Groundwork

Auto · Metro area · Wisconsin

Auto repair shops in the Madison, WI metro area

How the Madison, WI metro area compares with other metro areas and the U.S. for auto repair shops: competitors, household spending, official counts and growth.

Groundwork market score · out of 100

Score 77 out of 100: High

Ranked #22 of 387 scored metro areas
#1 of 13 scored metro areas based in Wisconsin

Listings
535
108 chain locations (20%)
Official establishments
264
−3.3% since 2019
Household spending a year
$307.4M
On vehicle maintenance and repairs · $1,019 a household
Spending per listing
$575K
29% above the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
17.7
18% below the U.S.
Population, 2025
709,685
+4.1% since 2020

See the auto repair shops around any address in the Madison metro area

The site report maps the auto repair shops on map listings near the address, by name and distance, and sizes the households and spending around it. Or open the report at the center of the Madison metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

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Survey estimates 2020–2024 · population estimates 2025 · official business counts 2023 · map listings September 2026 · Data credits · How we measure

What this means

For auto repair shops, the Madison metro area has a Groundwork market score of 77 (high): #22 of 387 scored metro areas and #1 of 13 scored metro areas based in Wisconsin. That puts it in the top 10% of metro areas for auto repair shops.

Household spending on vehicle maintenance and repairs in the Madison metro area comes to about $307.4M a year: $1,019 per household, 6% above the U.S. average. That is about $575K of household spending for each shop on map listings, 29% above the U.S. figure of $445K. The spending figure covers all vehicle maintenance and repairs, not only auto repair shops.

The Madison metro area has 535 auto repair shops on map listings as of September 2026. Chain locations make up 20% of them, against 16% across the U.S. Per 10,000 households, that is 17.7, 18% below the U.S. rate of 21.5.

Official counts show 264 businesses with payroll classed as mechanical, body and glass repair in the Madison metro area in 2023, down 3.3% from 2019. That is one for every 1,142 households, against one for every 955 across the U.S. Since fiscal 2022, 10 SBA-backed loans worth $3.6M have gone to businesses classed as mechanical, body and glass repair in the Madison metro area. Population estimates put the population change in the Madison metro area from 2020 to 2025 at +4.1%, faster than the U.S. (+3.1%).

How the Madison metro area compares

The same measures for Wisconsin and the whole U.S. Spending per listing divides a year of household spending on all vehicle maintenance and repairs by the auto repair shops counted, so it measures the demand for each competitor, not any business’s revenue. Households per establishment does the same with the official count.

Auto repair shops in Madison, WI metro area compared with Wisconsin and the U.S.
MeasureMadison metro areaWisconsinU.S.
Listings per 10k households17.720.721.5
Spending per listing$575K$511K$445K
Households per official establishment1,142890955
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023−3.3%−1.4%+2.1%
Population growth, 2020–2025+4.1%+1.3%+3.1%
Spending per household on vehicle maintenance and repairs$1,019$1,061$958
Median household income$88,804$77,485$80,734
Groundwork market score7758

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
264−3.3% over the period
Employees, 2023
1,398
Annual payroll, 2023
$77.3M
One-person businesses, 2023
328Businesses with no payroll
Map listings, September 2026
535108 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
691The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
10
Amount
$3.6M

SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as mechanical, body and glass repair in the Madison metro area, through June 2026, placed by the borrower’s ZIP code. Official establishments are businesses with payroll; the official counts leave out places with fewer than 3.

Population and households in the Madison metro area

Population, 2025 estimate
709,685+4.1% since 2020
Households
301,580
Median age
39.0
Homes lived in by their owners
60%
Vehicles per household
1.7
Land area
3,309 sq. mi.
People per square mile
209
Median household income
$88,804+22.7% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
Average household income
$116,647
Median home value
$372,400
Jobs located here
417,554
Daytime population
747,946Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the Madison metro area?

These figures cover the whole metro area. A site report draws rings around one address and counts what’s inside them: households, spending, jobs, and the auto repair shops on map listings by name and distance.

Or open the report at the center of the Madison metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

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Auto repair shops across Wisconsin

Every Wisconsin market ranked →

The highest-scoring metro areas in Wisconsin for auto repair shops, numbered among those based in Wisconsin (a market based in another state is listed without a number), with the Madison metro area marked.

Top metro areas in Wisconsin

Metro areas in Wisconsin ranked for auto repair shops by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Madison, WI7753517.7$575K+4.1%#22 of 387
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI722,53117.1$636K+2.6%#48 of 387
2Green Bay, WI6727820.4$537K+2.5%#72 of 387
3Oshkosh-Neenah, WI6412817.6$590K+1.4%#87 of 387
4Kenosha, WI6214621.2$518K−0.4%#98 of 387
5Appleton, WI5722322.4$508K+2.7%#141 of 387
6Wausau, WI5512221.1$535K+1.0%#154 of 387
7Fond du Lac, WI559020.8$524K+0.5%#155 of 387
8Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI551,22418.6$517K0.0%#156 of 387
9Racine-Mount Pleasant, WI5316820.9$508K+0.4%#174 of 387

Other business types in the Madison metro area

Each with its Groundwork market score here, out of 100, where it has one.

Questions

How many auto repair shops are in the Madison, WI metro area?

Map listings as of September 2026 show 535 auto repair shops in the Madison metro area. 108 of them (20%) are chain locations. The listings count general, specialty, body and glass repair shops. Official counts show 264 businesses with payroll classed as mechanical, body and glass repair in 2023, down 3.3% from 2019. Official counts also show 328 one-person businesses without payroll.

How much do households in the Madison, WI metro area spend on vehicle maintenance and repairs?

About $307.4M a year, or $1,019 per household. That is 6% above the U.S. average (an index of 106, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 535 auto repair shops on map listings, it comes to $575K per shop. That spending covers all vehicle maintenance and repairs, which auto repair shops share with other businesses in the trade. It is estimated from the incomes of the 301,580 households in the Madison metro area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the Madison, WI metro area compare with the U.S. for auto repair shops?

The Madison metro area has 17.7 auto repair shops per 10,000 households, 18% below the U.S. rate of 21.5. Spending per shop is $575K, 29% above the U.S. figure of $445K. At the U.S. ratio of auto repair shops to household spending, the Madison metro area would have about 691, against 535 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 1,142 households, against one for every 955 across the U.S. The official count fell 3.3% from 2019 to 2023, against +2.1% for the U.S.

How fast is the Madison, WI metro area growing?

Population estimates put the Madison metro area at 709,685 people in 2025, up 4.1% since 2020, faster than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 301,580 households. Median household income in the Madison metro area is $88,804, 10% above the U.S. median of $80,734. Against the 2015–2019 survey, the median rose 22.7%, before inflation.

What is the Groundwork market score?

The Groundwork market score runs from 0 to 100 and compares a market with others of its kind for one business type: states with states, metro areas with metro areas, small-town markets and counties with their own. It weighs household spending per competitor (35%), households per business with payroll (25%), population growth (20%) and spending power (20%), each ranked against those peers. A higher score means that, taken together, the market has more household spending and more households for each business already there, faster population growth and more spending per household than similar markets. It describes a market, not any one site or deal. The Madison metro area scores 77 for auto repair shops (high), #22 of 387 scored metro areas.

How can I see the market around a specific site?

Run a Groundwork site report on an address in the Madison metro area. It maps the auto repair shops on map listings near the site and sizes the households and spending within the distance you choose. New accounts get 10 actions over 3 days, no card.

How the score works · Top markets for auto repair shops · All 56 business types in the Madison metro area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Madison metro area?

A site report maps the competitors on map listings near an address and sizes the households and spending around it.

The button opens the report at the center of the Madison metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.

Figures are estimates for research only. Not investment or real estate advice.