{"id":7694,"date":"2023-09-08T14:34:20","date_gmt":"2023-09-08T14:34:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/?p=7694"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:30:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:30:21","slug":"madison-county-tennessee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/madison-county-tennessee\/","title":{"rendered":"Madison County, Tennessee"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Madison County is a county in Tennessee, United States, about 80 miles northeast of Memphis. It<br \/>\nhad a population of 98,823 at the 2020 census and covers 559 square miles (1,447 km2) centred near<br \/>\n35\u00b037\u2032N 88\u00b050\u2032W.<\/p>\n<p>Jackson is the county seat and largest city; its main postal code is 38301. The county holds 2<br \/>\ncities, 1 town and several unincorporated communities, and it runs on Central Time.<\/p>\n<h2>Towns &amp; Villages in Madison County<\/h2>\n<p>Madison County has a small set of named places on record: Jackson, the county seat, plus a<br \/>\nhandful of incorporated towns and unincorporated communities and census-designated places (CDPs)<br \/>\naround it. CDP stands for census designated place, a Census Bureau statistical area with no local<br \/>\ngovernment of its own; Unincorp. covers rural crossroads communities.<\/p>\n<div class=\"tv-table-scroll\">\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Place<\/th>\n<th>Type<\/th>\n<th>Pop.<\/th>\n<th>ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Jackson<\/td>\n<td>City &middot; seat<\/td>\n<td>68,205<\/td>\n<td>38301<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Three Way<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>1,877<\/td>\n<td>38343<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Medon<\/td>\n<td>Town<\/td>\n<td>189<\/td>\n<td>38356<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Pinson<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>464<\/td>\n<td>38366<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Beech Bluff<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>379<\/td>\n<td>38313<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Denmark<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Mercer<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>Two places on this list straddle county lines. Medon sits partly in Hardeman County to the<br \/>\nsouth, and its 189 residents are split between the two counties. Mercer extends west into Haywood<br \/>\nCounty, so only part of its population is Madison County&#8217;s. Humboldt, a city of roughly 8,000<br \/>\njust north of the line, lies mostly in Gibson County &mdash; only a small edge of its annexed land<br \/>\nreaches into Madison, so it is not counted as a Madison County place here.<\/p>\n<h2>ZIP Codes<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>38301 &mdash; Jackson (downtown and south side)<\/li>\n<li>38305 &mdash; Jackson (north side)<\/li>\n<li>38308 &mdash; Jackson (east side)<\/li>\n<li>38343 &mdash; Three Way (also serves Humboldt&#8217;s Madison County edge)<\/li>\n<li>38356 &mdash; Medon<\/li>\n<li>38366 &mdash; Pinson<\/li>\n<li>38313 &mdash; Beech Bluff<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Denmark and Mercer have no ZIP code of their own; mail there is delivered under Jackson&#8217;s<br \/>\nor a neighboring town&#8217;s code, since both lost the local post offices that once served them.<\/p>\n<h2>Geography<\/h2>\n<p>Madison County sits in the Gulf Coastal Plain of western Tennessee, a belt of gently rolling<br \/>\nterrain between the Tennessee River and the Mississippi bottomlands. Of its 559 square miles, 557<br \/>\nare land and 1.5 are water, about 0.3 percent &mdash; the county has no large natural lake, and its<br \/>\nsurface water is mostly the North, Middle and South forks of the Forked Deer River, which drain the<br \/>\ncounty west toward the Obion and Mississippi rivers.<\/p>\n<p>Gibson County lies to the north, Carroll County to the northeast, Henderson County to the east,<br \/>\nChester County to the southeast, Hardeman County to the south, Haywood County to the west, and<br \/>\nCrockett County to the northwest. <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/gibson-county-tennessee\/\">Gibson County<\/a>,<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/carroll-county-tennessee\/\">Carroll County<\/a>,<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/henderson-county-tennessee\/\">Henderson County<\/a>,<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/chester-county-tennessee\/\">Chester County<\/a>,<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/hardeman-county\/\">Hardeman County<\/a>,<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/haywood-county-tennessee\/\">Haywood County<\/a> and<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/crockett-county\/\">Crockett County<\/a> all border Madison<br \/>\ndirectly.<\/p>\n<h2>Demographics<\/h2>\n<p>Madison County had a population of 98,823 at the 2020 census. Jackson, the county seat, holds<br \/>\n68,205 of that total, and Three Way is the second-largest place at 1,877. Median household income<br \/>\nruns below Tennessee&#8217;s statewide figure of $67,631 (2023 ACS), reflecting Jackson&#8217;s mix<br \/>\nof manufacturing, health care and retail wages. Population density works out to roughly 177 people<br \/>\nper square mile of land, concentrated heavily in and around Jackson, with the rest of the county<br \/>\nsparsely settled farmland.<\/p>\n<h2>Economy &amp; Local Life<\/h2>\n<p>Jackson anchors the county&#8217;s economy as a regional trade and health care hub for West<br \/>\nTennessee. West Tennessee Healthcare, the county&#8217;s public hospital system, is one of the area&#8217;s<br \/>\nlargest employers, alongside manufacturing plants in and around Jackson. Union University and Lane<br \/>\nCollege, both based in Jackson, along with Jackson State Community College, give the county a<br \/>\nsizeable higher-education presence relative to its population. The Miss Tennessee Volunteer Pageant<br \/>\nand Miss Volunteer America Pageant are both hosted in Jackson each year, drawing visitors from<br \/>\nacross the state.<\/p>\n<h2>History<\/h2>\n<p>The Tennessee legislature created Madison County in 1821 from land the state had purchased from<br \/>\nthe Chickasaw Nation three years earlier, in 1818. It was named for James Madison, the fourth<br \/>\npresident of the United States. Jackson was incorporated as the county seat in 1845, having grown<br \/>\nup around the crossing of major overland routes through West Tennessee.<\/p>\n<p>Pinson Mounds, within the county near the community of Pinson, is one of the largest Middle<br \/>\nWoodland-period earthwork complexes in the United States, including the second-tallest mound of its<br \/>\nkind in the country. The site became a Tennessee state archaeological park in 1974. On 11 March<br \/>\n1923, a tornado later estimated at F5 strength on the Fujita scale struck the Pinson area, causing<br \/>\nsignificant damage and loss of life &mdash; one of the deadliest storms in the county&#8217;s<br \/>\nhistory.<\/p>\n<h2>Getting There<\/h2>\n<p>Interstate 40 crosses the county east&#8211;west through Jackson, linking it to Memphis to the<br \/>\nwest and Nashville to the east. US Route 45 and US Route 70 also run through the county.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Memphis &mdash; about 80 miles west<\/li>\n<li>Nashville &mdash; about 130 miles east<\/li>\n<li>Union City &mdash; about 65 miles north<\/li>\n<li>Bolivar &mdash; about 30 miles south<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>McKellar-Sipes Regional Airport, on Jackson&#8217;s south side, handles general aviation and<br \/>\ncharter flights; the nearest major commercial airport is Memphis International, about 80 miles<br \/>\nwest. Amtrak does not serve Jackson &mdash; passenger rail service through the county ended in the<br \/>\nlate 1960s.<\/p>\n<h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Where is Madison County located?<\/strong><br \/>\nIt sits in the Gulf Coastal Plain of western Tennessee, about 80 miles northeast of Memphis,<br \/>\nbordered by Gibson, Carroll, Henderson, Chester, Hardeman, Haywood and Crockett counties.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the population of Madison County?<\/strong><br \/>\n98,823 at the 2020 census, with Jackson holding 68,205 of that total.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How big is Madison County?<\/strong><br \/>\n559 square miles (1,447 km2), of which 557 square miles are land.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Jackson is the county seat of Madison County<\/strong> &mdash; it was incorporated in<br \/>\n1845 and is by far the county&#8217;s largest city.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How many towns are in Madison County?<\/strong><br \/>\nTwo incorporated cities &mdash; Jackson and Three Way &mdash; one town, Medon, and several<br \/>\nunincorporated communities and CDPs including Pinson, Beech Bluff, Denmark and Mercer.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What ZIP codes does Madison County use?<\/strong><br \/>\n38301, 38305 and 38308 for Jackson; 38343 for Three Way; 38356 for Medon; 38366 for Pinson; and<br \/>\n38313 for Beech Bluff.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is Madison County known for?<\/strong><br \/>\nPinson Mounds, one of the largest Middle Woodland earthwork complexes in the United States, and<br \/>\nJackson&#8217;s Union University and Lane College.<\/p>\n<p>More counties in this state: <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/category\/tennessee\/\">Towns and villages in Tennessee<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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\u00b037\u2032N 88\u00b050\u2032W. Jackson is the county seat and largest city; its main postal code is 38301. The county holds 2 cities, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"Towns & Villages in Madison County, Tennessee","_seopress_titles_desc":"All towns in Madison County, Tennessee - type, population and ZIP for each, plus Jackson, Pinson Mounds and the county's history.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-united-states","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7694","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7694"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7694\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9483,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7694\/revisions\/9483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}