Madison County, Florida: A Local Guide for Home Buyers and Homeowners

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Madison County covers 696.53 square miles of North Florida between Tallahassee and Lake City, with Georgia’s Brooks and Lowndes counties along its northern edge, and about 19,000 people live here. Its county seat calls itself “The City of Four Freedoms,” and a statue of Ray Charles, who spent his childhood here, stands in Greenville Park.

If you’re buying in Madison County or refinancing a home you already own here, this page lays out the towns and roads, how the loan limits work, the county’s SHIP purchase assistance, homestead and tax bill dates, what Idalia and Helene did to the county, and the offices you’ll deal with once you move in.

Every source for this guide is listed at the bottom of the page.

County seatMadison
Founded1827
PopulationAbout 19,000
Land area696.53 sq mi
Named forPresident James Madison
FHA limit, 1 unit$541,287 in 2026
Conventional limit, 1 unit$832,750 in 2026
School districtMadison County School District

Cities and areas
Homes and loan limits
Down payment help
Property taxes
Storms and insurance
Jobs, schools, commute
Parks and local favorites
Moving checklist
Buying or refinancing

Madison, Greenville, Lee and the country in between

Besides the city of Madison, Greenville and Lee are incorporated towns. Pinetta, Cherry Lake, Hanson, Lovett, Sirmans and Hamburg are the county’s other communities, and its northern edge borders Brooks and Lowndes counties in Georgia.

Madison County was created on December 26, 1827, and named for James Madison, the fourth U.S. president.

Madison

Madison, the county seat, sits on US 90 about 56 miles east of Tallahassee and 52 miles from Lake City, with I-10 about 4 miles south of town.

Downtown has Four Freedoms Park, with its gazebo and monument, and a historic district where guided walking tours stop at the historic markers. Tri-County Electric Cooperative and North Florida College are both based in town.

Greenville

Greenville incorporated as a town in 1907. US 221 runs through the center of town and US 90 passes along its north side. Ray Charles lived here with his mother as a boy, and his statue stands in Greenville Park.

Lee

Lee incorporated in 1909 and goes by the motto “Little but Proud.” US 90 runs through the north side of town, 8 miles from Madison and 21 miles from Live Oak, and I-10’s Exit 262 at CR 255 is about 3 miles south. Madison Blue Spring State Park carries a Lee address.

Cherry Lake

Cherry Lake is an unincorporated community on a 405-acre lake named for the native cherry trees along its edge. In the early 1930s the federal Resettlement Administration bought 12,420 acres here for the Cherry Lake Farm New Deal project; 132 of a planned 500 homesteads were built. 4-H bought 12 acres beside the lake in 1937 and opened a camp there.

Buying a home in Madison County, and how the loan limits work

Madison County is mostly small towns and open country. The city of Madison has its downtown historic district around Four Freedoms Park and the 1912 courthouse, Greenville has US 221 through its center and US 90 along its north side, Lee is 8 miles from Madison on US 90, and Pinetta, Cherry Lake, Hanson, Lovett, Sirmans and Hamburg are spread across the rest of the map.

Sales here are thin, sometimes only a couple in a month, so the published sale figures can swing wildly and wouldn’t tell you much about a particular house. Tell us the address and we’ll pull the comparable sales for it. If you’re renting in Madison County, call 888-601-8344 and we’ll compare what you pay a landlord with a mortgage payment on a house you’d want to own.

The FHA and Conventional limits for Madison County are in the table below. HUD and FHFA reset them every January, and the table updates on its own, so the limit you see is the one in force.

Loan limits in Madison County for 2026	Maximum loan
FHA, single-family home	$541,287
FHA, two-unit home	$693,050
FHA, three-unit home	$837,700
FHA, four-unit home	$1,041,125
Conventional, single-family home	$832,750

HUD sets the FHA limits and FHFA sets the Conventional limits for every county, and both change each January. This table refreshes itself from HUD's published figures.

As an example of FHA’s minimum: on a $200,000 purchase, 3.5% down is $7,000, and the county’s SHIP purchase assistance or a statewide program can cover part or all of it. Call or text us at 954-816-8820 and we’ll work that math on the actual house and the actual program.

Down payment help for Madison County buyers

Madison County’s own SHIP plan includes purchase assistance, and Florida Housing’s statewide programs work on homes anywhere in the county. Every program has its own income limits, and SHIP money is budgeted a year at a time.

Madison County SHIP Purchase Assistance

Madison County’s SHIP Local Housing Assistance Plan offers purchase assistance with or without rehab for very low, low and moderate income buyers. It’s a 0% deferred loan held as a second mortgage, forgiven in equal steps each year over its term while you own and live in the home, and the plan caps the sales price. A third-party SHIP administrator runs the day-to-day work for the county.

Madison’s county website doesn’t keep a SHIP page, and the award amounts and price cap come from a plan the county rewrites every three years, so the useful question is what the administrator is funding for your house on the day you’re ready. We put that question to county administration on SW Pinckney Street at (850) 973-3179 before you sign. Call 888-601-8344 and we’ll handle it.

Madison County SHIP plan

Madison County SHIP repair and rebuild help

The same plan funds demolition and reconstruction as a deferred loan forgiven over time, plus disaster assistance grants and emergency repair grants for very low and low income owners.

Each strategy draws on the same yearly SHIP budget. If storm damage or an old roof is holding up a sale or refinance, call 888-601-8344 and we’ll ask the county which repair strategy has money for your house.

Madison County SHIP plan

Florida Hometown Heroes (statewide)

Hometown Heroes is Florida Housing’s program for people working full time for a Florida-based employer in health care, K-12 schools, first response, public safety, the courts or licensed child care. Active-duty military qualify through any employer, and veterans, Reserve and Guard members qualify with full-time work for a Florida-based employer, whether that’s in Madison or a commute away.

It puts a 0% second for down payment and closing costs behind a 30-year fixed FHA, VA, USDA or Conventional first mortgage. There’s no monthly payment on the second, and you repay it when you sell, refinance or pay off the home, or stop living in it; it isn’t forgiven. Expect a homebuyer education course, which you can take online, and apply through a participating lender or broker.

Because Florida Housing assistance is a once-in-a-lifetime benefit, use it on the Madison County house you’ll want to stay in, with the right lender behind it. Florida Housing reserves funds one loan at a time and sets limits by county, so text or call 954-816-8820 and we’ll check Hometown Heroes for your Madison County purchase.

Official program page

Florida Housing seconds: FL Assist, FL HLP, HFA Preferred

FL Assist is a 0% deferred second with no monthly payment that comes due when you sell, refinance, transfer or move out, paired with a Florida Housing first mortgage: FHA, VA, USDA, or the Conventional HFA Preferred and HFA Advantage loans. The HLP second comes with a small fixed monthly payment, spread over 30 years. HFA Advantage PLUS sits a second behind a Freddie Mac Conventional first and forgives it over 5 years while the Madison County house is where you live.

Florida Housing considers a Madison County buyer first-time after 3 years with no primary residence owned, and veterans with a DD-214 can be exempt. Call 888-601-8344 and we’ll tell you which of these stacks best with Madison’s SHIP money on your purchase.

Official program page

For a Madison County buyer, FHA 100% financing pairs a 96.5% FHA first mortgage with a down payment assistance second that can cover the 3.5% down, so it doesn’t have to come from your bank account. Call us as soon as you’ve picked a house in Madison, Greenville or Lee and we’ll line up which program pays it that week.

Homestead, tax discounts and the Madison courthouse offices

File for the Florida homestead exemption on the home you live in. It cuts as much as $50,000 from the taxable value: the first $25,000 applies to all property taxes, and the additional amount to non-school taxes.

Homestead status is set by who owns and occupies the home on January 1, so the application is due March 1 of the year after you buy, and filing late can cost you a year without the exemption. After that, Save Our Homes holds yearly increases in your assessed value to 3% or the change in CPI, whichever is lower, and portability lets you carry some or all of that difference to your next Florida homestead.

The Madison County Tax Collector gives the biggest discount for paying in November, a smaller one each month through February, and the full amount is due by March 31. Unpaid real estate taxes go delinquent April 1 with a 3% penalty, and installment plan applications are due April 30. With an escrow account, your lender pays the bill for you.

Madison County Property Appraiser

Homestead and property search: madisonpa.com

Tax bills and payments: Madison County Tax Collector, 229 SW Pinckney Street, Room 102, Madison, (850) 973-6136

Idalia, Helene and insuring a Madison County home

Madison County took serious hurricane damage two years running. When Hurricane Idalia hit in late August of 2023, 11,467 customers, nearly 100% of the county, lost power. Nearly every road was closed at one point and property damage was county-wide, according to the National Weather Service in Tallahassee.

Hurricane Helene followed in late September of 2024, and its eastern eyewall did most of its structural damage in a band that included Madison County and the city of Madison, with trees and power lines down across the area, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Before you write an offer in Madison County, check the flood zone on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center. Homes inside a FEMA high-risk zone, one starting with A or V, need flood coverage to close with a federally backed mortgage, and the county’s Building Department posts its own flood information page.
Price the homeowners policy early, especially on an older house, and ask whether a wind mitigation report would lower it.
Look up your evacuation zone on Florida’s Know Your Zone site.
Sign up for Alert Madison through Madison County Emergency Management, 229 SW Pinckney Street, Suite 219, (850) 973-3698.

Work, schools and the roads in and out

Tri-County Electric Cooperative is headquartered at 2862 W US 90 in Madison, North Florida College’s campus is in town, and the Florida Gulf & Atlantic Railroad runs freight through Madison. The Madison Collection, a state photo archive, holds about 1,000 images of the county’s past.

Schools and college

The Madison County School District, run by the District School Board of Madison County, has its office at 210 NE Duval Avenue, 850-973-5022. Ask the district which schools serve an address you’re considering.

North Florida College, part of the Florida College System, serves a six-county district from its Madison campus: Hamilton, Jefferson, Lafayette, Madison, Suwannee and Taylor.

Getting around

I-10 crosses the county east to west, with an exit at CR 255 near Lee. US 19/27 (the Florida-Georgia Parkway), US 90 and US 221 also run through, along with SR 6, 14, 53 and 145.

Madison had an Amtrak station, the only passenger rail stop in the county, until service ended in 2005.

Blue Spring, the Four Freedoms and other local favorites

Madison Blue Spring State Park

This first-magnitude spring, about 82 feet wide and 25 feet deep, bubbles up into a limestone basin on the west bank of the Withlacoochee River, one of relatively few alluvial streams in Florida, and its run flows about 150 feet to the river. People paddle, tube, fish, picnic under the pavilion and cave dive here. The park is at 8300 N.E. State Road 6, Lee.

Go early on weekends and holidays, when the park can fill up and close the gate for a few hours, and check the park page before you drive out, since swimming at the spring is sometimes closed.

Four Freedoms Park

Madison’s motto, “The City of Four Freedoms,” comes from Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1941 Four Freedoms speech. The monument in Four Freedoms Park honors Capt. Colin P. Kelly, who flew the first American B-17 shot down in combat, on December 10, 1941.

Courthouse, Livingston House and the steam engine

The Madison County Courthouse dates to around 1912 and its historic courtroom is still in use. Livingston House, from around 1836, is Madison’s oldest home, and the Chamber lists a steam engine that was in service in 1919 and still runs.

Chamber events

The Madison County Chamber’s calendar includes Hometown Halloween, Light Up Madison and the North Florida Pro Rodeo. Check the Chamber’s site for the dates.

Moving to Madison County: your first-month checklist

Electric: Tri-County Electric Cooperative is headquartered at 2862 W US 90, Madison, 850-973-2285. Ask the seller which provider serves the address and get the account in your name before closing.
Driver license: the Madison County Tax Collector at 229 SW Pinckney Street, Room 102, handles new licenses, learner’s permits, renewals and replacements, (850) 973-6136.
Homestead: send your application to the Madison County Property Appraiser by March 1 of the year after closing.
County offices: 229 SW Pinckney Street, Suite 219, Madison, (850) 973-3179, or madisoncountyfl.com. The county posts a Fair Housing page and its flood information through the Building Department.
Storm alerts: register for Alert Madison with Emergency Management.
Schools: Madison County School District office, 210 NE Duval Avenue, 850-973-5022.

Buying or refinancing in Madison County with AAA Capital Funding

Buying a home

FHA is the loan most of our Madison County buyers use: 3.5% down, flexible credit guidelines, and it pairs with the county’s SHIP purchase assistance and Florida Housing’s programs. Eligible veterans can buy with a VA loan and nothing down, and we also close Conventional, Hometown Heroes and FHA 100% financing loans here.

AAA Capital Funding has been a licensed Florida mortgage broker since 1997 and lends statewide in all 67 Florida counties, Greenville and Lee as much as Orlando or Tampa. We shop your loan across multiple wholesale lenders and tell you what you qualify for before you start touring houses.

Refinancing the home you have

A refinance can lower your monthly payment, pull cash out for storm repairs or a new roof after Idalia and Helene, pay off higher-interest debt, or buy a co-owner off the title.

Call 888-601-8344 and we’ll show you the payment you’d have, the cash you’d walk away with and the closing costs together, so the decision is easy to make on your Madison County home.

Madison County questions we hear a lot

What is the FHA loan limit in Madison County, Florida?

The current FHA limits for one to four units in Madison County, along with the one-unit Conventional limit, are in the table on this page. HUD and FHFA reset Madison County’s figures each January, and the table updates itself.

Is there down payment assistance in Madison County?

Yes. Madison County’s SHIP plan offers purchase assistance scaled to income, and Hometown Heroes, FL Assist and HFA Preferred also work here. SHIP money depends on each year’s funding and the award sizes change with the plan, so we confirm both before you write an offer.

When do I file for homestead in Madison County?

With the Madison County Property Appraiser by March 1 of the year after your closing. Ownership on January 1 sets the year, so whenever you close, the deadline is the March 1 that follows the next January 1.

Can you swim at Madison Blue Spring?

It’s a well-known swimming hole and cave-diving spot on the Withlacoochee, but the state park closes the spring to swimming at times and can fill up on weekends and holidays, so check the park page before you drive out.

Do I need flood insurance in Madison County?

Your lender will require it if the house is in a FEMA high-risk flood zone. Outside those zones it’s your call, but after Idalia knocked out power to nearly the whole county in 2023, get insurance quotes before you lock in a price.

Sources for this guide (24)

AAA Capital Funding, Inc. NMLS #374739. Jason J. Sarji, NMLS #374700. Licensed Florida mortgage broker serving Madison County and all 67 Florida counties since 1997. Equal Housing Opportunity.

You work with the same person from start to finish, in every county in Florida.

We've been closing Florida loans since 1997, in all 67 counties. If you want to know what's possible in Madison County, call 888-601-8344 or text 954-816-8820. One call, under ten minutes. No application needed to start.

Get Started Call 888-601-8344 Text 954-816-8820

AAA Capital Funding, Inc. · NMLS #374739 · Jason J. Sarji, NMLS #374700