Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 1,969, settled in 1855.
Parkersburg’s best subject grades are an A for cost of living and an A− for schools. Parkersburg has 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Charles Wolf House and Netcott-Pfeiffer House. Parkersburg has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Parkersburg beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Parkersburg Elementary School | PK–2 | 211 |
| Aplington-Parkersburg High School | 9–12 | 247 |
Where Parkersburg’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Iowa), ordered by how far Parkersburg is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 652 in 1880, 2,015 in 2020. The archive holds 9 old photos and papers going back to 2004 and a map from 1980 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Parkersburg, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Parkersburg.
The Aplington-Parkersburg Community School District runs its public schools. Its two schools are below. 2 public schools serve Parkersburg, with 458 students in all.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parkersburg Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–2 | Grades PK–2 | 211 | – |
| Aplington-Parkersburg High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 247 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within IA on state tests and graduation
The mean commuting time for Parkersburg comes to 26 minutes, where Iowa’s towns sit at 19 minutes and U.S. towns at 25 minutes. Most working residents leave Parkersburg for work: only 10% work in town. Parkersburg: 4.9% of residents live below the poverty line. The top destinations are Waterloo (18%), Cedar Falls (11%) and Aplington (5%).
| Parkersburg | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 10% | 31% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 4.9% | 11% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 26 minutes | 19 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 9.6% | 8.5% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
For Parkersburg, the peak summer temperature is 83°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The midpoint age for Parkersburg comes to 46.3 years, above both the Iowa town median (38.7 years) and the median of U.S. towns (40.5 years). Adults 18 to 34 are 15% of residents (23% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 43% of residents (37% statewide). This Iowa town is shrinking: down 2.3% since 2020, to 1,969 residents (2025 estimate). Iowa has 31% of adults 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree or more; here it is 31%.
| Parkersburg | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 46.3 years | 38.7 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 21% | 19% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 21% | 23% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 31% | 25% | 29% |
49% women, 51% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.6 points. Across Iowa, 49.8% of residents are women. Among residents 55 to 64, 69% are men (IA 50%).
| Parkersburg | IA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9.6% | 12.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 11.4% | 10.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.4% | 10% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 8.8% | 12.5% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.9% | 12.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 18.9% | 11.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 12.5% | 12.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 7.1% | 10.6% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 13.5% | 7.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.5% | 6.7% | 10.4% |
| High school | 30.3% | 30% | 26% |
| Some college | 16.6% | 19.7% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 16.4% | 12.1% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 23.6% | 20.9% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 7.6% | 10.5% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,000, single groups can be off by several points
The share of adults in Parkersburg who feel lonely: 30%. Of 32 CDC measures, Parkersburg beats the Iowa average on 1 and trails it on 2.
| Parkersburg | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 20% | 16% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 32% | 36% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 32% | 33% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 35% | 35% |
| What stands out | Parkersburg | IA |
|---|---|---|
| More adults seeing a dentist | 71% | 66.8% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.3% | 8.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Parkersburg’s FEMA hazard score stands at 54 of 100. Of the losses FEMA expects in the town, 42% come from inland flooding and 19% from tornadoes. Federal aid has come to Parkersburg households in 6 declared disasters; the latest was in 2014.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Home values are up 4.4% over the year to September 2026. Only 10 of the 141 Iowa towns we compare have a higher share of households owning their home than Parkersburg.
| Parkersburg | Iowa towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 86% | 70% | 73% |
| Median rent | $643 a month | $911 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Parkersburg has 2 parks and preserves, 12 acres in all. In Parkersburg, the density of trails is 0.4 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Miracle Park | — | 7 |
| 2. Depot-Caboose Riverfront Park | — | 5 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Parkersburg; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Parkersburg residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Iowa.
7 notable people were born in Parkersburg.
City in Iowa, USA
Parkersburg is a city in Butler County, Iowa, United States. The population was 2,015 in the 2020 census, an increase from 1,870 in the 2010 census. Parkersburg, although not the county seat, is the highest-populated city in Butler County.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A.
7 notable people were born here, including Pauline Pfeiffer and Casey Wiegmann.