City comparison
Burlington, NC is about 425 miles (700 km) from Madison, AL in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 550 miles, or about 8 h 45 min behind the wheel at highway speeds.
Driving distance is a rough estimate (great-circle × 1.25); driving time assumes a 60 mph blended average. Real trips run 10–20% longer with stops.
A direct flight from Burlington, NC to Madison, AL takes about 51 min, covering roughly 425 miles in a straight line. Connecting itineraries with a layover typically add 1–3 hours.
Block-to-block estimate at ~500 mph cruise, including taxi, climb, and descent — what an airline would publish, not pure airborne time.
Burlington, NC is on Eastern Time and Madison, AL is on Central Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Burlington, it's 11 a.m. in Madison, which puts Burlington 1 hours ahead.
Standard-time offsets. Daylight saving applies in both cities for most of the year (exceptions: Hawaii and most of Arizona), and the gap between the two stays the same.
Madison has a population of 56,967, vs 56,951 in Burlington — about the same size. By land area, Burlington covers about 31 sq mi vs 31 sq mi for Madison.
Population from US Census ACS. Land area from the Census Gazetteer (city proper, excluding inland water).
Cost indices by category, with the US city average (100) marked.
Index: 100 = US city average. Lower is more affordable.
Side-by-side costs, salaries, and sub-category indices.
| Metric | Burlington | Madison | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $947/mo | $1,201/mo | 26.8% higher in Madison |
| Median home value | $167,000 | $327,100 | 95.9% higher in Madison |
| Median household income | $52,963 | $118,132 | 123.0% higher in Madison |
| Groceries index | 96.8 | 96.6 | ≈ equal (Burlington slightly higher) |
| Utilities index | 89.7 | 84.9 | 5.7% higher in Burlington |
| Transportation index | 98.4 | 97.0 | 1.4% higher in Burlington |
| Healthcare index | 97.9 | 96.5 | 1.4% higher in Burlington |
How much you'd need to earn in the other city to keep the same standard of living.
If you earn $100,000 in Burlington, you'd need $99,876 in Madison to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Burlington and Madison have nearly identical overall cost-of-living indices. If you earn $80,000 in Burlington, you'd need about $79,901 in Madison to keep the same standard of living.