More and more people would prefer to live in the cities and towns that surround Madison to avoid all the hustle and bustle.
So the question arises: what suburbs of Madison are the worst?
Today, we’ll use Saturday Night Science to determine which Madison ‘burbs need a little tender loving care – the sore thumbs of the Madison area if you will. Realistically, you can only expect some of the suburbs to live up to Madison proper, although Waunakee certainly tries.
We examined the 26 biggest suburbs of Madison to find out the worst places to live. And while you won’t necessarily find them on the worst places to live in Wisconsin lists, these places are a little too far downwind of Madison in terms of quality of life.
$75,427 median income · $311,071 median home price
Located in
Dodge County, Wisconsin
We’ll get the ball rolling with Columbus, the absolute worst place to live around Madison according to the data.
And in the world of worst rankings, Columbus beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the 2nd worst in the Madison area, and to make matters worse, the city ranks 2nd worst when it comes to home values.
But hey, at least it’s cheap to live there. But there’s a reason for that… it’s Columbus.
You won’t feel bad about not having a great income for the area. There aren’t a bunch of places to spend your money anyway.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$72,489 median income · $294,921 median home price
Located in
Rock County, Wisconsin
Welcome to Edgerton. Home to KMart, Big Lots, and a lot of gas stations.
This city is 25.0 miles to Madison. Income levels here are the lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $72,489 a year, which only goes so far even on a shoestring budget.
But on the bright side, there are a lot of fast food joints in the area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$87,776 median income · $316,134 median home price
Back up the highway we go for the third worst Madison suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see Waterloo on here. While the cost of living is low, your entertainment and work options are limited. And that’s an understatement.
In terms of numbers, it’s in the worst 15% for insurance, and the adult high school dropout rate is poor compared to other Madison suburbs.
But at least there are lovely parks to bring the kids during the day.
Data | Movers
$86,516 median income · $501,314 median home price
Located in
Dane County, Wisconsin
If you live in Fitchburg, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 6th lowest Madison suburb for median household incomes.
Not only that, but this is the 15th worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Madison. Remember, we looked at 26 cities for this study.
Fitchburg is about 7.0 miles to downtown.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$85,942 median income · $360,314 median home price
Marshall has the distinction of being a Madison suburb. Which means that’s about all it has going for it.
All snarkiness aside, Marshall has the 6th lowest home values in the metro Madison area, where the median price is $360,314. The median income is $153,542.
Marshall has an unemployment rate of 2.2% which ranks 13th worst.
Data | Movers
$101,098 median income · $351,112 median home price
New Glarus has 2,172 residents that probably know it’s a pretty crummy place to live when you look at the data. (Or, if you’ve ever been there, you don’t need to look at the data.)
Incomes are towards the bottom, and the poverty rate sits at 3.6%.
$81,149 median income · $358,801 median home price
Ah, Evansville. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around Madison.
It’s the place with the 8th most out of work residents in the Madison metro area (2.6%).
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$87,773 median income · $468,106 median home price
Located in
Dane County, Wisconsin
Monona is a city about 5.4 miles from Madison, but Madison probably wishes it was further away. It ranks as the 8th worst burb.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a worse place to live. Monona has the 4th most uninsured people, 7th worst incomes, and has the 9th highest unemployment rate (2.5%) in the entire Madison metro area.
Homes only cost $468,106 for a reason. That’s cheap for Madison standards.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$89,524 median income · $613,360 median home price
Located in
Dane County, Wisconsin
If you absolutely have to live near Madison, then Middleton might be a place for you to consider as it’s only the 9th worst Madison suburb.
About 3.0% of residents are out of work.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$91,027 median income · $420,977 median home price
Located in
Jefferson County, Wisconsin
Rounding out the ten worst Madison suburbs to call home is Lake Mills.
Located 26.3 miles outside the city, Lake Mills is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 11th highest unemployment rate (2.4%), and poverty is far above the area average.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Wisconsin’s statewide median.
Wisconsin statewide median: $77,485
Wisconsin statewide median: $330,171
Wisconsin statewide median: 3.2%
Wisconsin statewide median: 10.6%
On the map
Where the worst Madison suburbs are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: Determining The Worst Suburbs Around Madison for 2026
To figure out how bad a Madison suburb is to live in, we used Saturday Night Science to identify the kinds of things people like and then decide what suburbs have the least amount of those things.
Using the most recent American Community Survey data from 2020-2024, this is the criteria we used:
- High unemployment rate
- Low median household incomes
- Low population density (no things to do)
- Low home values
- A lot of high school dropouts
- High poverty
- High rate of uninsured families
We defined a suburb as any town within 30 miles of Madison.
We also limited the analysis to places with over 2,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 26 suburbs to evaluate around Madison.
We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 26 in each category, where 1 was the worst.
Next, we averaged the rankings for each place to create a quality-of-life index.
And finally, we crowned the city with the worst quality of life index, the “Worst Suburb near Madison.” We’re looking at you, Columbus.
We updated this article for 2026, which reflects our eleventh time ranking the worst suburbs around Madison.
The full plate
Detailed List Of The Worst Madison Suburbs
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Worst Score | Population | Median Income | Median Home Values |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Columbus | 4.79 | 5,488 | $75,427 | $311,071 |
| 2 | Edgerton | 5.79 | 6,014 | $72,489 | $294,921 |
| 3 | Waterloo | 5.93 | 3,600 | $87,776 | $316,134 |
| 4 | Fitchburg | 7.57 | 32,619 | $86,516 | $501,314 |
| 5 | Marshall | 9.07 | 3,778 | $85,942 | $360,314 |
| 6 | New Glarus | 9.29 | 2,172 | $101,098 | $351,112 |
| 7 | Evansville | 9.93 | 5,782 | $81,149 | $358,801 |
| 8 | Monona | 10.14 | 8,527 | $87,773 | $468,106 |
| 9 | Middleton | 11.07 | 22,301 | $89,524 | $613,360 |
| 10 | Lake Mills | 11.64 | 6,470 | $91,027 | $420,977 |
| 11 | Stoughton | 12.07 | 13,033 | $79,551 | $428,271 |
| 12 | DeForest | 12.36 | 11,501 | $106,419 | $445,514 |
| 13 | Poynette | 13.07 | 2,678 | $93,500 | $400,486 |
| 14 | Deerfield | 13.21 | 2,541 | $91,029 | $417,784 |
| 15 | Belleville | 13.50 | 2,579 | $88,304 | $362,644 |
| 16 | Sun Prairie | 14.64 | 37,570 | $90,942 | $436,614 |
| 17 | Prairie du Sac | 15.07 | 4,382 | $101,049 | $416,060 |
| 18 | McFarland | 16.00 | 9,160 | $97,500 | $485,872 |
| 19 | Oregon | 16.36 | 11,547 | $102,978 | $489,920 |
| 20 | Mount Horeb | 17.21 | 7,736 | $107,856 | $481,815 |
| 21 | Lodi | 17.21 | 3,204 | $117,584 | $459,917 |
| 22 | Verona | 20.14 | 15,232 | $119,606 | $590,564 |
| 23 | Cottage Grove | 20.43 | 8,513 | $139,313 | $474,956 |
| 24 | Shorewood Hills | 20.43 | 2,149 | $153,542 | $1,166,799 |
| 25 | Cross Plains | 22.00 | 4,107 | $105,145 | $504,941 |
| 26 | Waunakee | 22.07 | 15,687 | $125,220 | $584,110 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. 26 suburbs within 30 miles of Madison.
Summary
Summary: The areas around Madison where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2026
Well there you have it — the worst of the ‘burbs surrounding Madison with Columbus casting itself ahead of the pack.
The worst suburbs of Madison are Columbus, Edgerton, Waterloo, Fitchburg, Marshall, New Glarus, Evansville, Monona, Middleton, and Lake Mills.
As we mentioned earlier, the suburbs around Madison aren’t all bad. Waunakee takes the cake as the best place to live around Madison. Not sold on Wisconsin? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Worst Suburbs Of Madison FAQs
What is the worst suburb of Madison?
Columbus ranks as the worst suburb around Madison for 2026, according to Saturday Night Science. Edgerton and Waterloo are next on the list.
What are the worst suburbs of Madison?
The worst-ranked suburbs around Madison are Columbus, Edgerton, Waterloo, Fitchburg, Marshall, New Glarus, Evansville, Monona, Middleton, and Lake Mills. We scored all 26 places within 30 miles.
Why does Columbus rank as the worst suburb?
Columbus posts the roughest combined numbers of the 26 suburbs we scored: a median household income of $75,427, a median home value of $311,071, and a poverty rate of 6.9%.
What is the best-ranked suburb near Madison?
Waunakee lands at the opposite end of this ranking, making it the best-ranked suburb near Madison by these measures. Our separate best suburbs of Madison list covers that side properly.
How do you rank the worst suburbs?
Suburbs are scored on unemployment, income, density, home values, dropouts, poverty, and insurance coverage, using Census American Community Survey data. Real numbers, light heart — every one of these towns has people making it work.
