Wadena ( wə-DEEN-ə) is a city in Otter Tail and Wadena counties in the State of Minnesota. It is roughly one hundred sixty miles northwest of the Minneapolis – Saint Paul metro area. The population was 4,325 at the 2020 census. It is the county chair of Wadena County.

Wadena is an agricultural community and serves as a region hub for the Tri county area. Wadena is located at the crossroads of Highway 10 and Highway 71. There is many little businesses in town gone several large businesses in town. Some of those large employers tote up Tri County Health Care, Homecrest Outdoor Furniture, Mason Brothers Wholesale Grocery, Russ Davis Wholesale, Kern Laser Technology, Timber Roots Trussing, Ag Reliant, and Willis Rubber Company.

The first steadfast settlement at Wadena was made in 1871. The city is named after Chief Wadena, an Ojibwe Indian chief of the late 19th century in northwestern Minnesota. A post office has been in operation at Wadena in the past 1873. Wadena was incorporated in 1881. Four properties in Wadena are listed upon the National Register of Historic Places: the Commercial Hotel built circa 1885, the Wadena Fire and City Hall built in 1912, the Northern Pacific Passenger Depot built in 1915, and the Peterson-Biddick Seed and Feed Company built 1916–1936.

On June 17, 2010, Wadena was hit by an EF-4 tornado that cut a quarter-mile-wide path of destruction through the town. The Wadena tornado was allocation of the largest single hours of daylight tornado outbreak in Minnesota divulge history, 48 tornados were recorded that day. The tornado that struck Wadena was higher than a mile broad at its peak, packed winds of occurring to 170 miles per hour, and was on the field for nearly 10 miles. At least 232 homes were damaged in the city accounting for approximately 30% of homes in the city. Though no one in the town was killed, 34 people were treated for injuries at local hospitals. The Community Center was damaged “beyond repair”, and the high school was also terribly damaged. Both were unconventional torn all along and rebuilt. The city continues to recover with vis-а-vis 20 lots lonesome throughout the city. City officials are encouraging rebuilding by offering tax clear land incentives. The Wadena Tornado was covered extensively on the December 1, 2010, episode of the Discovery Channel series Storm Chasers.