Buena Vista County vs Winneshiek County

A side-by-side comparison of Buena Vista County and Winneshiek County: population, income, housing, and more.

Buena Vista County and Winneshiek County are counties in Iowa. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Buena Vista County has the higher population (20,684 vs 19,972 in Winneshiek County). Winneshiek County has the higher median household income ($75,652 vs $66,564 in Buena Vista County). Winneshiek County has the higher median home value ($239,000 vs $146,900 in Buena Vista County).

Population, income & housing

	Buena Vista County	Winneshiek County
Population	20,684	19,972
Median age	35.7 yrs	42.2 yrs
Median household income	$66,564	$75,652
Median home value	$146,900	$239,000
Median gross rent	$835	$800
Housing units	8,241	9,011
Homeownership rate	72.5%	76.4%
Bachelor's degree or higher	22.1%	31.5%
Unemployment rate	5.0%	2.3%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Buena Vista County	Winneshiek County
Population	20,058 → 20,684 (+3.1%)	20,262 → 19,972 (-1.4%)
Median household income	$57,125 → $66,564 (+16.5%)	$65,263 → $75,652 (+15.9%)
Median home value	$115,600 → $146,900 (+27.1%)	$177,300 → $239,000 (+34.8%)
Median gross rent	$706 → $835 (+18.3%)	$702 → $800 (+14.0%)

Buena Vista County

Population

20,05820,684

Median household income

$57,125$66,564

Median home value

$115,600$146,900

Median gross rent

$706$835

Winneshiek County

Population

20,26219,972

Median household income

$65,263$75,652

Median home value

$177,300$239,000

Median gross rent

$702$800

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Buena Vista County	Winneshiek County
Under 5	7.0%	4.6%
5 to 17	19.7%	14.3%
18 to 24	10.1%	13.9%
25 to 34	11.9%	9.0%
35 to 44	12.3%	10.3%
45 to 54	10.8%	10.5%
55 to 64	12.1%	14.7%
65 to 74	9.4%	13.1%
75 and over	6.6%	9.5%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Buena Vista County	Winneshiek County
White (non-Hispanic)	53.5%	93.8%
Black or African American	3.1%	0.7%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.3%
Asian	10.0%	0.6%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	2.5%	0.0%
Some other race	0.3%	0.2%
Two or more races	1.9%	1.5%
Hispanic or Latino	28.6%	3.0%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Buena Vista County	Winneshiek County
No high school diploma	19.5%	4.6%
High school graduate	31.8%	31.8%
Some college or associate's	26.7%	32.1%
Bachelor's degree	15.1%	21.3%
Graduate or professional degree	7.0%	10.3%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Buena Vista County	Winneshiek County
Drove alone	69.9%	71.3%
Carpooled	17.3%	5.7%
Public transit	0.0%	0.1%
Walked	5.9%	10.3%
Bicycle	0.3%	0.4%
Worked from home	6.3%	11.5%
Other means	0.3%	0.6%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Buena Vista County	Winneshiek County
1-unit, detached	75.1%	82.0%
1-unit, attached	2.9%	2.0%
2 to 4 units	6.2%	7.5%
5 to 19 units	9.9%	4.5%
20 or more units	3.7%	1.9%
Mobile home & other	2.3%	2.0%

Poverty & households

	Buena Vista County	Winneshiek County
Poverty rate	8.2%	7.9%
Average household size	2.61	2.21
Mean commute (minutes)	15	19
Median year structure built	1963	1960