Kane County, Illinois · Geneva
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Kane County averages 48 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly November to March, and 24% of its homes predate 1960.
Heavy rain days of an inch or more come about 7.2 times a year here, most often in June. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
24% of homes here predate 1960, when clay and cast iron sewer laterals were standard. Roots and cracks in those lines are a common cause of backups.
In Kane County, 3.51 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
2% of occupied homes in Kane County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Illinois county median of 16.5%.
With 30 muggy nights a year, mold in Kane County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
About 517,255 people live in Kane County, 519 square miles in northeast Illinois, in roughly 190,921 homes. Geneva is the county seat; Aurora, Elgin and Carpentersville are the next largest communities. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1985.
38/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Kane County ranks 87 of 102 Illinois counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Kane County ranks highest compared with other Illinois counties.
Kane is on the colder side of Illinois for pipes. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 48 nights a year at or below 20°F (9th of 102) and 129 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 19 days below freezing (ending March 2015), and the low bottomed out near -26°F on January 31, 2019.
Expect the hardest freezes in January, inside a season that runs November to March. That's when an outdoor spigot left connected to a hose, or a pipe in a crawl space, is most likely to split.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Oct 23 and the last spring freeze around Apr 26.
Kane gets fewer downpours than most Illinois counties, but they still fill basements. About 7.2 days a year bring an inch or more (76th of 102), most often in June, out of 39.4 inches of total precipitation. On October 15, 2017, 3.51 inches fell in a single day. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 4.25 inches (through June 16, 2015).
About 90 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
Illinois's 102 counties range widely in housing age; Kane ranks 94th, with 45% of its homes built before 1980.
Since 2000 the county has added enough housing that 30% of homes are that new. Modern PEX and copper rarely fail on their own; the leaks come from connections, appliances and storms.
About 25% 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 30 times a year here, below the Illinois county median of 51. 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 Kane County's occupied homes: 86% utility gas, 12% electric, 2% propane and under 1% wood. Heating equipment, cooking and electrical failures cause most home fires nationally. Even a small kitchen fire can leave soot through the whole house, because smoke follows air currents into closets, ducts and attic space.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Kane County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
DeKalb and McHenry get more pipe-freeze nights than Kane. Cook County has the oldest housing nearby, with 73% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Kane | Illinois median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 24% | 38% | 92 of 102 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 45% | 66% | 94 of 102 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 30% | 15% | 5 of 102 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 0.8% | 5.6% | 98 of 102 |
| Vacant homes | 3.3% | 11% | 100 of 102 |
| Wood or propane heat | 1.6% | 17% | 99 of 102 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 48/yr | 35/yr | 9 of 102 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 7.2/yr | 8.4/yr | 76 of 102 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 90/yr | 81/yr | 7 of 102 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 30/yr | 51/yr | 91 of 102 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Illinois county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Kane County: freezing from November to March, heavy rain in May, June and July.
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