MADISON is now under coverage.
Local dating, modeled. Every signal in Madison, converted into a tactical roadmap.
Greater Madison is open as a field office. The headline numbers, each sourced and confidence-flagged:
- $1,540 per month Zumper Rent Research, June 2026
- $49,688 per year Census ACS 5-yr, 2019–2023
- 55% Census ACS 5-yr, 2019–2023
By the numbers
11 sourced, confidence-flagged metrics for Madison — gender, money, neighborhoods, and political lean. The deep dive, with charts, is in the console below.
- Singles, 22 to 50
150,466
- Gender balance
55%
- Male skew
55%
- Median income
$49,688
- 1-bedroom rent
$1,540
- Living wage
$50,877
- Transit fare
$2
- Rent trend
$1,540
- Most female-leaning zone
50%
- Democratic
75%
- Republican
23%
The shape of the market
Even the most balanced zone, Sun Prairie, runs about 50% male.
Madison runs about 55% male, sharpest in Monroe Street (61%) and Far East (60%).
How dating actually happens
Only about 14% of matches on curated apps like Hinge turn into a first date.
Roughly 1 in 10 partnered adults met their partner online, and the share climbs sharply for younger and LGB couples.
One in four matches never gets a reply.
53% of online daters say their overall experience has been positive.
Dating safety in Madison
78% of active dating-app users report burnout: 80% of women (driven by message volume) and 74% of men (driven by a lack of responses).
60% of Americans support requiring a background check before someone can create a dating profile.
An estimated 26% of men have received unsolicited explicit content, far below the rate for women.
56% of women under 50 have been sent unsolicited explicit images while dating online.
48% of online daters have faced at least one form of harassing behavior on a dating platform.
43% of women under 50 say a match kept contacting them after they said no.
52% of online daters say a scammer or bot has contacted them.
63% of men under 50 say a scammer or bot has contacted them, the highest of any group.
11% of women under 50 have been physically threatened on a dating platform.
40% of daters say platforms do a bad job removing fake and bot accounts; only 20% say they do well.
The LGBTQ+ landscape
53% of LGB adults have used a dating app, far more than straight adults.
About 24% of LGB couples met online, roughly three times the straight rate.
About 70% of LGB adults under 30 have used a dating app, the highest-adoption cohort anywhere.
7.6% of U.S. adults now identify as LGBTQ+, up from 3.5% in 2012.
22.3% of adults aged 18 to 34 identify as LGBTQ+.
Political alignment
24% of Americans say they could never date someone who disagrees with them on abortion.
Wisconsin doesn’t register voters by party, so we read the 2024 presidential vote: Dane County backed Harris about 75% to 23%, one of the most Democratic counties in the country.
Just 23% of Dane County voted Trump, so a politically conservative single finds very few like-minded matches in this UW-Madison-anchored capital.
47% of single daters would not seriously date a Trump voter; among Democratic women that rises to 79%.
69% of Americans would not date someone who is unemployed, rising to 81% of women.
The cost of dating
A single adult in Dane County needs about $50,900 a year just to cover the basics.
Madison’s one-bedroom rents have held in a tight band around $1,540 to $1,580, kept high by a tight supply and steady UW-Madison demand.
Americans reported $1.3 billion in romance-scam losses in a single year, a tax on every crowded market.
A Madison Metro bus fare is $2.00 one way.
Neighborhood intelligence
| Neighborhood | Singles | M / F | Income | 1BR rent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Downtown | 25,283 | 50 / 50 | $26,865 | $1,488 |
| Near East Side | 13,350 | 55 / 45 | $48,112 | $1,267 |
| Monroe Street | 11,593 | 61 / 39 | $57,902 | $1,406 |
| West Side | 8,859 | 57 / 43 | $56,322 | $1,511 |
| Fitchburg | 8,600 | 55 / 45 | $37,992 | $1,231 |
| Campus | 7,917 | 59 / 41 | $10,641 | $1,563 |
| Sun Prairie | 6,988 | 50 / 50 | $54,212 | $1,427 |
| Near West Side | 6,368 | 51 / 49 | $53,720 | $1,352 |
| Middleton | 5,180 | 53 / 47 | $60,177 | $1,484 |
| Far East | 4,224 | 60 / 40 | $58,542 | $1,696 |
Local date spots
Real venues across Madison, scraped from Google Maps and filterable by neighborhood. Ratings and review counts are live Google data — never paid placement.
- Far East
The Old Fashioned
- West Side
Melting Pot
- Middleton
Hubbard Avenue Diner
- Sun Prairie
Buck & Honey's - Sun Prairie
- Fitchburg
The Thirsty Goat
- Downtown
Tipsy Cow
- Downtown
Cento
- West Side
The Coopers Tavern
- Downtown
Graze Restaurant
- West Side
Eno Vino Downtown
- Near East Side
Weary Traveler Freehouse
- Near East Side
La Taguara
- Middleton
Craftsman Table & Tap
- Fitchburg
Quivey's Grove
- Fitchburg
Me & Julio
- Far East
Alchemy Cafe
- Middleton
Monk's Bar & Grill
- Monroe Street
Everly
- Near East Side
Bar Corallini
- Sun Prairie
Full Mile Beer Company & Kitchen
- Downtown
Michelangelo's Coffee House
- Middleton
The Free House Pub
- West Side
Dave's Hot Chicken
- Downtown
Colectivo Coffee On the Square
- Far East
Mint Mark
- Downtown
Heritage Tavern
- Campus
Vintage Spirits & Grill
- Fitchburg
Great Dane Pub & Brewing Co. - Fitchburg
- Sun Prairie
Tipsy Cow Sun Prairie
- Campus
La Brioche True Food