Wahpeton is a small town where college students really create the town feel and character. So many small towns have lost population over the last 20-30 years that having the local college presence in the Wahpeton area, with all of the energy of the students filling area dorms and apartments each fall, really helps Wahpeton maintain a good economy.
Residents of the city have the good fortune of having one of the shortest daily commutes compared to the rest of the country. On average, they spend only 16.37 minutes getting to work every day.
Being a small city, Wahpeton does not have a public transit system used by locals to get to and from work.
The population of Wahpeton overall has a level of education that is slightly above the US average for all US cities and towns of 21.84%. Of adults 25 and older in Wahpeton, 22.86% have at least a bachelor's degree.
The per capita income in Wahpeton in 2022 was $33,164, which is low income relative to North Dakota, and middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $132,656 for a family of four. However, Wahpeton contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Wahpeton is a somewhat ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Wahpeton home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Wahpeton residents report their race to be White, followed by Native American. Important ancestries of people in Wahpeton include German, Norwegian, Irish, Russian, and French.
The most common language spoken in Wahpeton is English. Other important languages spoken here include Slavic languages and Spanish.
