Oelwein is a somewhat small city located in the state of Iowa. With a population of 5,788 people and two associated neighborhoods, Oelwein is the 69th largest community in Iowa. Oelwein has an unusually large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic cities.

The city is relatively quiet, having a combination of lower population density and few of those groups of people who have a tendency to be noisy. For example, Oelwein has relatively fewer families with younger children, and/or college students. Combined, this makes Oelwein a pretty quiet place to live overall. If you like quiet, you will probably enjoy it here.

Oelwein is a small city, and as such doesn't have a public transit system that people use to get to and from their jobs every day.

The education level of Oelwein citizens, measured as those with bachelor's degrees or advanced degrees, is similar to the national average for all American cities and towns. 17.47% of adults 25 and older in Oelwein have a college degree.

The per capita income in Oelwein in 2022 was $30,388, which is low income relative to Iowa, and lower middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $121,552 for a family of four. However, Oelwein contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

The people who call Oelwein home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Oelwein residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Oelwein include German, Irish, English, European, and Norwegian.

The most common language spoken in Oelwein is English. Other important languages spoken here include Italian and Polish.