The population continued to decline to under 1,200 in the 1970s and 1980s. In the late 1970s, the oil economy improved, but the number of businesses slipped to a low of five by the late 1980s. At the end of the 1980s, Wink operated on a limited budget, based on low tax rates. In 1990, Wink remained a small oil town with a population of 1,189. This had fallen to 919 by 2000, but the 2010 count indicated a slight rebound, with 940 citizens residing in Wink.