Madison County area

Madison County, Idaho covers 473.3 square miles: 469.3 square miles of land and 4.054 square miles of water. Its county seat is Rexburg. An estimated 55,172 people lived there in 2025.

Official Census measurements · GEOID 160652026 Gazetteer · retrieved September 27, 2026
Land area469.3 mi²
Water area4.054 mi²
Population (2025)55,172
People per mi²118

County outline

Generalized outline of Madison County, Idaho
2025 Census cartographic boundary, fitted to this frame. County maps are not at a common scale. The 2026 area measurements below come from the separate Gazetteer release. Map source and limitations.

Where Madison County is located

Madison County highlighted on a map of all U.S. county equivalents. About the maps

Area breakdown

Land accounts for 99.1% of Madison County’s measured area and water for 0.9%. Its combined area converts to 1,225.9 square kilometers or approximately 302,925 acres.

Green: land · blue: water

MeasurementSquare milesSquare kilometersAcres
Land469.2671,215.396300,330.9
Water4.05410.52,594.6
Total473.3211,225.896302,925.4

How Madison County compares

By original Census land area, Madison County ranks #42 of 44 in Idaho and #2195 of 3,222 nationally. National rankings include the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Its land area is 0.357 times the Idaho county-equivalent median of 1,315.7 square miles. It accounts for 0.6% of the combined county land area in the state.

See the complete Idaho ranking · What counts as a county equivalent?

Population and density of Madison County

The Census Bureau estimates that 55,172 people lived in Madison County on July 1, 2025. That ranks #959 of 3,222 county equivalents nationally and #7 of 44 in Idaho. Since the April 1, 2020 estimates base of 52,913, the population has grown by 2,259 (+4.3%), compared with +10.4% for Idaho as a whole.

With 469.3 square miles of land, that is 118 people per square mile (45 per km²), placing Madison County #887 nationally for density and #4 in Idaho. The median county equivalent has 47 people per square mile; the Idaho median is 10. Put another way, there are about 5.4 acres of land per resident.

Estimated population, 2020–2025 · line scaled to this county’s own range
July 1202020212022202320242025
Estimate52,95054,12655,25154,81954,94855,172
Change—+1,176+1,125−432+129+224

U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 population estimates. Estimates are revised each year and are not decennial census counts. Density divides the whole population by the whole county’s land area, so it describes an average, not how settlement is distributed within the county. Population sources and methods.

Cities and towns in Madison County

2 incorporated places lie at least partly in Madison County. Together they are home to 42,810 people (77.6%); the other 12,362 (22.4%) live outside any incorporated place, in unincorporated communities and rural areas.

The largest is Rexburg city, with 40,334 residents in the county. Among places with at least 1,000 residents in 2020, Sugar City city grew fastest since then (+43.8%).

Incorporated placePopulation 2025Since 2020Land mi²
Rexburg cityCounty seat40,334+1.4%10.4
Sugar City city2,476+43.8%2.658

Population: U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 subcounty estimates, counting only the part of each place inside Madison County. Land: 2026 Census Gazetteer, for the whole place even where it extends into other counties. How communities are listed.

Metropolitan area

Madison County is a central county of the Rexburg, ID Micropolitan Statistical Area. Its 2 county equivalents have 69,380 residents on 2,333.2 square miles of land; Madison County accounts for 20.1% of the land and 79.5% of the residents. By combined land it ranks #65 of 542 micropolitan areas, and #114 by population. It belongs to the Idaho Falls-Rexburg-Blackfoot, ID Combined Statistical Area.

County equivalentPopulation 2025Land mi²
Madison County55,172469.3
Fremont County14,2081,864

ZIP codes

8 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Madison County; 5 of them have most of their land inside the county, and the others mainly cover neighboring areas.

8343483436834408344383445834488345183460

ZIP Code Tabulation Areas are the Census Bureau’s approximations of USPS ZIP Code service areas, from the 2020 Census relationship files. Lighter codes have less than half of their land in this county. Post-office-box and single-address ZIP Codes have no tabulation area.

Counties bordering Madison County

Madison County shares a land border with 4 county equivalents. It has more land than 1 of them. The largest neighbor is Bonneville County (1,866 mi²) and the smallest is Teton County (449.1 mi²). Together with its neighbors, Madison County forms a block of 5,742 mi² of land, of which it holds 8.2%.

Map of Madison County and the 4 county equivalents that border it Jefferson County, Idaho: 1,093.7 mi² landFremont County, Idaho: 1,864 mi² landTeton County, Idaho: 449.1 mi² landBonneville County, Idaho: 1,866 mi² land
Madison County (dark) and its bordering county equivalents. Select a neighbor to open its profile. Drawn from the 2025 Census cartographic boundaries in an equal-area projection. How borders are determined.
Bordering county equivalentLand mi²Size vs. MadisonCompare
Bonneville County1,8664× largerCompare
Fremont County1,8644× largerCompare
Jefferson County1,093.72.3× largerCompare
Teton County449.1about the sameCompare

How big is Madison County compared with U.S. states?

Madison County has less land than any of the 50 states. Rhode Island, the smallest state by land area, has 1,033.9 mi², about 2.2 times as much. Idaho’s county land could hold about 176 areas the size of Madison County.

Land area: Madison County and the closest-sized states
Madison County469.3 mi²
Rhode Island1,033.9 mi²

Another way to picture it: the same land area would fill a square about 21.7 miles (34.9 km) on each side. Real county shapes are rarely square, so this is a scale reference rather than a width or driving distance.

State figures are the sums of each state’s county-equivalent land measurements in the same Census release, so states and counties are compared on the same basis. Published state totals can differ slightly because of rounding. Compare all states · Counties bigger than entire states.

What stands out about Madison County?

Madison County has more land than 1,027 of the other 3,221 county equivalents in the dataset.

Land area compared with the typical county equivalent
Madison County469.3 mi²
Idaho median1,315.7 mi²
National median604.5 mi²

A median is the middle county-equivalent measurement, not the average of the largest and smallest. All three bars use the same linear scale. Very small areas may appear as a thin sliver; the labels retain their values.

Does including water change its rank?

Using land plus water places Madison County at #2,269 nationally by total area, 74 places farther from the top than its land rank. Other county equivalents gain more area when their water measurements are included.

Its water share is 0.9%, compared with a national county-equivalent median of 1.2% — 0.3 percentage points lower. This describes the statistical geography’s land/water mix, not flood exposure or developable land.

Closest positions in the national land ranking

These entries sit immediately beside Madison County in the national ranking. They can be in different states and are not necessarily geographic neighbors.

Land rankCounty equivalentLand mi²Comparison
#2194Clay County, Kentucky469.3Compare
#2195Madison County, Idaho469.3This county
#2196Mitchell County, Iowa469.3Compare

Calculated from the same Census release as the area table. Total-area order uses original ALAND + AWATER; water shares and chart labels use published square miles. Calculation details.

Representative coordinates

The Census internal point is 43.788614, -111.656993. It represents a location inside the geography; it is not necessarily the centroid or the address of a courthouse.

Source and precision

U.S. Census Bureau, 2026 Gazetteer Files, Counties. Original ALAND: 1,215,396,276 m²; AWATER: 10,500,946 m². Rankings use ALAND; exact ties use ascending GEOID. Tables preserve Census-published square miles to three decimals, with conversions based on those values.

Download the official county source ZIP ↗ · Methodology

Common questions

How big is Madison County?

Madison County, Idaho has 469.3 square miles (1,215.4 km²) of land and 4.054 square miles of water, for a total area of 473.3 square miles. It ranks #2195 of 3,222 U.S. county equivalents by land area.

Is Madison County the largest county in Idaho?

No. Madison County ranks #42 of 44 in Idaho by land area. The largest is Idaho County, with 8,477.5 square miles of land.

What counties border Madison County?

Madison County shares a land border with Jefferson County, Fremont County, Teton County, and Bonneville County.

What is the population of Madison County?

The Census Bureau estimates Madison County had 55,172 residents on July 1, 2025, ranking #959 of 3,222 county equivalents. That is 118 people per square mile of land.

What is the county seat of Madison County?

The county seat of Madison County is Rexburg.

What cities and towns are in Madison County?

Madison County has 2 incorporated places. The most populous are Rexburg city and Sugar City city; 12,362 residents live outside any incorporated place.

Is Madison County part of a metropolitan area?

Yes. It is a central county of the Rexburg, ID Micropolitan Statistical Area, which has 2 county equivalents and 69,380 residents.

How many ZIP codes are in Madison County?

8 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Madison County, and 5 of them have most of their land inside the county. Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas approximate USPS ZIP Code areas.

How does Madison County compare with U.S. states?

It has less land than every state. Rhode Island, the smallest, has 2.2 times as much land.

How many acres of land are in Madison County?

The land measurement converts to approximately 300,331 acres. Including water, total area is approximately 302,925 acres. One square mile equals 640 acres.

Why might another source show a different area?

Check whether it reports land or total area, its Census vintage, and its rounding. Our guide explains how to reconcile county area figures.

Can this establish a property boundary?

No. Statistical measurements and generalized maps do not establish property lines. Consult the relevant local surveying or land-records authority.

Cite this county

Download the complete CSV or JSON dataset