Wadena is a very small city located in the state of Minnesota. With a population of 4,373 people and just one neighborhood, Wadena is the 175th largest community in Minnesota. Much of the housing stock in Wadena was built relatively recently. The construction of new real estate can often be taken as an indication that the local Wadena economy is robust, and that jobs or other amenities are attracting an influx of new residents. This seems to be the case in Wadena, where the median household income is $75,469.00.
Wadena is a decidedly white-collar city, with fully 91.21% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Wadena is a city of service providers, sales and office workers, and professionals. There are especially a lot of people living in Wadena who work in sales jobs (23.08%), business and financial occupations (19.78%), and healthcare (12.09%).
Of important note, Wadena is also a city of artists. Wadena has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Wadena’s character.
Residents of the city have the good fortune of having one of the shortest daily commutes compared to the rest of the country. On average, they spend only 18.38 minutes getting to work every day.
Wadena is very much a car-oriented city. This is because the population of Wadena isn't large enough or dense enough to support an extensive public transit system. It has a lot of rural roads, and the distance between houses can be quite large, which together tends to discourage walking and bicycling to work. 100.00% of residents commute to work in their own car (and the drive is typically to a job out of town). People also tend to drive out of town for other services as well, such as shopping, doctors appointments, and more.
As is often the case in a small city, Wadena doesn't have a public transportation system that people use for their commute.
The citizens of Wadena are slightly better educated than the national average of 21.84% for all cities and towns, with 24.32% of adults in Wadena having a bachelor's degree or advanced degree.
The per capita income in Wadena in 2022 was $50,350, which is wealthy relative to Minnesota and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $201,400 for a family of four. However, Wadena contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
The people who call Wadena home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Wadena residents report their race to be White. Important ancestries of people in Wadena include German, Norwegian, Polish, Swedish, and Finnish.
The most common language spoken in Wadena is English. Other important languages spoken here include Polish and Italian.
The way a neighborhood looks and feels when you walk or drive around it, from its setting, its buildings, and its flavor, can make all the difference. This neighborhood has some really cool things about the way it looks and feels as revealed by NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research. This might include anything from the housing stock to the types of households living here to how people get around.
It used to be that most Americans lived on the farm, or otherwise made their living from the land, the forests, or the sea. With global trade and an economy increasingly based on providing services to one another, fewer people farm, fish or harvest timber now than at any time in American history. But according to NeighborhoodScout's leading analysis, the neighborhood stands apart from most American neighborhood due to the proportion of its residents still working in these fields. With 4.9% of the workforce so employed, this neighborhood has a greater concentration of such workers than 96.9% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Regardless of the means by which residents commute, this neighborhood has a length of commute that is notable. Residents of the neighborhood have the pleasure of having one of the shortest commutes to work of any neighborhood in America. 61.8% of the residents have a commute time from home to work (one way) of less than fifteen minutes. This is a higher proportion of residents enjoying a short trip to work than NeighborhoodScout found in 96.6% of U.S. neighborhoods. Less time commuting means more time for other things in life.
If your dream is to be able to ride your bike to work each day, look no further than this unique neighborhood. With 3.4% of residents in the neighborhood commuting on a bicycle to and from work daily, this neighborhood has more bicycle commuters than 96.6% of all neighborhoods in the U.S., according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Finnish and Norwegian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 8.0% of this neighborhood's residents have Finnish ancestry and 12.3% have Norwegian ancestry.
is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 1.1% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Greek at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 97.2% of the neighborhoods in America.
How wealthy a neighborhood is, from very wealthy, to middle income, to low income is very formative with regard to the personality and character of a neighborhood. Equally important is the rate of people, particularly children, who live below the federal poverty line. In some wealthy gated communities, the areas immediately surrounding can have high rates of childhood poverty, which indicates other social issues. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals both aspects of income and poverty for this neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in Wadena are lower-middle income, making it a below average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 79.4% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 14.4% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 59.9% of U.S. neighborhoods.
A neighborhood is far different if it is dominated by enlisted military personnel rather than people who earn their living by farming. It is also different if most of the neighbors are clerical support or managers. What is wonderful is the sheer diversity of neighborhoods, allowing you to find the type that fits your lifestyle and aspirations.
In the neighborhood, 36.1% of the working population is employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is executive, management, and professional occupations, with 22.3% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (19.2%), and 17.6% in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants.
The languages spoken by people in this neighborhood are diverse. These are tabulated as the languages people preferentially speak when they are at home with their families. The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 95.4% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Polish and Italian.
Culture is the shared learned behavior of peoples. Undeniably, different ethnicities and ancestries have different cultural traditions, and as a result, neighborhoods with concentrations of residents of one or another ethnicities or ancestries will express those cultures. It is what makes the North End in Boston so fun to visit for the Italian restaurants, bakeries, culture, and charm, and similarly, why people enjoy visiting Chinatown in San Francisco.
In the neighborhood in Wadena, MN, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as German (38.0%). There are also a number of people of Norwegian ancestry (12.3%), and residents who report Finnish roots (8.0%), and some of the residents are also of Irish ancestry (5.9%), along with some English ancestry residents (5.2%), among others.
How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend under 15 minutes commuting one-way to work (61.8% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America.
Here most residents (79.4%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors to get to work (9.8%) . In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.