The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Meldal. The 0.75-square-kilometre (190-acre) village of Meldal has a population (2013) of 628, giving the village a population density of 837 inhabitants per square kilometre (2,170/sq mi). Other villages include Løkken Verk, Bjørnli, and Storås.

The municipality is most renowned for its mining activities at Løkken Verk, being the birthplace of the Orkla mining company, now Orkla Group. It is also home to the annual Storåsfestivalen music festival.

Meldal was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). In 1839, the southern district of Rennebu was separated from Meldal to form a municipality of its own.

The Old Norse form of the name was Meðaldalr. The first element is meðal which means "middle" and the last element is dalr which means "valley" or "dale". The municipality is named this probably because it is located in the middle of the Orkdalen valley. The name was historically spelled Meldalen.

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 5 February 1985. The arms are a combination of a wheel as a symbol for the local industry, and a wheat ear as a symbol for the agriculture. Both items are yellow on a red background.

The Church of Norway has two parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Meldal. It is part of the Deanery (prosti) of Orkdal and the Diocese of Nidaros.

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