[2] A largely rural and agricultural county, Winneshiek County has a rich cultural history from Czech, Slovak, English, Irish, German, Swiss, and Norwegian immigrants that have settled within its boundaries.

Like much of Iowa during the 1980s it witnessed a population loss, dropping to 20,847 according to the 1990 United States Census.

As of 2010, the Winneshiek County government had a total of 785 employees and staff.

Like all Iowa counties, Winneshiek is governed by an elected partisan Board of Supervisors.

Winneshiek County's Board of Supervisors has five members elected by single-member districts of equal population.

Other elected officials are the county attorney, auditor, sheriff and treasurer.

27.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2020 census of Winneshiek County.