Architectural debris dating to the 4th century AD lay at various locations of the town, as it was a transitory zone of Upper Moesia; travel and postal stations are among the finds.

[13] Due to depopulation and economic considerations some small numbers of Albanians were allowed to stay and return though not to their previous settlements and instead were designated concentrated village clusters in the Toplica, Masurica and Jablanica areas.

[10][11] This was due to a local Ottoman Albanian commander Sahit Pasha from the Jablanica area negotiating on good terms with Prince Milan and thereby guaranteeing their presence.

[10][12] Already in 1900, a group of prominent residents of the Upper Jablanica region officially applied to the government for Medveđa to be declared a town (varoš).

Only after the fourth try by the local population, Medveđa was declared varošica ("small town") by King Alexander I of Yugoslavia on 31 December 1921.

In 1992, the Albanians in the area organized a referendum in which they voted that Medveđa, Preševo and Bujanovac should join the self-declared assembly of the Republic of Kosova.

On 26 November 2017, the President of Albania Ilir Meta made a historical visit to Medveđa, municipality with Albanian ethnic minority.

The following table gives a preview of total number of registered people employed in legal entities per their core activity (as of 2022):[27] Seats in the municipality parliament won in the 2012 local elections:[28]