Baldwin County, Alabama · Bay Minette
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Pipes freeze in Baldwin County on about 0 nights a year, mostly midwinter. Older homes, 5% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Basements flood here mostly in December. Baldwin County averages 16.9 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Sewage backups in Baldwin County spike on heavy-rain days, about 16.9 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Baldwin County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 5.56 inches.
2% of occupied homes in Baldwin County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Alabama county median of 9.9%.
With 154 muggy nights a year, mold in Baldwin County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
With 132,258 homes and around 246,989 residents, Baldwin County is 1,590 square miles of southwest Alabama. Besides Bay Minette, the county seat, the biggest communities are Daphne, Fairhope and Foley. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1999.
37/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Baldwin County ranks 56 of 67 Alabama counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Baldwin County ranks highest compared with other Alabama counties.
Baldwin County is milder than most of Alabama, but not mild enough to skip winterizing. It averaged 10 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 0 of them at 20°F or colder, cold enough for pipes in outside walls and crawl spaces to freeze. Among 67 Alabama counties that's 66th.
With only about 10 freezing nights a year, many homes here aren't built for cold, so a single arctic outbreak can burst pipes across the county. The record low in this data was about 19°F, on January 18, 2018.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Alabama. The county gets about 64.8 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 16.9 days of an inch or more (9th of 67). Those downpours cluster in April, August and December, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 5.56 inches on September 17, 2020. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 9.33 inches (through September 17, 2020).
Housing
Alabama's 67 counties range widely in housing age; Baldwin ranks 66th, with 18% of its homes built before 1980.
48% of homes were built in 2000 or later, more than in most of Alabama. Newer plumbing rarely corrodes, so damage here tends to come from appliance supply lines, water heaters, sump pumps and storms.
The 1980s and 1990s account for 34% of the county's homes. If yours is from those decades, look under the sinks and at the water heater for gray plastic pipe stamped PB, which is polybutylene and leak-prone.
Manufactured and mobile homes make up 10% of the housing here. Water lines in the underbelly depend on intact skirting and working heat tape, and they're usually the first to freeze in a cold snap.
26% of homes were vacant at survey time. A leak in an empty rental or seasonal house can run for days before anyone notices, which is why those losses tend to be larger.
Beyond water
Baldwin County averages 154 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in June. Mold grows when indoor humidity stays above about 60%, the EPA's ceiling. A basement dehumidifier set to 50% and drying anything wet within 24 to 48 hours prevents most problems.
Mold remediation: what to expectMain heating fuel in Baldwin County's occupied homes: 10% utility gas, 87% electric, 2% propane and under 1% wood. Most homes here heat with gas or electricity, so cooking and electrical faults are the likelier fire sources. Even a contained kitchen fire can send soot through the ductwork to every room.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Baldwin County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Clarke, Escambia, Monroe and Washington get more pipe-freeze nights than Baldwin. All of its neighbors see more heavy-rain days. Mobile County has the oldest housing nearby, with 51% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Baldwin | Alabama median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 4.9% | 16% | 66 of 67 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 18% | 44% | 66 of 67 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 48% | 23% | 1 of 67 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 9.6% | 22% | 57 of 67 |
| Vacant homes | 26% | 16% | 13 of 67 |
| Wood or propane heat | 2% | 9.9% | 65 of 67 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 0/yr | 3/yr | 66 of 67 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 17/yr | 15/yr | 9 of 67 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 10/yr | 38/yr | 67 of 67 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 154/yr | 112/yr | 1 of 67 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Alabama county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Baldwin County: freezing from midwinter, heavy rain in April, August and December.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024 5-year estimates (2020-2024); weather from NOAA nClimGrid-Daily county averages (EpiNOAA), 2015–2024, averaged across the county; county boundaries from Census TIGER. Reviewed 2026-10-21. Methodology