Hertford County vs Madison County

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

Hertford 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 20,492 in Hertford County). Madison County has the higher median household income ($58,628 vs $47,472 in Hertford County). Madison County has the higher median home value ($263,500 vs $111,100 in Hertford County).

Population, income & housing

	Hertford County	Madison County
Population	20,492	21,640
Median age	42.3 yrs	44.5 yrs
Median household income	$47,472	$58,628
Median home value	$111,100	$263,500
Median gross rent	$806	$764
Housing units	9,831	11,201
Homeownership rate	66.4%	77.9%
Bachelor's degree or higher	16.7%	31.5%
Unemployment rate	5.2%	2.6%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Hertford County	Madison County
Population	24,012 → 20,492 (-14.7%)	21,499 → 21,640 (+0.7%)
Median household income	$41,028 → $47,472 (+15.7%)	$45,873 → $58,628 (+27.8%)
Median home value	$88,600 → $111,100 (+25.4%)	$194,500 → $263,500 (+35.5%)
Median gross rent	$756 → $806 (+6.6%)	$688 → $764 (+11.0%)

Hertford County

Population

24,01220,492

Median household income

$41,028$47,472

Median home value

$88,600$111,100

Median gross rent

$756$806

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)

	Hertford County	Madison County
Under 5	4.6%	4.5%
5 to 17	14.3%	13.1%
18 to 24	11.5%	9.7%
25 to 34	11.1%	12.0%
35 to 44	11.5%	11.1%
45 to 54	10.9%	12.2%
55 to 64	14.8%	14.3%
65 to 74	12.7%	14.1%
75 and over	8.6%	9.0%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Hertford County	Madison County
White (non-Hispanic)	32.3%	91.6%
Black or African American	56.4%	1.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	1.0%	0.1%
Asian	1.0%	0.4%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.1%
Some other race	0.2%	0.8%
Two or more races	2.4%	2.6%
Hispanic or Latino	6.5%	3.5%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Hertford County	Madison County
No high school diploma	15.3%	9.1%
High school graduate	34.8%	33.0%
Some college or associate's	33.2%	26.4%
Bachelor's degree	10.4%	21.1%
Graduate or professional degree	6.4%	10.3%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Hertford County	Madison County
Drove alone	77.0%	75.7%
Carpooled	12.6%	9.8%
Public transit	0.8%	0.1%
Walked	1.9%	2.4%
Bicycle	0.2%	0.0%
Worked from home	4.6%	11.5%
Other means	2.8%	0.5%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Hertford County	Madison County
1-unit, detached	67.1%	69.9%
1-unit, attached	1.5%	0.3%
2 to 4 units	7.4%	4.3%
5 to 19 units	1.3%	2.0%
20 or more units	1.2%	0.8%
Mobile home & other	21.4%	22.7%

Poverty & households

	Hertford County	Madison County
Poverty rate	21.4%	11.4%
Average household size	2.24	2.46
Mean commute (minutes)	28	32
Median year structure built	1976	1986