Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Yes, by almost any measure. Winona Lake earns an A+, 8th of 585 graded towns in Indiana. It reports less crime per resident than 87% of U.S. towns, CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 80% of the country, and it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 90% of U.S. towns. Its lowest mark, a B−, is in cost of living. Winona Lake’s trail density is 3.5 miles per square mile, above both the Indiana town median (0.2) and the median of U.S. towns (0.4). Winona Lake is home to Grace College and Theological Seminary. Only 66 of Indiana’s 1,098 towns score higher on the outdoors.
Where Winona Lake beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Indiana), ordered by how far Winona Lake is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 300 in 1920, 5,053 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1910 and 2 maps from 1957 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Winona Lake, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Winona Lake.
Winona Lake is shaped by its college students, has less tooth loss than most of Indiana and sees little violent crime.
12 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Winona Lake Trails Park, 139 acres with 7.6 miles of trail. More trails than any other town in Indiana.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Winona Lake Trails Park | 7.6 mi | 139 |
| 2. Winona Lake Park | 1 mi | 12 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Violent crime is rare: 3 reported in 2025, 0.6 per 1,000 residents.
At 2.9 per 1,000 residents, Winona Lake’s property crime rate is where Indiana’s towns sit at 8.6 and U.S. towns at 9.9. Winona Lake’s violent crime rate is 0.6 per 1,000 residents.
| Winona Lake | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.9 per 1,000 residents | 8.6 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.6 per 1,000 residents | 1.4 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its widest gap with Indiana is tooth loss: 9.7% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 15.4% statewide.
8.9% of Winona Lake adults have diabetes. Winona Lake beats the Indiana average on 16 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 31% of Winona Lake adults have high blood pressure.
| Winona Lake | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 15% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 8.9% | 13% | 12% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 16% | 16% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 39% | 35% |
| What stands out | Winona Lake | IN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 9.7% | 15.4% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 5.7% | 8.4% |
| Fewer adults treating high blood pressure | 72.9% | 77.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 81% of U.S. communities. Since 1993, 6 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Winona Lake.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The average commute for its 1,927 working residents takes 13.6 minutes, against 24.1 across Indiana.
The average trip to work in Winona Lake is 14 minutes. Most working residents leave Winona Lake for work: only 9% work in town. Jobs based in Winona Lake fell to 1,215 in 2023, 101 fewer than in 2013.
| Winona Lake | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 14 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 8% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $82,000 | $71,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 8.7% | 7.8% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Winona Lake has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 17° and about 32 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The typical Winona Lake home is worth about $307,000, up 5.4% in a year, 19% above the Indiana typical home. 62% of households own their home in Winona Lake.
| Winona Lake | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 62% | 76% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,132 a month | $946 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
2 within 15 miles of the center of Winona Lake
College town 21 of every 100 Winona Lake residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Indiana.
Where Winona Lake’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Town in Indiana, United States
Winona Lake is a town in Wayne Township, Kosciusko County, in the U.S. state of Indiana, and is a major suburb of Warsaw. As of the 2020 census, Winona Lake had a population of 5,053.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Winona Lake.
| Town | IN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winona Lake | #8 | A+ | B− | A | B+ | A− |
| Warsaw | #377 | B− | B | C− | B+ | C |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Winona Lake grades A+ overall, better than 98% of U.S. towns and #8 of 585 in Indiana. It grades A− for health, A for safety and B+ for schools, and has the most trail per square mile in the state.
That is 4.1 years of the area's median household income ($75,317 across the Warsaw, IN area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.
2 notable people were born here, including Nic Moore and J. Robert Nelson.