Life in Madison

Fresh off being named Livability’s best U.S. city to live in for 2022, Madison has enjoyed a long tradition of stellar rankings on measures ranging from fitness to food to family life. As one of only two major U.S. cities located on an isthmus between the two largest of five sparkling lakes, the city boasts beautiful scenery and plentiful year-round outdoor activities with its 260 parks, more than 200 miles of trails, 15,000 acres of lakes and 12 beaches.

As the home of our state government and the flagship University of Wisconsin campus, it’s also a hub of education and the arts. And as a city with a large community of young professionals, it offers a vibrant downtown with a lively restaurant, bar, and live music scene.

UW–Madison and the city of Madison blend seamlessly together, creating an atmosphere and opportunities that are truly unique. The university has ranked in the top 10 in national research funding every year since 1972, and in keeping with The Wisconsin Idea, our work is focused on improving communities and lives beyond campus boundaries. Explore more UW-Madison points of pride here.

Finally, if you’re looking for a great place to raise your family, it’s hard to do better than our excellent schools, safe neighborhoods and down-to-earth values. And there’s never a shortage of family-friendly fun.

Getting to Madison is easy. Dane County Regional airport is a 10-minute drive from campus and offers direct flights to 15 U.S. cities, including New York, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Orlando, Dallas, Denver, Las Vegas and Phoenix. Milwaukee can be reached in just over an hour while Chicago is just two hours away, giving travelers access to two international airports and a regional airport that offer direct flights to over 250 destinations combined.

As Madisonians like to say, we get the best of both worlds: the relaxed ease of a small town and the rich cultural life of a bigger city. Visit the links below for more about what you can do, see, experience and love here.