County Maps US

Wadena County, Minnesota

A county in Minnesota, ranked 57 of 87 by population.

CountyFIPS 27159

Within Minnesota
Wadena County, highlighted, with the areas around it. Boundaries generalised from the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file; neighbour fills carry no data. The dot marks Wadena, the county seat, located via the 2025 Census Gazetteer.

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Population
14,388
+264 (+1.9%) since 2020
Land area
536.3
square miles. A further 1.3% of the total area is water
Population density
26.8
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Wadena
Seat of county government.
Established
1858
167 years ago
Largest city
Wadena city
Population 4,227 for the whole place, which extends beyond this county.

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; Wikidata (CC0), Wikidata. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

Satellite view

Aerial imagery of Wadena County with its boundary drawn on top. A map shows you the shape; this shows you what is inside it, and which side of the line a place falls on.

Aerial view of Wadena County, Minnesota from the USGS National Map, with its boundary outlined
Imagery: USGS National Map, USGS Imagery Only, public domain, requested from USGS by your browser when you reach this point on the page, at 575 by 800 pixels. The boundary is the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file, reprojected to Web Mercator to match the imagery. You can also open the USGS National Map viewer.

Where Wadena County ranks

Position among the 87 counties of Minnesota, and among all 3,144 US counties and county-equivalents. Computed from the figures on this page.

MeasureValueIn MinnesotaNationally
Population14,38857th of 872,130th of 3,144
Land area536.3 sq mi64th of 871,949th of 3,144
Population density26.8 per sq mi46th of 872,017th of 3,144
Median household income$61,46783rd of 871,935th of 3,143

Full data for Wadena County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population14,388Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202014,124Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?14,070Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area536.3 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area7.0 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area543.3 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?26.8 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$61,467American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$173,000American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age40.0American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households6,081American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units7,021American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates, released 29 January 2026. Population density is computed here, not published: it divides the Vintage 2025 population estimate by the 2025 Gazetteer land area, which are two different Census products. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

How the population changed

The Census Bureau publishes the components behind an estimate, not just the total. For the year to July 2025:

Births minus deaths
-55
186 births, 241 deaths
Net migration
+88
More people moved in than moved out.

Source: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

The 5 areas bordering Wadena County

Ordered by the length of the border actually shared, which the Census Bureau publishes in its county adjacency file and which no other county reference presents.

Bordering areaStateShared borderPopulation
Cass CountyMinnesota34 mi31,430
Otter Tail CountyMinnesota24 mi61,041
Todd CountyMinnesota20 mi26,060
Hubbard CountyMinnesota18 mi22,369
Becker CountyMinnesota6.0 mi35,497

Source: US Census Bureau, County Adjacency File, 2025 County Adjacency File, released 15 September 2025. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

All 87 counties of Minnesota

Open the interactive Minnesota county map, or jump straight to any of them.

Data on this page last rebuilt 30 August 2026. How these figures are produced.