Will County, Illinois · Joliet
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Will County averages 42 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly November to March, and 15% of its homes predate 1960.
June brings the most downpours to Will County, part of 7 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Will County gets about 7 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
In Will County, 4.04 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 Will County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Illinois county median of 16.5%.
About 37 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
About 701,462 people live in Will County, 836 square miles in northeast Illinois, in roughly 254,278 homes. The county seat is Joliet, and Bolingbrook, Plainfield and Romeoville round out the largest towns. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1992.
31/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Will County ranks 97 of 102 Illinois counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Will County ranks highest compared with other Illinois counties.
Will County gets more hard-freeze nights than most of Illinois. From 2015–2024 it averaged 42 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 120 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 27th of 102 counties.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 18 days below freezing (ending March 2015), and the low bottomed out near -22°F on January 31, 2019.
Most freezing nights fall from November to March, peaking in January. Disconnect garden hoses and shut off outdoor spigots before the first hard frost, and keep the heat at 55°F or higher if you'll be away.
Freezing nights typically start around Oct 27 and end around Apr 23.
Will gets fewer downpours than most Illinois counties, but they still fill basements. About 7 days a year bring an inch or more (81st of 102), most often in June, out of 39.3 inches of total precipitation. On September 28, 2019, 4.04 inches fell in a single day. The worst three-day stretch dropped 4.97 inches, ending September 30, 2019, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
About 88 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; Will ranks 101st, with 37% of its homes built before 1980.
33% of homes were built in 2000 or later, more than in most of Illinois. Newer plumbing rarely corrodes, so damage here tends to come from appliance supply lines, water heaters, sump pumps and storms.
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
About 37 nights a year in Will County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (80th of 102 counties). May is the wettest month. The EPA recommends keeping indoor humidity below 60%, ideally 30 to 50%. Basements can pass 60% on their own in summer, so a dehumidifier matters even without a leak, and anything wet should be dried within 24 to 48 hours.
Mold remediation: what to expectMain heating fuel in Will County's occupied homes: 88% utility gas, 9% 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 Will County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
DuPage, Grundy and Kendall get more pipe-freeze nights than Will. It also has the most heavy-rain days in its area. Cook County has the oldest housing nearby, with 73% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Will | Illinois median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 15% | 38% | 100 of 102 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 37% | 66% | 101 of 102 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 33% | 15% | 3 of 102 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 1.3% | 5.6% | 94 of 102 |
| Vacant homes | 3.9% | 11% | 98 of 102 |
| Wood or propane heat | 2.1% | 17% | 98 of 102 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 42/yr | 35/yr | 27 of 102 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 7/yr | 8.4/yr | 81 of 102 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 88/yr | 81/yr | 19 of 102 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 37/yr | 51/yr | 80 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 Will County: freezing from November to March, heavy rain in June, July and August.
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