[7][8] Madison is also home to nine National Historic Landmarks, including several buildings designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright, such as the UNESCO World Heritage Site Jacobs I House.

[18] Madison's economy features a large and growing technology sector, and the Madison area is home to the headquarters of Epic Systems, American Family Insurance, Exact Sciences, Promega, American Girl, Sub-Zero, Lands' End, Spectrum Brands, a regional office for Google, and the University Research Park,[19][20][21] as well as many biotechnology and health systems startups.

During the late 1960s and early 1970s, thousands of students and other citizens took part in anti-Vietnam War marches and demonstrations, with more violent incidents drawing national attention to the city and UW campus.

In early 2011, Madison was the site for large protests against a bill proposed by Governor Scott Walker that abolished almost all collective bargaining for public worker unions.

Other suburbs include the city of Verona and the villages of Cottage Grove, DeForest, and Waunakee as well as Mount Horeb, Oregon, Stoughton, and Cross Plains.

The highest elevation is located along Pleasant View Road on the far west side of the city, atop a portion of a terminal moraine of the Green Bay Lobe of the Wisconsin glaciation, at 1,190 ft (360 m).

Students dominate on the University of Wisconsin campus and to the east into downtown, while to its south and in Shorewood Hills on its west, faculty have been a major presence since those neighborhoods were originally developed.

[47] State Street is home to much of the nightlife of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, as it is the location of several bars and performance venues ranging from comedy clubs to multiple large theaters, including the Overture Center, which features local ballets and Broadway touring casts.

The Park Street Area, located in the south of Madison, contains multiple official neighborhoods, including Burr Oaks and Greenbush.

The city also has multiple Sikh Gurdwaras, Hindu temples, three mosques and several synagogues, a community center serving the Baháʼí Faith, a Quaker Meeting House, and a Unity Church congregation.

[91] Notable companies headquartered in Madison in this field include Epic Systems, Panvera (now part of Invitrogen), Exact Sciences, and Promega.

Information technology companies in Madison include Broadjam, Zendesk, Full Compass Systems, Raven Software, EatStreet, and TDS Telecom.

Other advanced manufacturing and consumer goods companies headquartered in the area include American Girl, Lands' End, Shopbop, Colony Brands, and John Deere.

[99] The Memorial Union hosts concerts, plays, and comedy and is home to multiple restaurants and ice cream shops serving both the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus and the greater city.

Madison is home to eight buildings designed by influential Wisconsin-born modern architect Frank Lloyd Wright, more than any city outside of the Chicago metropolitan area.

[112] Claude and Starck designed over 175 Madison buildings, and many are still standing, including Breese Stevens Field, Doty School (now condominiums), and many private residences.

This Art Deco building was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Madison's best surviving representative of the movie palace era.

Other agricultural activity in the Madison area involves the growing of fruits like cranberries and popular vegetables, including snap beans, carrots, corn and potatoes.

[135] Several venues offer live music nightly, spreading from the historic Barrymore Theatre and High Noon Saloon on the east side to[136] small coffee houses and wine bars.

On Wednesday evenings, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra performs free concerts on the capitol's lawn,[137] and people come to listen to the music while picnicking on the grass.

One of the latest additions is the La Fete de Marquette, taking place around Bastille Day at various east side locations and celebrating French music with Cajun influences.

[146] Madison is also home to other nationally known artists such as Paul Kowert of Punch Brothers, Mama Digdown's Brass Band, Clyde Stubblefield of Funky Drummer and James Brown fame, and musicians Roscoe Mitchell, Richard Davis, Ben Sidran, Sexy Ester and the Pretty Mama Sisters, Reptile Palace Orchestra, Ted Park, DJ Pain 1, Killdozer, Zola Jesus, VO5, Caustic, Phox, Masked Intruder, and Lou & Peter Berryman, among others.

[166] After the Cardinals failed to attract University of Wisconsin graduates as promised, the La Crosse Old Style Lagers ran up the score in a 100-0 drubbing with the intention of pushing them out of the league.

[169] Madison is home to several endurance sports racing events, such as the Crazylegs Classic, the CrossFit Games, Paddle and Portage, the Mad City Marathon, and Ironman Wisconsin, which attracts over 45,000 spectators.

Detractors often refer to Madison as "77 square miles surrounded by reality", a phrase coined by former Wisconsin Republican governor Lee S. Dreyfus, while campaigning in 1978.

Madison is home to an extensive and varied number of print publications, reflecting the city's role as the state capital and its diverse political, cultural and academic population.

The Capital Times was founded in 1917 by William T. Evjue, a business manager for the State Journal who disagreed with that paper's editorial criticisms of Wisconsin Republican Senator Robert M. La Follette, Sr. for his opposition to U.S. entry into World War I.

[204][205] Anticipating eventual revival of passenger service, public meetings were held in early 2024 by the city's Department of Transportation to consider possible site(s) for the station.

[208] US 12, frequently referred to by locals as the Beltline, is a six- to eight-lane freeway serving the south and west sides of Madison and is the main link from the western suburb of Middleton to Cambridge.

[211] There were calls for an examination of the Madison Police Department's rules of engagement and due process for officers who use lethal force in the line of duty.