Madison County vs Polk County

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

Madison County and Polk 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 19,689 in Polk County). Polk County has the higher median household income ($61,005 vs $58,628 in Madison County). Polk County has the higher median home value ($281,100 vs $263,500 in Madison County).

Population, income & housing

	Madison County	Polk County
Population	21,640	19,689
Median age	44.5 yrs	54.4 yrs
Median household income	$58,628	$61,005
Median home value	$263,500	$281,100
Median gross rent	$764	$1,089
Housing units	11,201	10,949
Homeownership rate	77.9%	76.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher	31.5%	32.9%
Unemployment rate	2.6%	4.3%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Madison County	Polk County
Population	21,499 → 21,640 (+0.7%)	20,557 → 19,689 (-4.2%)
Median household income	$45,873 → $58,628 (+27.8%)	$48,787 → $61,005 (+25.0%)
Median home value	$194,500 → $263,500 (+35.5%)	$225,700 → $281,100 (+24.5%)
Median gross rent	$688 → $764 (+11.0%)	$851 → $1,089 (+28.0%)

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

Polk County

Population

20,55719,689

Median household income

$48,787$61,005

Median home value

$225,700$281,100

Median gross rent

$851$1,089

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Madison County	Polk County
Under 5	4.5%	3.6%
5 to 17	13.1%	12.0%
18 to 24	9.7%	5.4%
25 to 34	12.0%	8.6%
35 to 44	11.1%	10.1%
45 to 54	12.2%	11.9%
55 to 64	14.3%	16.5%
65 to 74	14.1%	16.8%
75 and over	9.0%	15.2%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Madison County	Polk County
White (non-Hispanic)	91.6%	87.2%
Black or African American	1.0%	5.1%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.2%
Asian	0.4%	0.1%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.0%
Some other race	0.8%	0.2%
Two or more races	2.6%	1.8%
Hispanic or Latino	3.5%	5.5%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Madison County	Polk County
No high school diploma	9.1%	8.1%
High school graduate	33.0%	27.2%
Some college or associate's	26.4%	31.8%
Bachelor's degree	21.1%	20.3%
Graduate or professional degree	10.3%	12.6%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Madison County	Polk County
Drove alone	75.7%	74.6%
Carpooled	9.8%	11.0%
Public transit	0.1%	0.0%
Walked	2.4%	1.9%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	11.5%	12.1%
Other means	0.5%	0.3%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Madison County	Polk County
1-unit, detached	69.9%	78.8%
1-unit, attached	0.3%	1.5%
2 to 4 units	4.3%	2.6%
5 to 19 units	2.0%	2.5%
20 or more units	0.8%	3.0%
Mobile home & other	22.7%	11.6%

Poverty & households

	Madison County	Polk County
Poverty rate	11.4%	13.7%
Average household size	2.46	2.22
Mean commute (minutes)	32	28
Median year structure built	1986	1982