Data report · 2026

Indiana Water Damage Risk Index

Where in Indiana is a house most likely to take on water? We combined Census housing age with ten years of daily weather for 92 of Indiana's 92 counties to rank them.

Highest index

Clinton

Score 69 of 100

Most pipe-freeze nights

Steuben

41 nights ≤ 20°F a year

Oldest housing

Benton

58% built before 1960

Most heavy-rain days

Dubois

13.8 days ≥ 1 inch a year

< 4242–4848–5353–58≥ 58 index (0–100)

Key findings

The five highest-scoring counties are Clinton, Benton, Knox, Rush, Montgomery. Each combines old housing with harsher-than-average winters or frequent downpours.
Benton County has the oldest housing in the state, with 58% of homes built before 1960, against a county median of 35%.
Steuben County averaged 41 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the most of any county in the data. The county median is 33.
Hamilton County has the newest housing, with 52% 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	Clinton	69	36	53%	7.2	36
2	Benton	66	40	58%	5.8	33
3	Knox	66	25	48%	12.1	65
4	Rush	64	31	56%	8.8	36
5	Montgomery	63	37	43%	7.3	34
6	Vermillion	63	34	49%	6.8	42
7	Fayette	61	32	48%	8.5	35
8	Cass	60	36	54%	6.1	32
9	LaPorte	60	39	39%	6.6	32
10	Pulaski	60	39	42%	6.6	29
11	Clay	59	31	38%	9.1	48
12	Lake	59	39	39%	6.3	34
13	Tipton	59	35	46%	6.8	33
14	Vanderburgh	59	18	41%	12.6	82
15	Vigo	59	30	43%	8	52
16	Wayne	59	33	51%	7.8	32
17	Carroll	58	36	45%	6.3	35
18	Fountain	58	36	45%	6	37
19	Union	58	32	42%	8.1	37
20	Newton	57	40	40%	5.9	33
21	Pike	57	24	39%	11.5	61
22	Randolph	57	34	52%	6.6	31
23	Daviess	56	27	35%	12.1	55
24	Henry	56	33	49%	7.1	31
25	Jay	56	34	51%	6.2	33
26	Wabash	56	36	51%	5.8	32
27	Gibson	55	21	37%	12.1	73
28	Sullivan	55	28	36%	9.7	60
29	Greene	54	30	31%	11.2	49
30	Huntington	54	35	45%	6.3	31
31	Madison	54	31	42%	7	41
32	Miami	54	35	49%	5.9	33
33	St. Joseph	54	38	42%	6.1	27
34	White	54	38	41%	6	32
35	Blackford	53	34	51%	5.7	36
36	Lawrence	53	29	35%	12.1	40
37	Marion	53	32	33%	8.2	47
38	Parke	53	34	37%	6.9	40
39	Fulton	52	38	45%	5.7	29
40	Grant	52	33	45%	6.1	35
41	Adams	51	35	40%	6.2	33
42	Dubois	51	26	28%	13.8	46
43	Perry	51	24	31%	12.8	50
44	Wells	51	35	38%	6.4	34
45	Shelby	50	28	36%	8.7	45
46	Starke	50	38	35%	6.6	30
47	Warren	50	38	34%	6	36
48	Decatur	49	28	36%	9.1	42
49	Floyd	49	22	28%	12.9	64
50	Howard	49	35	37%	6.6	32
51	Orange	49	29	27%	13.3	38
52	Jackson	48	25	29%	11.7	47
53	Martin	48	29	25%	12.7	43
54	Ohio	48	22	35%	9.2	61
55	Owen	48	31	27%	10.3	43
56	Putnam	48	35	28%	8	35
57	Spencer	48	21	28%	12.7	65
58	DeKalb	47	39	37%	5.7	22
59	Ripley	47	26	35%	8.6	45
60	Washington	47	26	27%	12.2	46
61	Jefferson	46	23	32%	9.4	58
62	Morgan	46	31	25%	9.3	43
63	Noble	46	39	37%	5	25
64	Delaware	45	32	39%	6	38
65	Harrison	45	23	21%	13.3	59
66	Crawford	44	27	19%	13.6	42
67	Jasper	44	40	23%	6.5	31
68	Porter	44	40	19%	6.6	33
69	Posey	44	18	28%	11.4	82
70	Tippecanoe	44	36	23%	7	37
71	Boone	43	37	20%	7	36
72	Marshall	43	38	37%	5.5	26
73	Whitley	43	38	33%	6	26
74	Clark	42	22	21%	12.3	60
75	Steuben	42	41	29%	5.6	19
76	Warrick	42	20	19%	13.1	72
77	Bartholomew	41	26	24%	10	45
78	Brown	40	30	19%	10.4	40
79	Hendricks	40	34	12%	8.1	40
80	Monroe	40	31	17%	10.1	39
81	Scott	40	24	20%	11.2	53
82	Switzerland	40	21	24%	10	66
83	Dearborn	39	25	25%	8.3	52
84	Elkhart	39	38	31%	5	28
85	Franklin	39	30	25%	7.7	42
86	Johnson	39	31	15%	9	44
87	Kosciusko	38	38	30%	4.7	27
88	Hamilton	37	34	7%	7.5	39
89	Hancock	37	31	18%	8.1	42
90	Jennings	37	24	20%	9.9	48
91	Allen	36	36	28%	5.9	30
92	LaGrange	36	38	29%	4.6	26

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