in Madison's urban core.

Madison is home to eight buildings designed by influential Wisconsin-born modern architect Frank Lloyd Wright, more than any city outside of the Chicago metropolitan area. Wright, who spent much of his childhood in Madison and studied briefly at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, was based at Taliesin in nearby Spring Green for most of his career. His designs in Madison include the city's lakefront convention center, Monona Terrace, as well as Wright's first Usonian house, the Herbert and Katherine Jacobs First House, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Other well-known prairie style and usonian architects Louis Sullivan and Claude and Starck also have well known buildings in the city. The Harold C. Bradley House in the University Heights neighborhood was designed collaboratively by Sullivan and George Grant Elmslie in 1908–1910. Claude and Starck designed over 175 Madison buildings, and many are still standing, including Breese Stevens Field, Doty School (now condominiums), and many private residences.

Madison, and especially the UW–Madison campus, have numerous buildings in the brutalist style. These structures include the George L. Mosse Humanities Building designed by Harry Weese and the Chazen Museum of Art.

Downtown Madison is home to numerous examples of the art deco and art moderne styles. Examples include Quisling Terrace, where rounded corners and terracing adorn a medical clinic turned condominium, and Tenney Plaza, where lake views, marble and brass lobby details, and vertical lines mark the first steel frame high rise in the city. The art deco State Office Building is the tallest office building in the city. It was built in 1931 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Orpheum Theater is located on State Street one block from the capital. This Art Deco building was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Madison's best surviving representative of the movie palace era.

Madison's proximity to fertile lands and the city's ethnic history play an important role in defining the city's cuisine, which is marked by dairy; farm-to-table fine dining; German, Scandinavian, and Hmong cuisine; and the consumption of alcohol.

The land surrounding Madison is home to a numerous dairy farms, which leads to a dairy heavy cuisine. The Combined Statistical Area host numerous cheesemakers, including the award-winning Uplands Cheese, Hooks Cheese Company, and Landmark Creamery. Restaurants in Madison often feature cheese curds served either fried with dipping sauce, such as ranch dressing or "squeaky" (not cooked, so called because of the squeaking sound they often make against the teeth when chewed), usually served without dipping sauce. Another popular food is hot and spicy cheese bread, made by some Madison bakeries and available at farmer's markets around the city. Beer cheese soup is a favorite wintertime comfort food.

Other agricultural activity in the Madison area involves the growing of fruits like cranberries and popular vegetables, including snap beans, carrots, corn and potatoes. On Saturday mornings in the summer, the Dane County Farmers' Market is held around Capitol Square, the largest producer-only farmers' market in the country. A smaller version of this market is held on Martin Luther King Boulevard on Wednesdays during the summer. In late fall, this market moves indoors, first as the Holiday Market at the Monona Terrace. Later it becomes the Late Winter Market at the Madison Senior Center. This market attracts numerous vendors who sell fresh produce, meat, cheese, and other products. The popularity of fresh and local produce has led to a farm-to-table culture in Madison—the city is home to several James Beard Award winners, gastropubs, and farm-to-table restaurants. Morning Buns, a variety of sticky bun made with croissant dough, were invented in Madison at the late restaurant the Ovens of Brittany.

Madison is home to numerous Wisconsin-style supper clubs. An all-you-can-eat Friday night fish fry is particularly common at Wisconsin supper clubs, as are old fashioned cocktails. Some restaurants in Madison follow the general Wisconsin supper club practice of restaurants serving "Friday fish fry, Saturday prime rib special, Sunday chicken dinner special."

Madison's ethnic history has a strong influence on the city's cuisine. German immigrants to Madison in the late 19th and early 20th century brought with them a strong culinary tradition. Multiple restaurants in Madison are modeled after German-style beer halls. Some restaurants participate in twice-monthly (from June to October, once a month otherwise) Bavarian smorgasbord. Madison is home to a large Hmong population, leading to a variety of Laotian and Hmong restaurants that make the city a "national hub of Hmong cuisine". The city is home to unique foods such as the large spring rolls sold from the food carts on Capital Square and State Street, particularly in warmer months.

Madison is home to the World's Largest Brat Fest which sells over 200,000 bratwurst sausages annually during Memorial Day weekend.

The Great Taste of the Midwest craft beer festival, established in 1987 and the second-longest-running such event in North America, is held the second Saturday in August. The highly coveted tickets sell out within an hour of going on sale in May.

Madison's music scene covers a spectrum of musical culture. Several venues offer live music nightly, spreading from the historic Barrymore Theatre and High Noon Saloon on the east side to small coffee houses and wine bars. The biggest headliners sometimes perform at the Orpheum Theatre, the Overture Center, Breese Stevens Field, the Alliant Energy Center, or the UW Theatre on campus. Other major rock and pop venues include the Majestic Theatre, the Sylvee, and The Bartell. During the summer, the Memorial Union Terrace on the University of Wisconsin campus, offers live music five nights a week. The Union is located on the shores of Lake Mendota.

In the summer, Madison hosts many music festivals. Concerts on the Square is a weekly Madison tradition during the summer. On Wednesday evenings, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra performs free concerts on the capitol's lawn, and people come to listen to the music while picnicking on the grass. Other annual music events include the Waterfront Festival, the Willy Street Fair, Atwood Summerfest, the Isthmus Jazz Festival, the Orton Park Festival, 94.1 WJJO's Band Camp, Greekfest, the WORT Block Party and the Sugar Maple Traditional Music Festival, and the Madison World Music Festival. One of the latest additions is the La Fete de Marquette, taking place around Bastille Day at various east side locations and celebrating French music with Cajun influences. Madison also hosts an annual electronic music festival, Reverence, and the Folk Ball, a world music and Folk dance festival held annually in January. Madison also plays host to the National Women's Music Festival. UW-Madison also hosts the annual music and arts festival, Revelry, on campus at the Memorial Union each spring. The festival is put on by students for students as an end of the year celebration on campus.

The Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps is a competitive drum corps group based in Madison that competes and tours across North America as part of Drum Corps International. The University of Wisconsin Marching Band performs at various local concerts and parades.

Madison has a lively independent rock scene, and local independent record labels include Crustacean Records, Science of Sound, Kind Turkey Records, and Art Paul Schlosser Inc. Madison was home to Smart Studios, Butch Vig and Steve Marker's longtime studio where many notable alternative rock records of the 1990s and 2000s were recorded and/or produced. A Dr. Demento and weekly live karaoke favorite is The Gomers. They have performed with fellow Wisconsin residents Les Paul and Steve Miller.

Madison is also home to other nationally known artists such as Paul Kowert of Punch Brothers, Mama Digdown's Brass Band, Clyde Stubblefield of Funky Drummer and James Brown fame, and musicians Roscoe Mitchell, Richard Davis, Ben Sidran, Sexy Ester and the Pretty Mama Sisters, Reptile Palace Orchestra, Ted Park, DJ Pain 1, Killdozer, Zola Jesus, VO5, Caustic, Phox, Masked Intruder, and Lou & Peter Berryman, among others. The band Garbage formed in Madison in 1994, and has sold 17 million albums.

Much of the city's nightlife is centralized to the downtown area which includes a variety of bars, restaurants, and performance venues. State Street and the surrounding area are popular with tourists and University of Wisconsin-Madison students. Venues in the Capital Square neighborhood are popular with local young professionals and provide many happy hour specials. Another center of nightlife is the Williamson (Willy) Street Neighborhood. Madison is also home to a number of nightclubs, gay bars and live music venues. The Mifflin Street Block Party and the Freakfest Halloween Party also attract thousands of partygoers.

The Madison Opera, the Madison Symphony Orchestra, Forward Theater Company, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, and the Madison Ballet are some of the professional resident companies of the Overture Center for the Arts. The city is also home to a number of smaller performing arts organizations, including a group of theater companies that present in the Bartell Theatre, a former movie palace renovated into live theater spaces, and Opera for the Young, an opera company that performs for elementary school students across the Midwest. Music Theatre of Madison is a professional musical theater company that performs new and lesser-known musicals in a variety of venues. The Wisconsin Union Theater (a 1,300-seat theater) is home to seasonal attractions and is the main stage for Four Seasons Theatre, a community theater company specializing in musical theater, and other groups. The Young Shakespeare Players, a theater group for young people, performs uncut Shakespeare and George B. Shaw plays.

Community-based theater groups include Children's Theatre of Madison, Strollers Theatre, Madison Theatre Guild, the Mercury Players, and Broom Street Theater (which is no longer on Broom Street).

Madison has one comedy club, Comedy on State (which has hosted the Madison's Funniest Comic competition every year since 2010), owned by the Paras family. Madison has other options for more alternative humor, featuring several improv groups, such as Atlas Improv Company, Monkey Business Institute, and open mic nights.

Madison is home to a large entertainment industry archive at the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research, part of the Wisconsin Historical Society.

Madison was host to Rhythm and Booms, a large fireworks celebration coordinated to music. It began with a fly-over by F-16s from the local Wisconsin Air National Guard. This celebration was the largest fireworks display in the Midwest in length, number of shells fired, and the size of its annual budget. Effective 2015, the event location was changed to downtown and renamed Shake The Lake.

There are several cooperative organizations in the Madison area, ranging from grocery stores (such as the Willy Street Cooperative) to housing co-ops (such as Madison Community Cooperative and Nottingham Housing Cooperative) to worker cooperatives (including an engineering firm, a wholesale organic bakery and a cab company).

Every April, the Wisconsin Film Festival is held in Madison. This five-day event features films from a variety of genres shown in theaters across the city. The University of Wisconsin–Madison Arts Institute sponsors the Film Festival.

Madison's official bird is the plastic flamingo, a type of lawn ornament. The city council adopted the plastic flamingo in 2009 following a campaign by a local newspaper columnist in reference to a 1979 prank by UW–Madison students who planted 1,008 plastic flamingos on Bascom Hill. The flamingo appears in the logo of the city's professional soccer team, Forward Madison FC.

Club	Sport	League	Venue	Founded
Wisconsin Badgers	Various	NCAA	Camp Randall Stadium, Kohl Center	1849
Madison Night Mares	Softball	Northwoods League	Warner Park	2024
Madison Mallards	Baseball	Northwoods League	Warner Park	2001
Madison Radicals	Ultimate	AUDL	Breese Stevens Field	2013
Madison Capitols	Ice Hockey	United States Hockey League	Bob Suter's Capitol Ice Arena	2014
Forward Madison FC	Soccer	USL League One	Breese Stevens Field	2018
Forward Madison FC	Soccer	USL Super League	Breese Stevens Field	2025
LOVB Madison Volleyball	Volleyball	League One Volleyball	2950 Innovation Way	2024

Madison is known for having its athletics fan base centered on the University of Wisconsin–Madison, whose teams compete as the Wisconsin Badgers in venues in and around the city. The Wisconsin Badgers football team plays at Camp Randall Stadium where crowds of as many as 83,000 have attended games. The Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball and Wisconsin Badgers men's ice hockey teams play at the Kohl Center. Construction on the $76 million arena was completed in 1997. The Wisconsin Badgers women's ice hockey team plays at the LaBahn Arena. Some events are played at the county-owned Alliant Energy Center (formerly Dane County Memorial Coliseum) and the university-owned Wisconsin Field House.

In 2014, the Madison Capitols made their return to the Madison area following 19 years of dormancy. The Capitols play their home games at Bob Suter's Capitol Ice Arena following three years at Alliant Energy Center.

On May 17, 2018, it was announced that Forward Madison FC would become Madison's first professional soccer team, and are members of USL League One. They play their home matches at the historic Breese Stevens Field.

Madison is home to the Madison Mallards, a college wood-bat summer baseball league team in the Northwoods League. They play in Warner Park on the city's north side from June to August.

The Madison Cardinals lost each of the three games they ever played, all coming in 1936. Two were in the Northwest Football League and the third was a 62-0 exhibition blowout to the Green Bay Packers. After the Cardinals failed to attract University of Wisconsin graduates as promised, the La Crosse Old Style Lagers ran up the score in a 100-0 drubbing with the intention of pushing them out of the league. The Cardinals folded just days later.

The Madison Muskies, a Class A, Midwest League affiliate of the Oakland A's, left town in 1993 after 11 seasons. The Madison Hatters, another Class A, Midwest League team, played in Madison for only the 1994 season. The Madison Black Wolf, an independent Northern League franchise lasted five seasons (1996–2000), before decamping for Lincoln, Nebraska.

Madison has several active ultimate disc leagues organized through the nonprofit Madison Ultimate Frisbee Association. In 2013, the Madison Radicals, a professional ultimate frisbee team, debuted in the city.

Madison is home to several endurance sports racing events, such as the Crazylegs Classic, the CrossFit Games, Paddle and Portage, the Mad City Marathon, and Ironman Wisconsin, which attracts over 45,000 spectators.

The Wisconsin Rugby Club, the 1998 and 2013 USA Rugby Division II National Champions, and the Wisconsin Women's Rugby Football Club are the state's only Division I women's rugby team.

The Madison Curling Club was founded in 1921. Team Spatola of the Madison Curling Club won the 2014 Women's US National Championship. Team members are: Nina Spatola, Becca Hamilton, Tara Peterson, Sophie Brorson.

Madison's Gaelic sports club hosts a hurling team organized as the Hurling Club of Madison and a Gaelic football club with men's and women's teams.

The roller derby league, Madison Roller Derby, was formed in Madison in 2004 and is a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association. Madison is also home to Wisconsin United Roller Derby, a member league of the Men's Roller Derby Association.

The Blackhawk Ski Club, formed in 1947, provides ski jumping, cross country skiing and alpine skiing. The club's programs have produced several Olympic ski jumpers, two Olympic ski jumping coaches and one Olympic ski jumping director. The club had the first Nordic ski facility with lighted night jumping.

As of 2017, the CrossFit Games have been held at the Alliant Energy Center. After seven years at the StubHub Center in Carson, California, the Games moved to Madison for an initial three-year contract. CrossFit chose the multi-building entertainment venue, which encompasses 164 acres (0.66 km), after posting a national request for proposals.

Madison has 6,431 acres (26.03 km) of park space, which is 13.5% of the city's total area. Parks in the city include James Madison Park, which has views of Lake Mendota; Frank W. Hoyt Park, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places; Garner Park, where the Madison Opera holds an "Opera in the Park" event; and Warner Park, which is home to the stadium for the Madison Mallards baseball team.

Goodman Pool is Madison's public outdoor swimming pool.

The University of Wisconsin–Madison Arboretum manages 520 acres (210 ha) of remnant forests and prairies throughout Wisconsin. The 300-acre (1.2 km) Lakeshore Nature Preserve preserves native species along the southern shore of Lake Mendota.

During the winter months, sports enthusiasts enjoy ice boating, ice skating, ice hockey, ice fishing, cross-country skiing, and snowkiting. During the rest of the year, outdoor recreation includes sailing on the local lakes, bicycling, and hiking.

Madison is known for its extensive biking infrastructure, with numerous bike paths and bike lanes throughout the city. Several of these bike paths connect to state trails, such as the Capital City State Trail, Military Ridge State Trail, and Badger State Trail. In addition to these bike paths, most city streets have designated bike lanes or are designated as bicycle boulevards, which give high priority to bicyclists. In 2015 Madison was awarded platinum level Bicycle Friendly Community designation from the League of American Bicyclists, one of only five cities in the US to receive this (highest) level.

City voters have supported the Democratic Party in national elections in the last half-century, and a liberal and progressive majority is generally elected to the city council. Detractors often refer to Madison as "77 square miles surrounded by reality", a phrase coined by former Wisconsin Republican governor Lee S. Dreyfus, while campaigning in 1978. In 2013, there was a motion in the city council to turn Dreyfus' humor into the official city "punchline", but it was voted down by the city council.

The city's voters are generally much more liberal than voters in the rest of Wisconsin. For example, 76% of Madison voters voted against a 2006 state constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, even though the ban passed statewide with 59% of the vote.

In 1992, a local third party, Progressive Dane, was founded. City policies supported in the Progressive Dane platform have included an inclusionary zoning ordinance, later abandoned by the mayor and a majority of the city council, and a city minimum wage. The party holds several seats on the Madison City Council and Dane County Board of Supervisors, and is aligned variously with the Democratic and Green parties.

Madison has a mayor-council system of government. Madison's city council, known as the Common Council, consists of 20 members, one from each district. The mayor is elected in a citywide vote.

Madison is the heart of Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives, represented by Mark Pocan (D). Melissa Agard (D) and Kelda Roys (D) represent Madison in the Wisconsin State Senate, and Jimmy P. Anderson (D), Samba Baldeh (D), Francesca Hong (D), Sheila Stubbs (D), and Lisa Subeck (D) represent Madison in the Wisconsin State Assembly.

Ron Johnson (R) and Tammy Baldwin (D) represent Madison, and all of Wisconsin, in the United States Senate. Baldwin is a Madison resident; she represented the 2nd from 1999 to 2013 before handing it to Pocan.

Madison city vote
by party in presidential elections

Year	Democratic	Republican	Third parties
2020	84.10% 136,007	14.30% 23,122	1.60% 2,582
2016	78.41% 120,178	15.04% 23,052	6.55% 10,037

The Madison Metropolitan School District serves the city while a variety of other districts serve the surrounding area. With an enrollment of approximately 25,000 students in 46 schools, it is the second largest school district in Wisconsin behind the Milwaukee School District. The five public high schools are Vel Phillips Memorial, Madison West, Madison East, La Follette, and Malcolm Shabazz City High School, an alternative school.

Among private church-related high schools are Abundant Life Christian School, Edgewood High School, near the Edgewood College campus, and St. Ambrose Academy, a Catholic school offering grades 6 through 12. Madison Country Day School is a private high school with no religious affiliation.

The city is home to the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin, Edgewood College, Madison Area Technical College, and Herzing University-Madison, giving the city a post-secondary student population of nearly 65,000. The University of Wisconsin accounts for the vast majority of students, with an enrollment of roughly 50,000, of whom 37,000 are undergraduates.

Additional degree programs are available through satellite campuses of Concordia University-Wisconsin, Lakeland College, the University of Phoenix, and Upper Iowa University. Madison also has a non-credit learning community with multiple programs and many private businesses also offering classes.

Madison is home to an extensive and varied number of print publications, reflecting the city's role as the state capital and its diverse political, cultural and academic population. The Wisconsin State Journal (weekday circulation: ~95,000; Sundays: ~155,000) is published in the mornings, while its sister publication, The Capital Times (Thursday supplement to the Journal) is published online daily, with two printed editions a week. Though jointly operated under the name Capital Newspapers, the Journal is owned by the national chain Lee Enterprises, and the Times is independently owned. Wisconsin State Journal is the descendant of the Wisconsin Express, a paper founded in the Wisconsin Territory in 1839. The Capital Times was founded in 1917 by William T. Evjue, a business manager for the State Journal who disagreed with that paper's editorial criticisms of Wisconsin Republican Senator Robert M. La Follette, Sr. for his opposition to U.S. entry into World War I.

The free weekly alternative newspaper Isthmus (weekly circulation: ~65,000) was founded in Madison in 1976. The Onion, a satirical weekly, was founded in Madison in 1988 and published from there until it moved to New York in 2001. Two student newspapers are published during the academic year, The Daily Cardinal (Mon–Fri circulation: ~10,000) and The Badger Herald (Mon–Fri circulation: ~16,000). Other specialty print publications focus on local music, politics and sports, including The Capital City Hues, The Madison Times, Madison Magazine, The Simpson Street Free Press, Umoja Magazine, and fantasy-sports web site RotoWire.com. Local community blogs include Althouse and dane101.

Madison is associated with "Fighting Bob" La Follette and the Progressive movement. La Follette's magazine, The Progressive, founded in 1909, is still published in Madison. It is a far left-wing periodical that may be best known for the attempt of the U.S. government in 1979 to suppress one of its articles before publication. The magazine eventually prevailed in the landmark First Amendment case, United States v. The Progressive, Inc. During the 1970s, there were two radical weeklies published in Madison, known as TakeOver and Free for All, as well as a Madison edition of the Bugle-American underground newspaper.

Madison has three large media companies that own the majority of the commercial radio stations within the market. These companies consist of iHeartMedia, Entercom Communications, and Mid-West Family Broadcasting as well as other smaller broadcasters. Madison is home to Mid-West Family Broadcasting, which is an independently owned broadcasting company that originated and is headquartered in Madison. Mid-West Family owns radio stations throughout the state and the Midwest.

Madison hosts two volunteer-operated and community-oriented radio stations, WORT and WSUM. WORT Community Radio (89.9 FM), founded in 1975, is one of the oldest volunteer-powered radio stations in the United States. A listener-sponsored community radio station, WORT offers locally produced diverse music and talk programming. WSUM (91.7 FM) is a free-form student radio station programmed and operated almost entirely by students.

Madison's Wisconsin Public Radio station, WHA, was one of the first radio stations in the nation to begin broadcasting. Public radio programs that originate at the WPR studios include Michael Feldman's Whad'Ya Know?, Zorba Pastor On Your Health, To the Best of Our Knowledge, Calling All Pets, and the longest running radio program in America, Chapter a Day.

WXJ-87 is the NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards station on Madison's west side, with broadcasts originating from the National Weather Service in Sullivan, Wisconsin.

Madison has six commercial stations, two public television stations and a religious station. The commercial stations consist of WISC-TV (CBS) and its MyNetworkTV subchannel, TVW; WMTV (NBC), with a CW+ subchannel; WKOW-TV (ABC); WMSN-TV (Fox); WIFS (Ion); and WZCK-LD/W23BW-D (various subchannel networks). WMWD-LD (Daystar) also serves the area. Madison has two public television stations: WHA-TV, which is owned by the University of Wisconsin–Extension and airs throughout the state with the exception of Milwaukee, and cable's Madison City Channel, which is owned and operated by the City of Madison covering city governmental affairs.

Madison is served by the Dane County Regional Airport, which serves nearly 2.2 million passengers annually. Most major general aviation operations take place at Middleton Municipal Airport in Middleton 15 miles (24 km) from Madison's city center. Metro Transit operates bus routes throughout the city and to some neighboring suburbs. Madison has two taxicab companies (Union Cab and Madison Taxi), and several companies provide specialized transit for individuals with disabilities. Several carsharing services are also available in Madison.

Starting from the last decades of the 20th century, Madison has been among the leading cities for bicycling as a form of transportation, with about 3% of working residents pedaling on their journey to work. The share of Madison workers who bicycled to work increased to 5.3% by 2014. The 2016 survey by American Community Survey indicated that 65.7% of working Madison residents commuted by driving alone, 6.7% carpooled, 8.6% used public transportation, and 8.5% walked. About 6% used all other forms of transportation, including bicycles, motorcycles, and taxis. About 4.5% worked at home. According to Walk Score, Madison has an overall 48 out of 100 in walkability, making it a "largely car dependent city", and a 65 out of 100 for bicycling. However, the State-Langdon and Downtown areas scored significantly higher, 94 and 93 for walkability, and 87 and 89 for biking, respectively.

In 2015, 11.2% of Madison households were without a car, which was unchanged in 2016. The national average was 8.7% in 2016. Madison averaged 1.5 cars per household in 2016, compared to a national average of 1.8 per household.

Passenger train service between Madison and Chicago on the Sioux and the Varsity was provided by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (Milwaukee Road) until 1971. The Chicago and North Western Railway also provided service to the east side of Madison, ending in 1965.

The city is served by the Columbus Amtrak station 28 miles (45 km) to the northeast with once daily trains to Chicago, Portland, OR and Seattle, WA and stops in between via the Empire Builder route. Although located outside of the city proper, the station is listed on Amtrak timetables as Madison's official stop.

A high-speed rail route from Chicago through Milwaukee and Madison to Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Minnesota, was proposed as part of the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative. Funding for the railway connecting Madison to Milwaukee was approved in January 2010, but then Governor-elect Scott Walker's opposition to the project led the Federal Railroad Administration to retract the $810 million in funding and reallocate it to projects in other states.

Plans to establish Amtrak service within the city of Madison were revived in 2021. Pending federal legislative action, Madison is again slated to receive a rail link to Chicago via Milwaukee, likely with an expansion of the Hiawatha. Longer-term plans include a connection to the Twin Cities, potentially via Eau Claire; however, this has not been officially established. Anticipating eventual revival of passenger service, public meetings were held in early 2024 by the city's Department of Transportation to consider possible site(s) for the station.

Railroad freight services are provided to Madison by the Wisconsin and Southern Railroad (WSOR) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC).

In addition to public transportation, regional buses connect Madison to Milwaukee, Chicago, Minneapolis–Saint Paul, and many other communities. Badger Bus, which connects Madison and Milwaukee, runs several trips daily. Greyhound Lines, a nationwide bus company, serves Madison on its Chicago, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis–Saint Paul route. Van Galder Bus Company, a subsidiary of Coach USA, provides transportation through Rockford to Chicago—stopping at Union Station, O'Hare Airport, and Midway Airport. Jefferson Lines provides transportation to Minneapolis–Saint Paul via La Crosse. Megabus provides limited-stop service to Chicago and Minneapolis–Saint Paul. Lamers Bus Lines has once-daily trips from Madison to Wausau, Dubuque, and Green Bay.

Interstate 39 (I-39), I-90 and I-94 run along the far east side of the city, connecting to Janesville to the south, Milwaukee to the east, and to Portage, La Crosse, Eau Claire, and Wausau heading north and northwest.

U.S. Highway 151 (US 151) runs through downtown and serves as the main thoroughfare through the northeast (as Washington Avenue) and south-central parts (as Park Street) of the city, connecting Madison with Dubuque, Iowa to the southwest and Fond du Lac and Manitowoc to the northeast.

US 12, frequently referred to by locals as the Beltline, is a six- to eight-lane freeway serving the south and west sides of Madison and is the main link from the western suburb of Middleton to Cambridge. Southeast of the area, US 12 connects to Lake Geneva, and going northwest, it heads to Wisconsin Dells.

US 18 is also a component highway of the Beltine, continuing south along US 151 and east towards Waukesha and Milwaukee.

The Madison Police Department is the law enforcement agency in the city led by Police Chief Shon Barnes. The department has six districts: Central, East, North, South, West and Midtown District

Special units in the police department include:

The Madison Police Department was criticized for absolving Officer Steve Heimsness of any wrongdoing in the November 2012 shooting death of an unarmed man, Paul Heenan. The department's actions resulted in community protests, including demands that the shooting be examined and reviewed by an independent investigative body. WisconsinWatch.org called into question the MPD's facts and findings, stating that the use of deadly force by Heimsness was unwarranted. There were calls for an examination of the Madison Police Department's rules of engagement and due process for officers who use lethal force in the line of duty.

Community criticism of the department's practices resurfaced after MPD officer Matt Kenny shot Tony Robinson, an unarmed man. The shooting was particularly controversial given the context of the ongoing Black Lives Matter movement. Due to new Wisconsin state legislation that addresses the mechanisms under which officer-on-civilian violence is handled by state prosecutors, proceedings were handed over to a special unit of the Wisconsin Department of Justice in Madison. On March 27, 2015, the state concluded its investigation and gave its findings to Ismael Ozanne, the district attorney of Dane County. On May 12, 2015, Ozanne determined that the shooting was justified self-defense.

The Madison Fire Department (MFD) provides fire protection and emergency medical services to the city. The MFD operates out of 14 fire stations, with a fleet of 12 engines, 5 ladders, 2 rescue squads, 2 hazmat units, a lake rescue team, and 9 ambulances. The MFD is contracted to provide fire and EMS services to the suburban enclave village of Shorewood Hills and also provides mutual aid to surrounding communities. In 2021 MFD in conjunction with Journey Mental Health, launched an emergency mental health response team consisting of a paramedic and social work to respond to mental health emergencies, the program initially launched in the Isthmus area and has expanded citywide in 2022.

Over the years, Madison has acquired nicknames and slogans that include:

• Mad City
• Madtown
• The Berkeley of the Midwest
• 77 square miles surrounded by reality
• Four Lakes City
• People's Republic of Madison

Madison is twinned with:

• List of tallest buildings in Madison

• Bates, Tom, Rads: The 1970 Bombing of the Army Math Research Center at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and Its Aftermath (1993) ISBN 0-06-092428-4
• Durrie, Daniel S. A History of Madison, the Capital of Wisconsin; Including the Four Lake Country. Madison: Atwood & Culver, 1874.
• Madison, Dane County and Surrounding Towns. Madison: Wm. J. Park & Co., 1877.
• Maraniss, David, They Marched Into Sunlight: War and Peace Vietnam and America October 1967 (2003) ISBN 0-7432-1780-2 ISBN 0-7432-6104-6 (about the Dow Chemical protest, and a battle in Vietnam that took place the previous day)
• Mollenhoff, David V. Madison, a history of the formative years (Univ of Wisconsin Press, 2003).
• Nolen, John. Madison: a Model City. Boston: 1911.
• Thwaites, Reuben Gold. The Story of Madison. J. N. Purcell, 1900.

• Official website
• Greater Madison Convention & Visitors Bureau
• The State of Wisconsin Collection presented by the UW Digital Collections Center includes digital resources on Madison, including:
  • Historical County Plat Maps from South Central Wisconsin and Early Madison City Directories
  • Sanborn fire insurance maps: 1885 1892 1898 1902 1908