About Madison

Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-largest in the U.S. The city forms the core of the Madison Metropolitan Area which includes Dane County and neighboring Iowa, Green, and Columbia counties for a population of 680,796. Madison is also the principal city of the Madison-Janesville-Beloit Combined Statistical Area which as of 2020 had a population of 910,246. Madison is named for American Founding Father and President James Madison. Located on an isthmus and lands surrounding five lakes—Lake Mendota, Lake Monona, Lake Wingra, Lake Kegonsa and Lake Waubesa—the city is home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison, the Wisconsin State Capitol, the Overture Center for the Arts, and the Henry Vilas Zoo.