Gadsden is a city in and the county seat of Etowah County in the State of Alabama, and it is located on the Coosa River about 56 miles (90 km) northeast of Birmingham, Alabama and 90 miles (145 km) southwest of Chattanooga, Tennessee. It is the primary city of the Gadsden Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a population of 103,931. As of the U.S.