What salary do you need to live in Parkersburg, WV?

Parkersburg housing costs at a glance

A one-bedroom in Parkersburg rents for a median of $611 a month, utilities the tenant pays included; a two-bedroom goes for $845 and a three-bedroom for $925. Over a full year, the two-bedroom median comes to $10,140.

On the ownership side, the typical owner-occupied home is valued at $156,300. That is only 2.7× the area's median household income of $57,391, a low ratio by national standards.

BEA's Regional Price Parity for the metro is 87.1, where 100 is the US average. In plain terms, the full basket of goods, services and housing costs 12.9% less than average, so $100,000 here buys roughly what $114,855 would at average US prices.

Income needed for each grade in Parkersburg

For two bedrooms, $76,000 is where Parkersburg turns Comfortable. Below that, $38,000 marks the start of Okay and $18,000 the start of Tight; under $18,000 the score reads Stretched. Rent at the Comfortable line is 13% of gross pay.

Royal, the top band, starts at $211,000. At that income rent is 5% of pay and the median home 0.7× income.

These lines come straight from the calculator's formula: the income is raised until the two-bedroom score crosses each cutoff, then rounded up to the next $1,000.

Parkersburg at four common salaries

Take a $75,000 salary. In a one-bedroom the rent share is 10% and the score 70, Comfortable; in a three-bedroom the share rises to 15% and the score falls to 63, Okay.

Of the four salaries, $100,000 is the first where a two-bedroom reads Comfortable or better; $75,000 still lands at Okay.

Parkersburg on the national list

Ranked against all 387 metros, Parkersburg sits 352nd on overall price level and 377th on the two-bedroom rent median, counting from the most expensive. Its median home value ranks 372nd.

Its nearest neighbors on the rent list are Dothan, AL ($845) and Decatur, AL ($829).

Parkersburg next to West Virginia and similar metros

Compared with West Virginia as a whole, two-bedroom rent in Parkersburg is 6% lower ($845 vs. $896) and the median home is 4% lower ($156,300 vs. $162,600).

Scored the same way, the statewide figures turn Comfortable at $85,000, so Parkersburg needs $9,000 less than West Virginia overall.

The nearest matches in West Virginia, judged on rent and price parity together, are Wheeling, WV-OH, Beckley, WV, and Weirton-Steubenville, WV-OH.

Does the typical Parkersburg income clear the bar?

A household at the Parkersburg median income of $57,391 would see a two-bedroom score of 57 — Okay — with rent at 18% of income. That falls $18,609 short of the $76,000 Comfortable line, a reminder that the typical household here spends a larger share on housing than the Comfortable band allows. For West Virginia as a whole, the median household income of $59,608 scores 55 against statewide rents. Since a household can have two or more earners, compare it with a combined income rather than one paycheck.

These are pre-tax estimates from public statistics, not financial advice.