Jefferson County vs Madison County

A side-by-side comparison of Jefferson County and Madison County: population, income, housing, and more.

Jefferson County and Madison County are counties in Alabama. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Jefferson County has the higher population (669,744 vs 397,135 in Madison County). Madison County has the higher median household income ($83,528 vs $64,589 in Jefferson County). Madison County has the higher median home value ($267,800 vs $224,900 in Jefferson County).

Population, income & housing

	Jefferson County	Madison County
Population	669,744	397,135
Median age	37.8 yrs	38.2 yrs
Median household income	$64,589	$83,528
Median home value	$224,900	$267,800
Median gross rent	$1,132	$1,116
Housing units	309,542	174,709
Homeownership rate	63.7%	68.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	35.9%	45.7%
Unemployment rate	4.8%	3.8%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Jefferson County	Madison County
Population	659,680 → 669,744 (+1.5%)	362,276 → 397,135 (+9.6%)
Median household income	$53,901 → $64,589 (+19.8%)	$65,449 → $83,528 (+27.6%)
Median home value	$159,100 → $224,900 (+41.4%)	$186,100 → $267,800 (+43.9%)
Median gross rent	$900 → $1,132 (+25.8%)	$857 → $1,116 (+30.2%)

Jefferson County

Population

659,680669,744

Median household income

$53,901$64,589

Median home value

$159,100$224,900

Median gross rent

$900$1,132

Madison County

Population

362,276397,135

Median household income

$65,449$83,528

Median home value

$186,100$267,800

Median gross rent

$857$1,116

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Jefferson County	Madison County
Under 5	6.2%	5.7%
5 to 17	16.8%	16.0%
18 to 24	9.1%	9.6%
25 to 34	14.2%	14.2%
35 to 44	13.0%	12.8%
45 to 54	11.9%	12.2%
55 to 64	12.4%	14.0%
65 to 74	10.1%	9.2%
75 and over	6.4%	6.3%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Jefferson County	Madison County
White (non-Hispanic)	47.9%	62.3%
Black or African American	42.3%	24.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.4%
Asian	1.8%	2.5%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.1%
Some other race	0.4%	0.3%
Two or more races	2.2%	3.9%
Hispanic or Latino	5.2%	6.5%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Jefferson County	Madison County
No high school diploma	9.0%	7.4%
High school graduate	25.9%	19.2%
Some college or associate's	29.2%	27.7%
Bachelor's degree	21.3%	27.1%
Graduate or professional degree	14.7%	18.6%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Jefferson County	Madison County
Drove alone	78.3%	77.2%
Carpooled	8.3%	7.0%
Public transit	0.6%	0.1%
Walked	1.6%	0.8%
Bicycle	0.2%	0.1%
Worked from home	9.8%	13.6%
Other means	1.2%	1.1%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Jefferson County	Madison County
1-unit, detached	68.5%	71.7%
1-unit, attached	2.7%	2.4%
2 to 4 units	5.1%	5.4%
5 to 19 units	12.8%	10.8%
20 or more units	7.8%	5.8%
Mobile home & other	3.1%	3.9%

Poverty & households

	Jefferson County	Madison County
Poverty rate	16.3%	10.5%
Average household size	2.41	2.37
Mean commute (minutes)	24	22
Median year structure built	1975	1991