Winona County, Minnesota Eviction Risk: Moderate

Winona County scores 5.1/10 (Moderate) across its 16 incorporated places, putting it squarely in the middle third of Minnesota's 87 counties, ranked 31st. That means 30 counties carry higher eviction risk, while 56 are calmer for landlords. For investors, the county is not a red-flag market, but it is not a quiet rural holdout either. Renter share sits at 34.6% of households and average rent is $895 per month, a modest rent level that limits your margin if a tenancy turns adversarial.

The intra-county range, from 4.5 to 5.1, matters more than the headline average. That 1.3-point spread across a county of roughly 39,852 residents means the city you pick inside Winona County will define your actual operating environment more than any county-level figure. A rent burden of 31.2% of income going to housing costs indicates a renter base that is financially stretched, which historically correlates with higher late-payment frequency even in markets with moderate headline scores.

The cities inside Winona County

Winona carries the county's highest risk score at 5.1/10, with a population of roughly 4,037. Its score is a full half-point above the county average, which signals that market-specific dynamics, whether tenant demographics, local enforcement patterns, or housing supply, are pushing conditions above the regional baseline. Goodview comes in second at 4.6/10 with 4,103 residents, making it the other city notably above the county average.

Winona, the county seat and by far the largest city at 26,009 residents, scores 4.8/10, which is actually below the county average despite its size. That relative moderation is meaningful: most of the county's rental inventory is concentrated in Winona, so the portfolio-level experience for a landlord operating there will likely track closer to 4.8 than to the 4.9 blended figure. Lewiston and several smaller communities also sit at 4.8/10, while the county's low end anchors at a score of 4, reflecting genuinely lower-risk pockets. Risk is hyper-local here, and a two-mile difference in location can shift your exposure profile by more than a full point.

State-level laws that apply here

Under Minnesota state law (Minn. Stat. § 504B), landlords in Winona County must serve a 14-day notice for nonpayment of rent and a 30-day notice for a material lease violation or to end a month-to-month tenancy. Once filed, uncontested evictions typically resolve in 30 to 60 days; contested cases can stretch 60 to 150 days. Court filing fees range from $310 to $410, sheriff lockout fees from $55 to $150, and attorney fees from $750 to $3,000, so a contested case can carry total out-of-pocket costs well above $3,000 before accounting for lost rent. Reviewing the Minnesota eviction process in full before filing the first notice is worth the time. Minnesota does not require just cause for eviction and currently has no statewide rent cap, though source-of-income protection is enforced by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, a meaningful screening constraint. For a complete fee breakdown, see Minnesota eviction costs.

With a poverty rate of 15.9% and roughly 34.6% of households renting, Winona County's financial stress indicators are worth weighing alongside the city-level scores in the grid above, since individual market conditions within the county vary more than the blended 4.9 average suggests.