Boone County, Iowa · Boone
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With 50% of homes built before 1960 and about 60 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
May brings the most downpours to Boone County, part of 6.9 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
50% 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 Boone County, 2.84 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
21% of occupied homes in Boone County heat mainly with wood or propane, close to the Iowa county median of 22.1%.
With 32 muggy nights a year, mold in Boone County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
About 26,668 people live in Boone County, 570 square miles in central Iowa, in roughly 12,041 homes. Besides Boone, the county seat, the biggest communities are Madrid, Ogden and Boxholm. The county's median home was built in 1960.
51/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Boone County ranks 44 of 99 Iowa counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Boone County ranks highest compared with other Iowa counties.
For frozen pipes, Boone County is a typical Iowa county, which is still plenty. It averaged 139 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 60 of them at 20°F or colder, cold enough for pipes in outside walls and crawl spaces to freeze. Among 99 Iowa counties that's 52nd.
On January 31, 2019 the low fell to about -23°F, and in the stretch ending February 2021 the county went 18 days in a row below freezing. Leaks from split pipes typically appear the day the thaw arrives.
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 15 and the last spring freeze around Apr 23.
Rainfall is about average for Iowa. Of roughly 35.1 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 6.9 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 58th of 99. May, June and August see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 2.84 inches, September 16, 2016. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 4.14 inches (through June 21, 2018).
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 94 days a year. Each cycle melts and refreezes water at roof edges and in foundation cracks, which is how ice dams and basement seepage get started.
Housing
69% of homes in Boone County predate 1980, close to the Iowa county median of 72.8%, which ranks 58th of Iowa's 99 counties.
Housing age is mixed: 50% of homes are pre-1960 and 15% are 2000 or newer. Ask any plumber which era your house is from and you'll know which failures to watch for.
Beyond water
Boone County averages 32 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in May. 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 Boone County's occupied homes: 57% utility gas, 20% electric, 20% propane and under 1% wood. Fires here are likelier to start in the kitchen or the wiring than in the furnace. After any fire, keep the HVAC off until ducts are checked, or soot will travel through the house.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Boone County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Greene and Webster get more pipe-freeze nights than Boone. Webster County has the oldest housing nearby, with 78% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Boone | Iowa median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 50% | 48% | 42 of 99 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 69% | 73% | 58 of 99 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 15% | 13% | 39 of 99 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 1.6% | 3.2% | 83 of 99 |
| Vacant homes | 9.2% | 9.5% | 53 of 99 |
| Wood or propane heat | 21% | 22% | 59 of 99 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 60/yr | 62/yr | 52 of 99 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 6.9/yr | 7.1/yr | 58 of 99 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 94/yr | 94/yr | 42 of 99 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 32/yr | 29/yr | 37 of 99 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Iowa county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Boone County: freezing from November to March, heavy rain in May, June 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