Decorah is a place where college students are a big part of the character and culture of the town. Small towns have often struggled with declining populations over the past few decades, but the presence of such a large college student population has helped Decorah to fight this trend. Not only does the college population add spending and jobs to local economy, but it also contributes a very tangible, youthful energy to the town.
One of the benefits of Decorah is that there is very little traffic. The average commute to work is 13.03 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.
Decorah is one of the most well-educated cities in the nation. 46.06% of adults in Decorah have at least a bachelor's degree. Compare that to the average community in America, which has just 21.84% with a bachelor's degree or higher.
The per capita income in Decorah in 2022 was $34,046, 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 $136,184 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.
