Villa went ahead four minutes after the break when Gabriel Agbonlahor nodded home at close range following an Ashley Young corner.
Young then doubled Villa's advantage from the penalty spot after he was brought down by Hendry Thomas.
James McCarthy drove home a deflected late effort, but Villa held firm.
Even so, it was a nervous final 10 minutes for Villa, with Franco Di Santo, Hugo Rodallega and substitute Ben Watson all going close in the final minutes.
Buoyed by Saturday's 1-0 victory against Manchester City, in which Darren Bent's winning goal hinted that the £24m it took to prise him from Sunderland may prove money well spent, Villa have the look of a team on the up.
Yet their inability to keep a clean sheet, combined with a failure to translate a dominant first-half phase into tangible reward, suggests the claret-and-blue revival retains a certain fragility.
Then again, Villa manager Gerard Houllier need only consider the hosts' plight to realise that life could be considerably worse.
Wigan remain entrenched in the bottom three, and the home fans were quick to vent their anger at club manager Roberto Martinez come the final whistle.
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