Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 1,746, settled in 1849. A regional job hub with 1,268 jobs.
The best of St. Marys’ subject grades are an A for cost of living and an A− for history; the weakest is a D− for hazard risk. Residents are less healthy than 92% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. 6.7% of residents live below the poverty line in St. Marys, where West Virginia’s towns sit at 16% and U.S. towns at 9.6%. St. Marys has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Cain House and Pleasants County Courthouse. St. Marys has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where St. Marys beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Where St. Marys’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within West Virginia), ordered by how far St. Marys is from typical.
St.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 350 in 1880, a peak of 2,443 in 1960, 1,831 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1899 and 6 maps from 1906 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in St. Marys, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Aug 3, 2026.
Ordered by what stands out in St. Marys.
Most working residents leave St. 18% of working residents work locally in St. Marys, above both the West Virginia town median (14%) and the median of U.S. towns (8%). The top destinations are Parkersburg (11%), Marietta (4%) and Belmont (3%).
| St. Marys | West Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 18% | 14% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 25 minutes | 21 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $64,000 | $59,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Pleasants County Schools. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is St. Marys High School, with 309 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. Marys Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–4 | Grades PK–4 | 232 | B− |
| St. Marys High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 309 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WV on state tests and graduation
| St. Marys | West Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 31% | 23% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 21% | 17% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 43% | 41% | 35% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 32% | 25% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 96% of U.S. communities. Since 1982, 8 flood insurance claims have been paid out in St. Marys.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Marys has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 22° and about 24 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the West Virginia average. 17% of residents are under 18 in St. Marys. St. Marys has lost 5% of its people since 2020, down to 1,746 in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| St. Marys | West Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 17% | 20% | 22% |
| Median age | 44.9 years | 42.2 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 24% | 29% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 18% | 21% | 18% |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.5 points. Across West Virginia, 50.1% of residents are women.
| St. Marys | WV | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 7.8% | 10.3% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.5% | 9.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 11.6% | 8.8% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 11% | 12% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 10.2% | 12% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 17.2% | 12.6% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 14.3% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11.9% | 12.6% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.6% | 8.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 6.1% | 10.7% | 10.4% |
| High school | 37.7% | 39.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 18.9% | 17.5% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 13.6% | 8.4% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 12.5% | 14.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 11.2% | 9.7% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 1,700, single groups can be off by several points
The typical St. Typical home values rose 4.7% in the year to September 2026. Marys home is worth about $162,000, up 4.7% in a year, 8% below the West Virginia typical home.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around St. Marys. Close and well known come first.
14 mi MuseumCampus Martius Museum
14 mi MuseumOhio River Museum
14 mi MuseumThe Castle
25 mi MuseumBeauchamp-Newman HouseCampus Martius Museum: Snoopywv, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ohio River Museum: Wolfgang8741, CC BY-SA 4.0 · The Castle: Chrispainter1966, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Beauchamp-Newman House: mjswisher79, CC BY-SA 3.0
2 within 15 miles of the center of St. Marys
About 4 of every 100 St. Marys residents are enrolled in college, about the same as West Virginia.
2 places in St. Marys on the National Register of Historic Places.
4 notable people were born in St. Marys.
City in West Virginia, US
St. Marys is a city in and the county seat of Pleasants County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 1,847 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Parkersburg–Vienna metropolitan area. St. Marys was established in 1849 by Alexander Creel, who is said to have had a vision of Mary while passing the townsite by boat on the Ohio River. Train tracks run down the middle of 2nd Street in St. Marys, and freight trains running through the middle of downtown St. Marys are a common sight. It is one of the few remaining towns in the United States where freight trains actually share city streets with automotive traffic.
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.
St. 4 notable people were born here, including Cleveland Monroe Bailey and Billy Reynolds.
