Decorah is a small town with a large college student population. Because of this, there is a real youthful, hip vibe to the place, and much of the life in the town is centered on the college. This has helped Decorah to buck the trend of other small towns that have suffered declining populations over the past 20 to 30 years. Spending by students, and faculty and staff jobs, are a big part of the local economy.
Overall, Decorah’s crime rate is one of the lowest in the nation, which makes a great place to live if safety is an important concern.
One of the benefits of Decorah is that there is very little traffic. The average commute to work is 12.99 minutes, which is substantially less than the national average. Not only does this mean that the drive to work is less aggravating, but noise and pollution levels are lower as a result.
The education level of Decorah ranks among the highest in the nation. Of the 25-and-older adult population in Decorah, 45.02% have at least a bachelor's degree. The typical US community has just 21.84% of its adults holding a bachelor's degree or graduate degree.
The per capita income in Decorah in 2022 was $31,226, which is lower middle income relative to Iowa, and middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $124,904 for a family of four. However, Decorah contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
The people who call Decorah home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Decorah residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Decorah include German, Norwegian, Irish, English, and Czech.
The most common language spoken in Decorah is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and German/Yiddish.
