Benton County, Arkansas · Bentonville
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With 5% of homes built before 1960 and about 16 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
Heavy rain days of an inch or more come about 12.3 times a year here, most often in October. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Benton County gets about 12.3 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
In Benton County, 5.15 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
8% of occupied homes in Benton County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Arkansas county median of 10.9%.
About 75 nights a year here stay at 65°F or warmer, so basements and crawl spaces can grow mold even without a leak.
Local risk profile
Benton County covers 848 square miles of northwest Arkansas, with about 303,632 residents and 122,703 homes. The county seat is Bentonville, and Rogers, Bella Vista and Centerton round out the largest towns. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 2001.
29/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Benton County ranks 75 of 75 Arkansas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Benton County ranks highest compared with other Arkansas counties.
Benton County gets more hard-freeze nights than most of Arkansas. It averaged 75 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 16 of them at 20°F or colder, cold enough for pipes in outside walls and crawl spaces to freeze. Among 75 Arkansas counties that's 6th.
The longest cold spell was straight 10 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in February 2021. The coldest night reached about -11°F on February 16, 2021. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
The freeze season here runs December to February, with January the coldest. If you travel then, leave the thermostat at 55°F or above and open sink cabinets on outside walls.
Freezing nights typically start around Nov 2 and end around Apr 2.
Benton gets fewer downpours than most Arkansas counties, but they still fill basements. Of roughly 50.9 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 12.3 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 75th of 75. March, May and October see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 5.15 inches, December 27, 2015. The worst three-day stretch dropped 9.18 inches, ending December 28, 2015, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
About 68 days a year swing from below freezing at night to above freezing by day. Those freeze-thaw cycles feed ice dams on roofs, open cracks in foundations and driveways, and stress pipes that are already marginal.
Housing
Roughly 18% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Benton among the newer housing stocks of Arkansas's 75 counties.
Growth since 2000 added 52% of today's homes. In houses that new, the weak points are washing machine hoses, ice maker lines, water heaters and sump pumps rather than the pipes in the walls.
About 30% of homes went up between 1980 and 1999. Some houses from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s were plumbed with polybutylene, a gray plastic pipe known for failing at fittings. A plumber can tell you in a few minutes whether you have it.
Beyond water
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 75 times a year here, below the Arkansas county median of 105. Keep indoor humidity under 60%, as the EPA advises, and dry any leak within 24 to 48 hours; in a humid month a wet basement left alone won't dry by itself.
Mold remediation: what to expectHeating fuel matters for fire risk. In Benton County it's 46% utility gas, 45% electric, 6% propane and 2% 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 Benton County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Carroll and Madison get more pipe-freeze nights than Benton. All of its neighbors see more heavy-rain days. Madison County has the oldest housing nearby, with 36% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Benton | Arkansas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 5% | 15% | 75 of 75 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 18% | 46% | 75 of 75 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 52% | 23% | 1 of 75 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 3.6% | 15% | 74 of 75 |
| Vacant homes | 8.8% | 18% | 69 of 75 |
| Wood or propane heat | 8% | 11% | 50 of 75 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 16/yr | 6/yr | 6 of 75 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 12/yr | 17/yr | 75 of 75 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 68/yr | 48/yr | 6 of 75 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 75/yr | 105/yr | 65 of 75 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Arkansas county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Benton County: freezing from December to February, heavy rain in March, May and October.
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