Madison County, Tennessee

Madison County is a county in Tennessee, United States, about 80 miles northeast of Memphis. It
had a population of 98,823 at the 2020 census and covers 559 square miles (1,447 km2) centred near
35°37′N 88°50′W.

Jackson is the county seat and largest city; its main postal code is 38301. The county holds 2
cities, 1 town and several unincorporated communities, and it runs on Central Time.

Towns & Villages in Madison County

Madison County has a small set of named places on record: Jackson, the county seat, plus a
handful of incorporated towns and unincorporated communities and census-designated places (CDPs)
around it. CDP stands for census designated place, a Census Bureau statistical area with no local
government of its own; Unincorp. covers rural crossroads communities.

Two places on this list straddle county lines. Medon sits partly in Hardeman County to the
south, and its 189 residents are split between the two counties. Mercer extends west into Haywood
County, so only part of its population is Madison County’s. Humboldt, a city of roughly 8,000
just north of the line, lies mostly in Gibson County — only a small edge of its annexed land
reaches into Madison, so it is not counted as a Madison County place here.

ZIP Codes

• 38301 — Jackson (downtown and south side)
• 38305 — Jackson (north side)
• 38308 — Jackson (east side)
• 38343 — Three Way (also serves Humboldt’s Madison County edge)
• 38356 — Medon
• 38366 — Pinson
• 38313 — Beech Bluff

Denmark and Mercer have no ZIP code of their own; mail there is delivered under Jackson’s
or a neighboring town’s code, since both lost the local post offices that once served them.

Geography

Madison County sits in the Gulf Coastal Plain of western Tennessee, a belt of gently rolling
terrain between the Tennessee River and the Mississippi bottomlands. Of its 559 square miles, 557
are land and 1.5 are water, about 0.3 percent — the county has no large natural lake, and its
surface water is mostly the North, Middle and South forks of the Forked Deer River, which drain the
county west toward the Obion and Mississippi rivers.

Gibson County lies to the north, Carroll County to the northeast, Henderson County to the east,
Chester County to the southeast, Hardeman County to the south, Haywood County to the west, and
Crockett County to the northwest. Gibson County,
Carroll County,
Henderson County,
Chester County,
Hardeman County,
Haywood County and
Crockett County all border Madison
directly.

Demographics

Madison County had a population of 98,823 at the 2020 census. Jackson, the county seat, holds
68,205 of that total, and Three Way is the second-largest place at 1,877. Median household income
runs below Tennessee’s statewide figure of $67,631 (2023 ACS), reflecting Jackson’s mix
of manufacturing, health care and retail wages. Population density works out to roughly 177 people
per square mile of land, concentrated heavily in and around Jackson, with the rest of the county
sparsely settled farmland.

Economy & Local Life

Jackson anchors the county’s economy as a regional trade and health care hub for West
Tennessee. West Tennessee Healthcare, the county’s public hospital system, is one of the area’s
largest employers, alongside manufacturing plants in and around Jackson. Union University and Lane
College, both based in Jackson, along with Jackson State Community College, give the county a
sizeable higher-education presence relative to its population. The Miss Tennessee Volunteer Pageant
and Miss Volunteer America Pageant are both hosted in Jackson each year, drawing visitors from
across the state.

History

The Tennessee legislature created Madison County in 1821 from land the state had purchased from
the Chickasaw Nation three years earlier, in 1818. It was named for James Madison, the fourth
president of the United States. Jackson was incorporated as the county seat in 1845, having grown
up around the crossing of major overland routes through West Tennessee.

Pinson Mounds, within the county near the community of Pinson, is one of the largest Middle
Woodland-period earthwork complexes in the United States, including the second-tallest mound of its
kind in the country. The site became a Tennessee state archaeological park in 1974. On 11 March
1923, a tornado later estimated at F5 strength on the Fujita scale struck the Pinson area, causing
significant damage and loss of life — one of the deadliest storms in the county’s
history.

Getting There

Interstate 40 crosses the county east–west through Jackson, linking it to Memphis to the
west and Nashville to the east. US Route 45 and US Route 70 also run through the county.

• Memphis — about 80 miles west
• Nashville — about 130 miles east
• Union City — about 65 miles north
• Bolivar — about 30 miles south

McKellar-Sipes Regional Airport, on Jackson’s south side, handles general aviation and
charter flights; the nearest major commercial airport is Memphis International, about 80 miles
west. Amtrak does not serve Jackson — passenger rail service through the county ended in the
late 1960s.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Madison County located?
It sits in the Gulf Coastal Plain of western Tennessee, about 80 miles northeast of Memphis,
bordered by Gibson, Carroll, Henderson, Chester, Hardeman, Haywood and Crockett counties.

What is the population of Madison County?
98,823 at the 2020 census, with Jackson holding 68,205 of that total.

How big is Madison County?
559 square miles (1,447 km2), of which 557 square miles are land.

Jackson is the county seat of Madison County — it was incorporated in
1845 and is by far the county’s largest city.

How many towns are in Madison County?
Two incorporated cities — Jackson and Three Way — one town, Medon, and several
unincorporated communities and CDPs including Pinson, Beech Bluff, Denmark and Mercer.

What ZIP codes does Madison County use?
38301, 38305 and 38308 for Jackson; 38343 for Three Way; 38356 for Medon; 38366 for Pinson; and
38313 for Beech Bluff.

What is Madison County known for?
Pinson Mounds, one of the largest Middle Woodland earthwork complexes in the United States, and
Jackson’s Union University and Lane College.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Tennessee.