Moving to Marietta: Pros, Cons & What to Know
Moving to Marietta, Ohio means moving to a wholly distinctive, real historic town -- Ohio's first permanent American settlement (1788), set at the genuine confluence of the Ohio and Muskingum Rivers -- with genuinely affordable housing, a directly-collected local income tax, and a real, honestly disclosed river-flood history worth understanding upfront.
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Learn moreA real, wholly distinctive founding identity
Marietta was founded April 7, 1788, by 48 Revolutionary War veterans and settlers of the Ohio Company of Associates -- genuinely the first permanent American settlement in the Northwest Territory, and Ohio's oldest city. This is not a marketing claim; it is a well-documented, real historical fact central to the town's identity.
Confirm a target property's river flood-zone status directly
Marietta's Ohio/Muskingum River confluence setting carries a real, genuine, historically severe flood risk -- the March 1913 flood crested at 58.7 feet and swept away 120 homes, and the January 1937 flood covered 46% of the city. Confirm any target property's current FEMA flood-zone status directly rather than assuming Marietta carries a typical low-flood-risk profile.
Marietta's own directly-collected 1.85% local income tax, with a real resident credit
Marietta collects its own municipal income tax directly (not through RITA or CCA) at a comparatively moderate 1.85% rate, and offers a real, dollar-for-dollar resident credit for tax paid to another Ohio municipality -- verified directly against the city's own official page.
Genuinely affordable housing, a modest ongoing population decline
Marietta's Zillow average home value ran $183,699, meaningfully below Ohio's own statewide average -- but this record discloses honestly that Marietta's population is also modestly declining (roughly -0.6%/year), a real, disclosed trade-off worth understanding.
Key takeaways
- Marietta is genuinely Ohio's first permanent settlement (1788), set at the real Ohio-Muskingum River confluence.
- Confirm a specific property's flood-zone status directly, given Marietta's real, historically severe river-flood history.
- Marietta's own 1.85% local income tax is collected DIRECTLY by the city, with a real resident credit for tax paid elsewhere.
- Housing runs genuinely affordable, though Marietta's population carries a real, modest ongoing decline.
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