Data report · 2026

Georgia Water Damage Risk Index

Where in Georgia is a house most likely to take on water? We combined Census housing age with ten years of daily weather for 159 of Georgia's 159 counties to rank them.

Highest index

Chattooga

Score 80 of 100

Most pipe-freeze nights

Fannin

12 nights ≤ 20°F a year

Oldest housing

Taliaferro

34% built before 1960

Most heavy-rain days

Rabun

19.7 days ≥ 1 inch a year

< 4141–4848–5353–61≥ 61 index (0–100)

Key findings

The five highest-scoring counties are Chattooga, Walker, Muscogee, Floyd, Troup. Each combines old housing with harsher-than-average winters or frequent downpours.
Taliaferro County has the oldest housing in the state, with 34% of homes built before 1960, against a county median of 15%.
Fannin County averaged 12 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the most of any county in the data. The county median is 2.
Forsyth County has the newest housing, with 63% of homes built since 2000, which pulls its index down even where winters are cold.

Weather: NOAA nClimGrid-Daily county averages, 2015–2024. Housing: ACS 2020-2024.

All counties

Select a column header to sort.

Rank	County	Index	Freeze nights	Pre-1960 homes	Heavy-rain days	Muggy nights
1	Chattooga	80	5	28%	14.5	81
2	Walker	74	6	26%	12.7	82
3	Muscogee	73	2	24%	13.9	110
4	Floyd	72	4	25%	12.7	85
5	Troup	72	3	21%	14	100
6	Meriwether	71	3	23%	12.9	101
7	Terrell	71	1	30%	13.1	133
8	Calhoun	70	1	28%	12.8	136
9	Heard	69	3	18%	14.3	96
10	Stephens	69	3	18%	14.3	93
11	Glascock	68	2	28%	12.4	106
12	Jefferson	67	2	25%	12.2	111
13	Elbert	66	2	24%	12.8	102
14	Randolph	66	1	25%	12.9	127
15	Chattahoochee	65	2	20%	13.1	112
16	DeKalb	64	3	15%	13.7	101
17	Early	64	1	18%	13.2	139
18	Clay	63	1	18%	13.4	134
19	Dougherty	63	1	23%	12.2	140
20	Fulton	63	3	15%	13.5	100
21	Habersham	63	4	12%	18	70
22	Rabun	63	8	10%	19.7	35
23	Talbot	63	2	23%	12.5	102
24	Washington	63	2	24%	12	113
25	Whitfield	63	5	14%	13.3	86
26	Polk	62	4	24%	11.4	89
27	Taliaferro	62	2	34%	11.8	100
28	Turner	62	1	25%	12.1	128
29	Banks	61	3	13%	15.1	96
30	Burke	61	2	21%	12.1	116
31	Dade	61	6	11%	13.9	80
32	Fannin	61	12	9%	16	18
33	Richmond	61	1	21%	12.9	120
34	Carroll	60	3	12%	15.2	89
35	Haralson	60	4	16%	12.7	80
36	Murray	60	6	9%	16.7	77
37	Spalding	60	2	18%	12.7	105
38	Stewart	60	1	21%	13.1	114
39	Clarke	59	2	14%	15.4	100
40	Pickens	59	7	8%	14.7	60
41	Sumter	59	1	22%	12.2	128
42	Upson	59	2	32%	11.3	103
43	Catoosa	58	5	11%	13.1	88
44	Gordon	58	6	10%	13.7	81
45	Towns	58	10	7%	17.2	16
46	Warren	58	2	26%	11.4	102
47	White	58	6	7%	19.3	52
48	Gilmer	57	9	6%	17.3	34
49	Greene	57	2	15%	13.1	102
50	Madison	57	3	10%	13.9	97
51	Union	57	10	6%	17.4	15
52	Wilkes	57	2	25%	11.3	103
53	Franklin	56	3	15%	12.5	96
54	Hall	56	3	8%	16.4	84
55	Lumpkin	56	7	4%	18.3	44
56	Bibb	55	2	27%	9.9	110
57	Dawson	55	7	5%	16.3	58
58	Screven	55	1	23%	11.7	122
59	Barrow	54	3	7%	14.6	97
60	Hart	54	3	15%	12.1	96
61	Mitchell	54	0	23%	11.9	138
62	Oglethorpe	54	2	13%	13.9	99
63	Clayton	53	3	8%	13.1	105
64	Morgan	53	2	15%	12.4	102
65	Pike	53	2	15%	12.2	103
66	Treutlen	53	1	16%	12.6	127
67	Wilcox	53	1	23%	11.3	129
68	Coweta	52	3	8%	13.1	102
69	Crisp	52	1	20%	11.6	130
70	Jenkins	52	1	22%	11.5	119
71	Quitman	52	1	12%	13.6	125
72	Walton	52	3	8%	13.5	97
73	Wheeler	52	0	22%	12.2	131
74	Worth	52	1	16%	12	132
75	Brooks	51	0	16%	12.8	133
76	Macon	51	1	24%	11.1	118
77	Tift	51	1	18%	11.9	128
78	Baker	50	0	21%	11.7	139
79	Colquitt	50	0	17%	12.6	131
80	Decatur	50	0	20%	11.8	142
81	Douglas	50	3	4%	14	96
82	Miller	50	0	22%	11.6	140
83	Thomas	50	0	19%	11.9	138
84	Harris	49	2	10%	13.1	102
85	Johnson	49	1	18%	11.8	118
86	Lamar	49	2	17%	11.6	102
87	Oconee	49	2	7%	15	101
88	Peach	49	2	18%	10.5	112
89	Rockdale	49	3	6%	13.3	100
90	Chatham	48	0	24%	10.3	146
91	Dodge	48	1	20%	11	127
92	Dooly	48	1	19%	11.3	125
93	Evans	48	0	18%	12.2	131
94	Fayette	48	3	2%	13.2	105
95	Forsyth	48	4	2%	13.7	80
96	Montgomery	48	0	17%	12.4	131
97	Webster	48	1	9%	13.7	119
98	Candler	47	0	18%	12.1	128
99	Emanuel	47	1	15%	11.9	123
100	Jackson	47	2	6%	14.3	99
101	Lincoln	47	2	13%	11.8	107
102	Wilkinson	47	1	21%	10.6	118
103	Gwinnett	46	3	2%	13.5	94
104	Irwin	46	0	20%	11.7	129
105	McDuffie	46	2	13%	11.7	105
106	Taylor	46	2	14%	11.4	108
107	Henry	45	3	3%	12.6	104
108	Telfair	45	0	23%	10.5	133
109	Bartow	44	4	11%	11.3	84
110	Clinch	44	0	24%	9.1	134
111	Marion	44	2	6%	12.6	109
112	Seminole	44	0	10%	12.8	144
113	Bacon	43	0	23%	9.8	134
114	Cherokee	43	5	3%	12.2	80
115	Hancock	43	2	10%	11.7	105
116	Tattnall	43	0	16%	11.7	133
117	Ware	43	0	23%	9.3	138
118	Cobb	42	3	5%	12.2	96
119	Jasper	42	2	13%	11.3	102
120	Newton	42	3	7%	11.9	100
121	Schley	42	1	13%	11.9	116
122	Ben Hill	41	0	20%	10.5	132
123	Berrien	41	0	17%	11.5	128
124	Columbia	41	2	3%	12.5	113
125	Cook	41	0	16%	11.6	128
126	Grady	41	0	15%	11.5	141
127	Pulaski	41	1	16%	10.4	125
128	Toombs	41	0	13%	12.1	132
129	Baldwin	40	2	11%	10.8	112
130	Butts	40	2	10%	11.5	103
131	Crawford	40	2	11%	11.2	107
132	Laurens	39	1	14%	10.6	125
133	Monroe	39	2	12%	11.1	102
134	Glynn	38	0	17%	9.3	156
135	Bleckley	36	1	14%	10.1	121
136	Lee	36	1	2%	12	135
137	Lowndes	36	0	10%	12	130
138	Paulding	36	4	4%	11.3	90
139	Twiggs	36	1	15%	10.1	117
140	Appling	35	0	13%	11.1	134
141	Bulloch	35	0	10%	12.1	128
142	Charlton	34	0	15%	9.1	144
143	Putnam	34	2	10%	10.1	106
144	Wayne	34	0	15%	9.9	136
145	Jones	32	2	8%	10	107
146	Atkinson	30	0	12%	10.6	131
147	Coffee	30	0	13%	9.7	132
148	Houston	29	1	8%	10.2	119
149	Jeff Davis	29	0	13%	9.9	132
150	Lanier	29	0	10%	11.4	128
151	Brantley	28	0	8%	10.6	138
152	Camden	28	0	7%	10.8	155
153	Effingham	28	0	5%	11.8	132
154	McIntosh	27	0	9%	9.7	152
155	Long	26	0	7%	10.5	138
156	Pierce	26	0	8%	10.5	136
157	Bryan	24	0	4%	10.9	139
158	Liberty	23	0	5%	10.4	142
159	Echols	21	0	7%	9.1	133

Methodology

For each county with weather data, we convert four factors to a percentile rank among those counties (0 = lowest, 100 = highest), then take a weighted average:

Pipe-freeze nights (nights ≤ 20°F / yr), weight 30%
Homes built before 1960 (% of homes), weight 30%
Heavy-rain days (days ≥ 1 in / yr), weight 25%
Muggy nights (nights ≥ 65°F / yr), weight 15%

Freezing weather and old plumbing get the most weight because burst and failing supply lines are among the most common causes of household water damage. Heavy rain drives basement flooding and sewer backups, and warm, muggy nights mark the humid air that lets mold follow. The index is relative: a low score means lower risk than other Georgia counties, not no risk.

Limits: weather values are county-wide averages, so hollows, ridges and lakeshores can differ; ACS housing figures are survey estimates; the index doesn't account for floodplains, soil, or local sewer systems. Full details on our data sources page.

Cite this data

You're welcome to use these figures with attribution. Suggested citation:

Local Water & Mold, "Georgia Water Damage Risk Index 2026," https://localwatermold.com/georgia/georgia-water-damage-risk/. Data: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024; NOAA nClimGrid-Daily 2015–2024.