Parkersburg, WV carries a PlainCrime C safety grade with violent crime 26% below the U.S. average
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, Parkersburg, WV shows violent crime at 260.3 per 100,000 residents and property crime at 3,217.1 per 100,000. Violent crime runs 26% below the U.S. average. PlainCrime assigns grade C from those rates. Figures are voluntary agency submissions joined to population denominators; incomplete coverage can move the number.
C safety grade
260.3/100K violent
3217.1/100K property
-26% vs U.S.
What the 2024 FBI UCR record shows for Parkersburg, WV
Comparable rate records
Parkersburg's closest reported-rate comparisons are in the West Virginia cohort
The nearest comparable 2024 records to Parkersburg's 260.3 violent-crime rate per 100,000 are Summersville (271.2), Keyser (248.0), Weston (241.8), White Hall (284.5). These are same-year agency submissions that pass the same completeness screen, not a claim that the cities have identical conditions. They make the cohort position above checkable against named records instead of a generic state average.
2020–2024 direction
The reported violent-crime rate ended the window lower
Across 5 comparable reporting years, the rate moved from 364.3 per 100,000 in 2020 to 260.3 in 2024 (-28.6%). The highest observed value was 455.0 in 2021 and the lowest 260.3 in 2024. Years whose submission failed the completeness test are left out of this comparison rather than plotted as change.
Position in the state cohort
Parkersburg sits mid-pack among comparable West Virginia cities
At 260.3 reported violent offenses per 100,000 residents in 2024, Parkersburg ranks 18 of 49 — above 31 of the 48 other West Virginia cities whose 2024 submission passes this site’s completeness test. That is +51.7% against the cohort median of 171.6. Cities that did not report, or that reported implausibly low totals, are excluded from this cohort rather than counted as low-crime.
Property counts dominate Parkersburg's FBI UCR Table 8 municipal row. Per-100,000 rates use the reporting-year population on that row; cities that fail the completeness test stay out of rate rankings. A citywide figure rarely describes any single neighbourhood inside the municipal boundary.
Mid-size municipal totals above are reported offenses, not safety advice for any single block. Reporting completeness still varies by year and agency.
Parkersburg's 2024 municipal footprint
Across 11.8 Census sq mi, Parkersburg logged 78.7 property and 6.4 violent offenses per square mile in 2024.
Parkersburg's 2024 book concentrates in larceny-theft (78% of 1,002 offenses; mix index 6,261).
Violent offenses are only 7% of the municipal total - a property-led book.
Density uses Census Gazetteer land area (11.8 sq mi); mix index is HHI x 10,000 on the offense-type shares above. Distinct from the per-100K rates in the hero.
Property rate moved most (2023→2024)
Property Crime Rate
-10.1%
3577.5 → 3217.1/100K
Violent Crime Rate
-2.1%
265.9 → 260.3/100K
Property offenses lead Parkersburg's 2024 record
Offense
Count
Rate /100K
vs WV
Property Crime
927
3217.1
1089.3
Larceny-Theft
784
2720.8
-
Burglary
91
315.8
-
Motor Vehicle Theft
52
180.5
-
Arson
10
34.7
-
Violent Crime
75
260.3
241.6
Aggravated Assault
50
173.5
-
Rape
19
65.9
-
Robbery
6
20.8
-
Murder
0
0
-
Parkersburg Crime Trend (2020-2024)
Parkersburg property crime rate trend
Lead series · fell across 5 comparable years · FBI UCR
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program · split lines are the U.S. national averages
Parkersburg Police Department
Reporting agency for Parkersburg NIBRS-participating
Parkersburg Police Department filed the 2024 UCR row behind Parkersburg's 1,002 reported offenses (5-year span 2020-2024).
This agency reports via NIBRS, the incident-based system that captures more detail per offense (multiple crimes per incident, victim/offender data) than the older summary counts.
Similar-Size Cities in West Virginia
Crime rates read differently at different scales, so these are the West Virginia cities closest to Parkersburg in population. Their populations run from 13,098 to 44,860, against 28,815 here. Or use our
side-by-side compare tool
to benchmark two cities directly.
Parkersburg at 260.3/100K violent and 3,217.1/100K property - matched below outside West Virginia (≥10k pop, latest UCR vintage; not the in-state lists above).
In 2024, Parkersburg reported 75 violent crimes and 927 property crimes, for a total of 1,002 reported offenses.
Is crime increasing or decreasing in Parkersburg?
From 2023 to 2024, Parkersburg's violent crime rate decreased by 2.1%, and the property crime rate decreased by 10.1%.
What is the most common crime in Parkersburg?
The most common crime type in Parkersburg is larceny-theft, accounting for 78.2% of all reported crimes (784 incidents in 2024).
Mid-size read: Parkersburg figures are FBI UCR CIUS Table 8 (vintage 2024), population-adjusted per 100,000.
Denominators are the reporting-year population on the municipal row. Incomplete years are dropped from rankings. Confirm at FBI Crime Data Explorer and Census.gov QuickFacts.
Disclaimer (mid-size municipal): figures are informational, not advice. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program is the source. Consult a professional before decisions.
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program CIUS Table 8 municipal crime rates · 2024 Parkersburg, WV rates use the reporting-year population on the municipal row.