Parkersburg, West Virginia: Populist market. In 2024, voted R+44%. Republican peak: R+45 in 2016.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+44MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 149,9062024 5-year
- Median household income
- $60,2462024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 94.2%2024 5-year
- Black
- 1.0%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 1.5%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+16 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+45 in 2016MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Parkersburg, WVOne cell per constituent county, colored by 2024 presidential margin from deep red (Republican) through neutral to deep blue (Democratic), ordered bluest first.
R+60D+60
One cell per constituent county. Ordered by 2024 D-vs-R margin (bluest first). Hover for county-level numbers.
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 19,573 | 51,173 | 71,784 | ||
| R | 20,868 | 52,251 | 74,287 | ||
| R | 17,047 | 48,306 | 69,817 | ||
| R | 23,836 | 41,292 | 66,912 | ||
| R | 26,083 | 41,687 | 68,896 | ||
| R | 27,912 | 44,541 | 72,878 | ||
| R | 24,314 | 37,654 | 63,580 | ||
| R | 25,684 | 28,732 | 61,820 | ||
| R | 25,296 | 28,893 | 67,510 | ||
| R | 24,347 | 35,978 | 60,666 | ||
| R | 20,735 | 43,605 | 64,997 | ||
| R | 23,052 | 36,242 | 62,930 | ||
| R | 27,688 | 31,503 | 59,860 | ||
| R | 17,907 | 43,363 | 61,867 | ||
| R | 22,737 | 32,382 | 60,300 | ||
| D | 35,040 | 25,159 | 60,199 | ||
| R | 24,994 | 38,310 | 63,304 | ||
| R | 20,969 | 37,167 | 58,136 | ||
| R | 23,162 | 35,658 | 58,820 | ||
| R | 23,302 | 26,095 | 49,528 | ||
| R | 22,206 | 27,864 | 50,070 | ||
| R | 26,325 | 30,459 | 56,784 | ||
| D | 28,939 | 25,220 | 54,503 | ||
| D | 25,423 | 23,076 | 49,074 | ||
| R | 12,204 | 29,772 | 42,200 | ||
| R | 16,780 | 20,409 | 38,617 | ||
| R | 16,574 | 21,399 | 38,554 | ||
| D | 10,983 | 10,142 | 21,706 | ||
| D | 9,217 | 6,328 | 20,160 | ||
| R | 10,755 | 11,231 | 22,442 | ||
| R | 9,122 | 12,621 | 22,342 | ||
| D | 11,410 | 11,327 | 22,940 | ||
| R | 9,587 | 10,879 | 20,626 | ||
| R | 8,364 | 8,759 | 17,650 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
18.7%
English
15.6%
Irish
13.4%
American
8.7%
Italian
2.6%
Scottish
2.4%
French
0.7%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release. Hispanic/Latino is an ethnicity that overlaps the race categories, so these shares can total more than 100%. Ancestry is a self-reported, multiple-response item; ancestry percentages do not sum to the parent race percentage.
Age distribution by sex
Median age: 43.9 in this county, 39.1 nationally
Male
Age
Female
85+
75–84
65–74
55–64
45–54
35–44
25–34
18–24
5–17
<5
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Median household income
2024 inflation-adjusted dollars
$60,246
Parkersburg ranks near the middle of US counties.
Parkersburg$60,246
West Virginia$59,608
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
14.2%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1819.0%
Working age (18–64)13.3%
Seniors (65+)10.1%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
98.5%
speak English only
Spanish0.7%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.4%
Other Indo-European0.3%
Other languages0.1%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 56.8% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
The Parkersburg-Marietta media market straddles the Ohio River, blending West Virginia's deep-red rural precincts with Ohio's more competitive Washington County, making it a useful lens on Appalachian political realignment.
The Democratic margin in Parkersburg peaked at sixteen points in 1964. By 1968 the market had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was forty-four points, the most Republican-leaning result in the market's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $60,246 sits well below state and national norms, and 14% of residents live below the federal poverty line. The shift here is part of a broader realignment of working-class places across the country.
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Parkersburg, West Virginia — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/dma/597/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Parkersburg, West Virginia vote in 2024?
In 2024, Parkersburg, West Virginia voted Republican by 44.0 points (R+44), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 71,784 votes cast, 19,573 went Democratic and 51,173 went Republican.
What is Parkersburg, West Virginia's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Parkersburg, West Virginia as a "Populist" market based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the market has voted Democratic 6 times, Republican 28 times, and other 0 times.
When did Parkersburg, West Virginia last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Parkersburg, West Virginia voted Democratic was 1964.
How many people live in Parkersburg, West Virginia?
Parkersburg, West Virginia has a population of 149,906 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Parkersburg, West Virginia?
Median household income in Parkersburg, West Virginia is $60,246 — below the national median of $80,734. The West Virginia state median is $59,608.
What is the political history of Parkersburg, West Virginia?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Parkersburg, West Virginia from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 6 went Democratic and 28 went Republican. The market's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.