Verndale vs Wadena

A side-by-side comparison of Verndale and Wadena: population, income, housing, and more.

Verndale and Wadena are places in Minnesota. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Wadena has the higher population (4,361 vs 479 in Verndale). Wadena has the higher median household income ($45,850 vs $44,083 in Verndale). Wadena has the higher median home value ($158,700 vs $105,500 in Verndale).

Population, income & housing

	Verndale	Wadena
Population	479	4,361
Median age	37.2 yrs	36.5 yrs
Median household income	$44,083	$45,850
Median home value	$105,500	$158,700
Median gross rent	$661	$683
Housing units	248	2,171
Homeownership rate	83.3%	52.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher	13.8%	13.0%
Unemployment rate	2.6%	8.1%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Verndale	Wadena
Population	555 → 479 (-13.7%)	4,158 → 4,361 (+4.9%)
Median household income	$41,071 → $44,083 (+7.3%)	$38,639 → $45,850 (+18.7%)
Median home value	$86,200 → $105,500 (+22.4%)	$100,800 → $158,700 (+57.4%)
Median gross rent	$564 → $661 (+17.2%)	$658 → $683 (+3.8%)

Verndale

Population

555479

Median household income

$41,071$44,083

Median home value

$86,200$105,500

Median gross rent

$564$661

Wadena

Population

4,1584,361

Median household income

$38,639$45,850

Median home value

$100,800$158,700

Median gross rent

$658$683

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Verndale	Wadena
Under 5	6.3%	7.8%
5 to 17	19.0%	16.3%
18 to 24	7.9%	9.6%
25 to 34	13.2%	15.9%
35 to 44	13.4%	7.1%
45 to 54	11.7%	12.3%
55 to 64	11.5%	11.7%
65 to 74	11.7%	10.5%
75 and over	5.4%	8.8%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Verndale	Wadena
White (non-Hispanic)	94.4%	90.5%
Black or African American	2.5%	0.1%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.2%
Asian	0.2%	0.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	2.9%	5.3%
Hispanic or Latino	0.0%	3.9%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Verndale	Wadena
No high school diploma	11.3%	11.5%
High school graduate	33.8%	34.6%
Some college or associate's	41.3%	40.9%
Bachelor's degree	10.6%	8.9%
Graduate or professional degree	3.1%	4.0%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Verndale	Wadena
Drove alone	69.8%	81.5%
Carpooled	9.5%	10.3%
Public transit	0.0%	0.3%
Walked	7.2%	0.8%
Bicycle	0.0%	4.3%
Worked from home	6.8%	2.3%
Other means	6.8%	0.5%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Verndale	Wadena
1-unit, detached	82.3%	56.3%
1-unit, attached	0.8%	2.8%
2 to 4 units	0.0%	9.6%
5 to 19 units	3.6%	16.5%
20 or more units	0.0%	14.7%
Mobile home & other	13.3%	0.0%

Poverty & households

	Verndale	Wadena
Poverty rate	13.6%	14.5%
Average household size	2.11	2.09
Mean commute (minutes)	31	15
Median year structure built	1961	1963