Parkersburg, WV — Momentum Score, Home Values & Best-For

All states·West Virginia·Parkersburg

Wood County · Parkersburg-Vienna · population 28,834

AffordabilityShrinking
Parkersburg, WV
Image: Wikipedia · Parkersburg, West Virginia
OverviewCost of livingMoving guide
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58
Stable
Momentum score · 0–100

Where Parkersburg stands

At or near all-time high. population shrinking 0.8% per year.

Median home $147,532
1-year +0.1%
5-yr CAGR +4.4%
vs 5-yr peak -0.9%
Population -0.8%/yr

Home value trajectory · last 10 years

Zillow ZHVI · monthly
peak 2025-02$148k$86k$109k$132k$155k201620182020202220242026

Lifestyle scores

🚶
Walkability
32/100
Very car-dependent
Estimated from population density. Higher = denser, more amenities within walking distance.
🚉
Public transit
15/100
Transit limited
Curated list of major US transit systems + population-based estimate. Higher = real subway/rail/bus options.
💻
Remote work fit
64/100
Workable for remote workers
Composite of city size, housing cost, state tax structure, and region's remote-work track record.

Scores are heuristic estimates from population density, state, and known transit/walkable cities. Not based on a paid Walk Score / Transit Score API — see methodology for the formula.

Rent vs buy

Price-to-rent ratio: 12.7
Buy

At a 12.7 price-to-rent ratio, buying generally beats renting in Parkersburg on a long-enough horizon. The headline math is that one year of mortgage payments approximates 12.7 years of rent — well below the 15+ threshold where ownership starts to dominate.

How the momentum score breaks down

methodology →
Home YoY
50 · w22%
Home 5-yr CAGR
62 · w22%
Distance from peak
85 · w18%
Population growth
33 · w16%
Home 10-yr CAGR
59 · w10%
Long thesis

Parkersburg offers a $147,532 median home with +4.4% annualized 5-year appreciation. Affordability + positive trend is one of the better risk/reward setups in US residential — small downside, room to compound.

Short thesis

Parkersburg's population is shrinking 0.8% per year. Housing demand has to come from somewhere — if people are leaving, the buyer pool is shrinking faster than the inventory. That eventually shows up in price.

About Parkersburg

Parkersburg is a city in Wood County, West Virginia, with an estimated population of 28,834. It anchors the Parkersburg-Vienna metro area. The population has contracted 0.8% per year on average since 2020. The median home value in Parkersburg is $147,532 as of 2026-04, up 0.1% over the last 12 months. Over the last five years, home values have averaged +4.4% annual growth, with prices at or near the 5-year peak. Rents in Parkersburg average $971 per month. The composite momentum score is 58 of 100 (Stable). Conditions are neither hot nor cold, so the local fit matters more than market timing.

▲ Bull case

●Held the highs: currently -0.9% from the 5-year peak — this market refused to give back gains.
●Cheap entry point: $147,532 median home is well below the US median of $355k — room to grow without overpaying.

▼ Bear case

●Flat or shrinking population: -0.8% per year. Housing demand has to come from somewhere — verify the source.
○Local nuance: city-level data smooths over neighborhood differences. School zones, HOA rules, and street-level character matter — visit before deciding.

About Parkersburg (Wikipedia)

Parkersburg is a city in Wood County, West Virginia, United States, and its county seat. Located at the confluence of the Ohio and Little Kanawha rivers, it is the state's fourth-most populous city and the center of the Parkersburg–Vienna metropolitan area. The city's population was 29,749 at the 2020 census, and its metro population was 89,490.

Source: Wikipedia · this summary is contributed and licensed under CC-BY-SA.

Playbook

Buyer

Lifestyle fit matters more than market timing in a Stable market. Take your time on the home and neighborhood; the macro trend isn't urgent. Negotiate normally.

Seller

Price competitively from day one or risk a 60+ day listing. Staging, photography, and presentation matter more in Stable markets than in Hot ones.

Investor

Stable cap rates, no big appreciation story to lean on. Underwrite this as a pure cash-flow play — the math has to work on rent alone.

Local safety & alerts

No active National Weather Service alerts for Wood County right now.

NWS active alerts (WV)West Virginia Emergency ManagementHow to prepare (NWS)

Public-safety links are official .gov sources, not curated by us. Wood County routes NWS alerts; check the state EM portal for non-weather emergencies.

Cities like Parkersburg

Vienna, WV60 · StableCharleston, WV63 · RisingElkins, WV60 · StableNitro, WV59 · Stable

Run the numbers for Parkersburg

ToolCan I afford Parkersburg?Income → city shortlistToolROI on a Parkersburg rentalCap rate, cash-on-cash, DSCRToolCompare Parkersburg to anywhereSide-by-side up to 3 citiesToolParkersburg cost-of-livingEquivalent income elsewhere

Sources: Zillow ZHVI (home values), Zillow ZORI (rents), US Census ACS + place population. Updated when source agencies publish revisions.

Climate & natural-disaster risk

Winter (Jan)
41° / 23°
avg high / low
Summer (Jul)
83° / 60°
avg high / low
Sunny days/yr
178
~49% of year
Annual precip
44″ rain
32″ snow
Disaster risk (1=very low, 5=very high)
Hurricane
Very low
Tornado
Low
Wildfire
Very low
Earthquake
Very low
Flood
High

State-level averages from NOAA Climate Normals (1991-2020) and FEMA National Risk Index. City-level conditions can vary significantly within a state.

Current weather

Loading current conditions…

7-day forecast on weather.gov →

Find rentals & listings

Open current Parkersburg listings on the major real-estate sites.

Links open the live search on the destination site — results are always current.

Local news & community

Updated 2026-05-21 from Google News + Reddit RSS. Headlines link to original sources.

Local sports teams

Major professional teams the Parkersburg-Vienna area cheers for. Detailed stats, schedules, and player pages on intherafters.com.

Local economy & environment

Humidity
73%
Humid climate
Median household income
$55,200
West Virginia state median
Top industries (state-level)
HealthcareMining/CoalManufacturing

Humidity is annual average relative humidity (NOAA). Income is Census ACS 5-year estimate. Industries are largest employment sectors statewide (BLS); the local mix in a given city may vary.

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