Winona County, Minnesota

Winona County is a county in Minnesota, United States, in the driftless bluff country along the upper Mississippi River in the state’s southeastern corner. It had a population of 49,671 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate of 50,523. The county covers 642 square miles (1,660 km2) — 626 square miles of land and 15 square miles of water — centred near 43°59′N 91°46′W.

Winona is the county seat, and its postal code is 55987. The county contains 12 incorporated cities, three census-designated places and 16 unincorporated communities, and it observes Central time.

Towns & Villages in Winona County

Winona, the county seat and largest city, sits directly on the Mississippi River and anchors the county’s population. The remaining cities are small river- and farm-trade towns strung along U.S. 14, U.S. 61 and the Whitewater and Root river valleys; most of the unincorporated communities below are crossroads hamlets with a church, elevator or former rail depot rather than a platted downtown.

Minneiska is partly in neighboring Wabasha County, and La Crescent, sometimes listed with Winona County, is mostly in Houston County; both are omitted from the table above for that reason.

ZIP Codes

• 55987 — Winona (also serves Goodview and Minnesota City)
• 55972 — St. Charles
• 55952 — Lewiston

The smaller cities, CDPs and unincorporated communities in this profile do not carry their own dedicated ZIP code in the sources checked for this update; mail for most of them routes through the nearest post town above.

Geography

Winona County sits in Minnesota’s driftless area, a hilly, unglaciated landscape of limestone bluffs cut by narrow river valleys rather than the flat farmland typical of much of the rest of the state. The Mississippi River forms the county’s eastern boundary, and the Whitewater and Root rivers drain the interior uplands. Of the county’s 642 square miles, 626 are land and 15 are water, a 2.4 percent water share concentrated in the Mississippi’s backwater lakes and sloughs.

Winona County borders Wabasha County to the northwest, Olmsted County to the west, Fillmore County to the southwest, and Houston County to the south. Across the Mississippi River to the east lie La Crosse, Trempealeau and Buffalo counties in Wisconsin.

Demographics

Winona County had 49,671 residents at the 2020 census, rising to an estimated 50,523 by 2025. Winona itself, with 25,948 residents, holds more than half the county’s population; Goodview, an inner suburb of Winona, is the second largest at 4,158. Minnesota’s 2023 ACS median household income is $85,086; Winona County, anchored by a university and college town rather than heavy industry, runs close to that figure in county-level income surveys. Population density works out to roughly 79 residents per square mile of land, concentrated around the city of Winona along the river.

Economy & Local Life

Winona’s economy centers on higher education, health care and light manufacturing rather than row-crop farming, unlike most of southern Minnesota. Fastenal Company, the industrial-supply distributor founded in Winona, is the county’s largest private employer with more than 1,600 local staff; Winona State University and Winona Health each employ close to a thousand people. Winona State University and Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, both based in the city of Winona, give the county a college-town character that shapes its housing, retail and rental markets. Away from the city, dairy and cash-grain farming continue on the ridgetops between the bluffs. The county’s best-known annual event is the Great River Shakespeare Festival, staged in Winona each summer.

History

Winona County was organized on February 23, 1854, carved from parts of Fillmore and Wabasha counties in the territorial period before Minnesota statehood. Its name comes from a Dakota legend about a woman named Winona, said to be related to Chief Wabasha, who leapt to her death from a bluff above Lake Pepin rather than marry a man she did not love. The city of Winona grew as a Mississippi River lumber and grain port in the second half of the 19th century, and that river-trade history still shapes its downtown grid and warehouse district today.

Getting There

Interstate 90 crosses the southern part of the county, and U.S. Routes 14 and 61 both run through the city of Winona, linking it north along the Mississippi and west into Olmsted County. Amtrak’s Empire Builder stops daily at Winona on its Chicago–Seattle/Portland route, and Winona Municipal Airport handles general aviation.

• Rochester, Minnesota — about 40 miles west
• La Crosse, Wisconsin — about 30 miles southeast
• Minneapolis–Saint Paul — about 110 miles northwest

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Winona County?
It is in southeastern Minnesota, along the upper Mississippi River, bordering Wisconsin across the river.

What is the population of Winona County?
It had a population of 49,671 at the 2020 census, estimated at 50,523 in 2025.

What is the Winona postcode?
55987.

What is the county seat of Winona County?
Winona is the county seat.

What counties border Winona County?
Wabasha, Olmsted, Fillmore and Houston counties in Minnesota, plus La Crosse, Trempealeau and Buffalo counties in Wisconsin across the Mississippi River.

When was Winona County established?
It was organized on February 23, 1854, from parts of Fillmore and Wabasha counties.

Which universities are in Winona County?
Winona State University and Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, both in the city of Winona.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Minnesota.