City comparison
Dallas, TX is about 800 miles (1,300 km) from Madison, WI in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 1,000 miles, or about 17 hours 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 Dallas, TX to Madison, WI takes about 1 h 38 min, covering roughly 800 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.
Dallas has a population of 1,300,642, vs 268,516 in Madison — about 4.8× larger by population. By land area, Dallas covers about 340 sq mi vs 84 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 | Dallas | Madison | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,305/mo | $1,291/mo | 1.1% higher in Dallas |
| Median home value | $270,700 | $326,600 | 20.7% higher in Madison |
| Median household income | $63,985 | $74,895 | 17.1% higher in Madison |
| Groceries index | 101.7 | 94.0 | 8.2% higher in Dallas |
| Utilities index | 89.3 | 90.0 | 0.8% higher in Madison |
| Transportation index | 98.5 | 99.2 | 0.7% higher in Madison |
| Healthcare index | 99.7 | 99.4 | ≈ equal (Dallas slightly higher) |
How much you'd need to earn in the other city to keep the same standard of living.
If you earn $100,000 in Dallas, you'd need $92,327 in Madison to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Madison, WI is about 7.7% cheaper overall than Dallas, TX, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 17% higher in Dallas than in Madison. If you earn $80,000 in Dallas, you'd need about $73,862 in Madison to keep the same standard of living.