Greene County vs Madison County

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

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

Madison County has the higher population (21,640 vs 20,421 in Greene County). Madison County has the higher median household income ($58,628 vs $50,904 in Greene County). Madison County has the higher median home value ($263,500 vs $114,000 in Greene County).

Population, income & housing

	Greene County	Madison County
Population	20,421	21,640
Median age	39.6 yrs	44.5 yrs
Median household income	$50,904	$58,628
Median home value	$114,000	$263,500
Median gross rent	$845	$764
Housing units	7,909	11,201
Homeownership rate	65.3%	77.9%
Bachelor's degree or higher	12.2%	31.5%
Unemployment rate	5.6%	2.6%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Greene County	Madison County
Population	21,033 → 20,421 (-2.9%)	21,499 → 21,640 (+0.7%)
Median household income	$39,837 → $50,904 (+27.8%)	$45,873 → $58,628 (+27.8%)
Median home value	$88,600 → $114,000 (+28.7%)	$194,500 → $263,500 (+35.5%)
Median gross rent	$695 → $845 (+21.6%)	$688 → $764 (+11.0%)

Greene County

Population

21,03320,421

Median household income

$39,837$50,904

Median home value

$88,600$114,000

Median gross rent

$695$845

Madison County

Population

21,49921,640

Median household income

$45,873$58,628

Median home value

$194,500$263,500

Median gross rent

$688$764

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Greene County	Madison County
Under 5	4.8%	4.5%
5 to 17	14.1%	13.1%
18 to 24	9.8%	9.7%
25 to 34	14.0%	12.0%
35 to 44	14.4%	11.1%
45 to 54	12.5%	12.2%
55 to 64	13.5%	14.3%
65 to 74	10.5%	14.1%
75 and over	6.4%	9.0%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Greene County	Madison County
White (non-Hispanic)	45.9%	91.6%
Black or African American	31.7%	1.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.5%	0.1%
Asian	0.0%	0.4%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.1%
Some other race	0.1%	0.8%
Two or more races	6.6%	2.6%
Hispanic or Latino	15.1%	3.5%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Greene County	Madison County
No high school diploma	22.2%	9.1%
High school graduate	33.4%	33.0%
Some college or associate's	32.2%	26.4%
Bachelor's degree	8.7%	21.1%
Graduate or professional degree	3.5%	10.3%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Greene County	Madison County
Drove alone	87.8%	75.7%
Carpooled	7.8%	9.8%
Public transit	0.0%	0.1%
Walked	0.6%	2.4%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	3.7%	11.5%
Other means	0.1%	0.5%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Greene County	Madison County
1-unit, detached	56.6%	69.9%
1-unit, attached	0.0%	0.3%
2 to 4 units	3.1%	4.3%
5 to 19 units	1.0%	2.0%
20 or more units	1.3%	0.8%
Mobile home & other	38.1%	22.7%

Poverty & households

	Greene County	Madison County
Poverty rate	22.4%	11.4%
Average household size	2.59	2.46
Mean commute (minutes)	26	32
Median year structure built	1984	1986