Winona is also a major college town with a large number of people who are 18 years or older and attending college. As is often the case in college towns, the many students that live in Winona have a strong influence on the local culture and entertainment scene, which may seem dormant by comparison in the summer months when much of the student population is away. In the fall, the return of students has a reinvigorating effect on the community. Because colleges are lasting institutions, they have a stabilizing effect on the economy by providing direct local benefits such as jobs for faculty and staff and spending by students. Winona’s economy is one such example of this.
Compared to the rest of the country, citizens of Winona spend much less time in their cars: on average, their commute to work is only 15.29 minutes. This also means that noise and pollution levels in the city are less than they would otherwise be.
The education level of Winona citizens is very high relative to the national average among all cities (21.84%): 34.77% of adults in Winona have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree.
The per capita income in Winona in 2022 was $34,197, which is lower middle income relative to Minnesota, and middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $136,788 for a family of four. However, Winona contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Winona is a somewhat ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Winona home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Winona residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Winona include German, Norwegian, Irish, Polish, and English.
The most common language spoken in Winona is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Miao/Hmong.
