Parkersburg Area Economic Outlook 2019-2024

The Parkersburg Area economy has generally struggled over the past several years. The five-county region avoided the economic downturn that plagued several regions in West Virginia between 2012 and 2015, as payrolls increased nearly 2,000 during this period of time. In more recent years, however, the Parkersburg Area economy has struggled significantly, with payrolls falling by more than 3,700 by mid-2018. The region’s economy does appear to have stabilized thanks to some recent growth in natural gas output and pipeline infrastructure as well as continued development of the Hino manufacturing facility, economic recovery remains tenuous due to structural issues that have hurt several service-providing sectors on both a regional and national scale