diff --git a/include/ygm/io/csv_parser.hpp b/include/ygm/io/csv_parser.hpp
index 3bf64369..47bb8b64 100644
--- a/include/ygm/io/csv_parser.hpp
+++ b/include/ygm/io/csv_parser.hpp
@@ -18,8 +18,10 @@ namespace ygm::io {
 /**
  * @brief Class for parsing collections of CSV files in distributed memory
  */
-class csv_parser : public ygm::container::detail::base_iteration_value<
-                       csv_parser, std::tuple<std::vector<detail::csv_field>>> {
+template <typename StringType = std::string>
+class csv_parser
+    : public ygm::container::detail::base_iteration_value<
+          csv_parser<StringType>, std::tuple<std::vector<detail::csv_field>>> {
  public:
   using for_all_args = std::tuple<std::vector<detail::csv_field>>;
 
@@ -37,9 +39,9 @@ class csv_parser : public ygm::container::detail::base_iteration_value<
   void for_all(Function fn) {
     using namespace ygm::io::detail;
 
-    std::map<std::string, int>* header_map_ptr;
-    bool                        skip_first;
-    auto handle_line_lambda = [fn, this](const std::string& line) {
+    std::map<StringType, int>* header_map_ptr;
+    bool                       skip_first;
+    auto handle_line_lambda = [fn, this](const StringType& line) {
       auto vfields = parse_csv_line(line, m_header_map);
       // auto stypes    = convert_type_string(vfields);
       // todo, detect if types are inconsistent between records
@@ -67,7 +69,7 @@ class csv_parser : public ygm::container::detail::base_iteration_value<
    *
    * @param label Header label to search for within headers
    */
-  bool has_header(const std::string& label) {
+  bool has_header(const StringType& label) {
     return m_has_headers && (m_header_map.find(label) != m_header_map.end());
   }
 
@@ -76,9 +78,9 @@ class csv_parser : public ygm::container::detail::base_iteration_value<
   const ygm::comm& comm() const { return m_lp.comm(); }
 
  private:
-  line_parser m_lp;
+  line_parser<StringType> m_lp;
 
-  std::map<std::string, int> m_header_map;
-  bool                       m_has_headers;
+  std::map<StringType, int> m_header_map;
+  bool                      m_has_headers;
 };  // namespace ygm::io
 }  // namespace ygm::io
diff --git a/include/ygm/io/line_parser.hpp b/include/ygm/io/line_parser.hpp
index c4ae3632..ad69b738 100644
--- a/include/ygm/io/line_parser.hpp
+++ b/include/ygm/io/line_parser.hpp
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 
 #include <filesystem>
 #include <fstream>
+#include <locale>
 #include <string>
 #include <vector>
 #include <ygm/container/detail/base_iteration.hpp>
@@ -18,10 +19,12 @@ namespace fs = std::filesystem;
 /**
  * @brief Distributed text file parsing.
  */
+template <typename StringType = std::string>
 class line_parser : public ygm::container::detail::base_iteration_value<
-                        line_parser, std::tuple<std::string>> {
+                        line_parser<StringType>, std::tuple<StringType>> {
  public:
-  using for_all_args = std::tuple<std::string>;
+  using for_all_args = std::tuple<StringType>;
+  using char_t       = StringType::value_type;  // Type for characters
 
  private:
   // enum for tracking storage accessiblity
@@ -175,25 +178,25 @@ class line_parser : public ygm::container::detail::base_iteration_value<
     for (const auto& fname : my_file_paths) {
       // m_comm.cout("Opening: ", std::get<0>(fname), " ", std::get<1>(fname),
       //             " ", std::get<2>(fname));
-      std::ifstream ifs(std::get<0>(fname));
+      std::basic_ifstream<char_t> ifs(std::get<0>(fname));
       // Note: Current process is responsible for reading up to *AND
       // INCLUDING* bytes_end
       size_t bytes_begin = std::get<1>(fname);
       size_t bytes_end   = std::get<2>(fname);
       YGM_ASSERT_RELEASE(ifs.good());
       ifs.imbue(std::locale::classic());
-      std::string line;
-      bool        first_line = false;
+      StringType line;
+      bool       first_line = false;
       // Throw away line containing bytes_begin as it was read by the previous
       // process (unless it corresponds to the beginning of a file)
       if (bytes_begin > 0) {
         ifs.seekg(bytes_begin);
-        std::getline(ifs, line);
+        getline_impl(ifs, line);
       } else {
         first_line = true;
       }
       // Keep reading until line containing bytes_end is read
-      while (ifs.tellg() <= bytes_end && std::getline(ifs, line)) {
+      while (ifs.tellg() <= bytes_end && getline_impl(ifs, line)) {
         // Check if last character is '\r'. This will happen if a file was
         // edited on Windows and can cause issues for parsing
         if (not line.empty() && (line.back() == 0x0D)) {
@@ -211,11 +214,11 @@ class line_parser : public ygm::container::detail::base_iteration_value<
     my_file_paths.clear();
   }
 
-  std::string read_first_line() {
-    std::string line;
+  StringType read_first_line() {
+    StringType line;
     if (m_comm.rank0()) {
-      std::ifstream ifs(m_paths[0].first);
-      std::getline(ifs, line);
+      std::basic_ifstream<char_t> ifs(m_paths[0].first);
+      getline_impl(ifs, line);
     }
 
     line = m_comm.mpi_bcast(line, 0, m_comm.get_mpi_comm());
@@ -336,13 +339,32 @@ class line_parser : public ygm::container::detail::base_iteration_value<
    * @return false
    */
   bool is_file_good(const fs::path& p) {
-    std::ifstream ifs(p);
-    bool          good = ifs.good();
+    std::basic_ifstream<char_t> ifs(p);
+    bool                        good = ifs.good();
     if (!good) {
       m_comm.cout("WARNING: unable to open: ", p);
     }
     return good;
   }
+
+  /**
+   * @brief Execute getline that works with the StringType used
+   *
+   * @param input Stream to read from
+   * @param str String to hold line
+   * @return Input stream (same as in std::getline)
+   */
+  std::basic_istream<typename StringType::value_type>& getline_impl(
+      std::basic_istream<typename StringType::value_type>& input,
+      StringType&                                          str) {
+    if constexpr (std::is_same_v<typename StringType::value_type, char>) {
+      return std::getline(input, str);
+    } else if constexpr (std::is_same_v<typename StringType::value_type,
+                                        char32_t>) {
+      return std::getline(input, str, U'\n');
+    }
+  }
+
   ygm::comm&                                          m_comm;
   std::vector<std::pair<fs::path, accessibility_tag>> m_paths;
   bool                                                m_skip_first_line;
diff --git a/include/ygm/io/ndjson_parser.hpp b/include/ygm/io/ndjson_parser.hpp
index aad065d4..762efe67 100644
--- a/include/ygm/io/ndjson_parser.hpp
+++ b/include/ygm/io/ndjson_parser.hpp
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ class ndjson_parser : public ygm::container::detail::base_iteration_value<
   }
 
  private:
-  line_parser m_lp;
+  line_parser<std::string> m_lp;
 
   size_t m_num_invalid_records{0};
 };
diff --git a/test/data/utf8.txt b/test/data/utf8.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e1644394
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/data/utf8.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+flağ
+t✓ag
+bag
+ceŀl
+call
+selľ
+starţ
+stars
+falg
+♘
+🬆
diff --git a/test/test_line_parser.cpp b/test/test_line_parser.cpp
index 1223da5c..f15c9795 100644
--- a/test/test_line_parser.cpp
+++ b/test/test_line_parser.cpp
@@ -13,7 +13,9 @@
 namespace fs = std::filesystem;
 
 void test_line_parser_files(ygm::comm&, const std::vector<std::string>&);
-void test_line_parser_directory(ygm::comm& , const std::string& , size_t );
+void test_line_parser_directory(ygm::comm&, const std::string&, size_t);
+template <typename StringType>
+void test_line_parser_unicode(ygm::comm&);
 
 int main(int argc, char** argv) {
   ygm::comm world(&argc, &argv);
@@ -22,14 +24,14 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv) {
     test_line_parser_files(world, {"data/short.txt"});
     test_line_parser_files(world, {"data/loremipsum/loremipsum_0.txt"});
     test_line_parser_files(world, {"data/loremipsum/loremipsum_0.txt",
-                             "data/loremipsum/loremipsum_1.txt"});
+                                   "data/loremipsum/loremipsum_1.txt"});
     test_line_parser_files(world, {"data/loremipsum/loremipsum_0.txt",
-                             "data/loremipsum/loremipsum_1.txt",
-                             "data/loremipsum/loremipsum_2.txt"});
+                                   "data/loremipsum/loremipsum_1.txt",
+                                   "data/loremipsum/loremipsum_2.txt"});
     test_line_parser_files(world, {"data/loremipsum/loremipsum_0.txt",
-                             "data/loremipsum/loremipsum_1.txt",
-                             "data/loremipsum/loremipsum_2.txt",
-                             "data/loremipsum/loremipsum_3.txt"});
+                                   "data/loremipsum/loremipsum_1.txt",
+                                   "data/loremipsum/loremipsum_2.txt",
+                                   "data/loremipsum/loremipsum_3.txt"});
     test_line_parser_files(
         world,
         {"data/loremipsum/loremipsum_0.txt", "data/loremipsum/loremipsum_1.txt",
@@ -46,10 +48,18 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv) {
     test_line_parser_directory(world, "data/loremipsum/", 270);
   }
 
+  {
+    test_line_parser_unicode<std::string>(world);
+#ifndef __APPLE_CC__
+    test_line_parser_unicode<std::u32string>(world);
+#endif
+  }
+
   return 0;
 }
 
-void test_line_parser_files(ygm::comm& comm, const std::vector<std::string>& files) {
+void test_line_parser_files(ygm::comm&                      comm,
+                            const std::vector<std::string>& files) {
   //
   // Read in each line into a distributed set
   ygm::container::counting_set<std::string> line_set_to_test(comm);
@@ -73,13 +83,13 @@ void test_line_parser_files(ygm::comm& comm, const std::vector<std::string>& fil
   }
 
   YGM_ASSERT_RELEASE(line_set.size() == line_set_sequential.size());
-  //comm.cout0(line_set.size(), " =? ", line_set_to_test.size());
+  // comm.cout0(line_set.size(), " =? ", line_set_to_test.size());
   YGM_ASSERT_RELEASE(line_set.size() == line_set_to_test.size());
   // YGM_ASSERT_RELEASE(line_set == line_set_to_test);
 }
 
-
-void test_line_parser_directory(ygm::comm& comm, const std::string& dir, size_t unique_line_count) {
+void test_line_parser_directory(ygm::comm& comm, const std::string& dir,
+                                size_t unique_line_count) {
   //
   // Read in each line into a distributed set
   ygm::container::counting_set<std::string> line_set_to_test(comm);
@@ -88,5 +98,24 @@ void test_line_parser_directory(ygm::comm& comm, const std::string& dir, size_t
     line_set_to_test.async_insert(line);
   });
 
-  YGM_ASSERT_RELEASE(unique_line_count == line_set_to_test.size());  
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+  YGM_ASSERT_RELEASE(unique_line_count == line_set_to_test.size());
+}
+
+template <typename StringType>
+void test_line_parser_unicode(ygm::comm& comm) {
+  std::array<size_t, 11> line_lengths;
+  if constexpr (std::is_same_v<typename StringType::value_type, char>) {
+    line_lengths = {5, 6, 3, 5, 4, 5, 6, 5, 4, 3, 4};
+  } else if constexpr (std::is_same_v<typename StringType::value_type,
+                                      char32_t>) {
+    line_lengths = {4, 4, 3, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 4, 1, 1};
+  }
+
+  ygm::io::line_parser<StringType> utf8_parser(comm, {"data/utf8.txt"});
+
+  size_t line_num{0};
+  utf8_parser.for_all([&line_lengths, &line_num](const auto& line) {
+    YGM_ASSERT_RELEASE(line.size() == line_lengths[line_num]);
+    ++line_num;
+  });
+}