Jefferson County, Iowa · Fairfield
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With 44% of homes built before 1960 and about 51 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
May brings the most downpours to Jefferson County, part of 6.7 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
44% 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.
Jefferson County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 3.3 inches, and about 93 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
28% of occupied homes in Jefferson County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Iowa county median of 22.1%.
With 37 muggy nights a year, mold in Jefferson County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
With 7,706 homes and around 15,705 residents, Jefferson County is 436 square miles of southeast Iowa. Besides Fairfield, the county seat, the biggest communities are Packwood, Batavia and Lockridge. Half the homes here were built before 1966, half after.
34/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Jefferson County ranks 90 of 99 Iowa counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Jefferson County ranks highest compared with other Iowa counties.
Winters here are on the gentler end for Iowa, and pipes still freeze. It averaged 132 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 51 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 87th.
The longest cold spell was straight 18 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in January 2019. The coldest night reached about -26°F on January 31, 2019. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
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.
Freezing nights typically start around Oct 19 and end around Apr 23.
Rainfall is about average for Iowa. The county gets about 35.1 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 6.7 days of an inch or more (65th of 99). Those downpours cluster in May, July and September, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 3.3 inches on June 10, 2020. The worst three-day stretch dropped 3.68 inches, ending July 31, 2024, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
About 93 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
65% of homes in Jefferson County predate 1980, below the Iowa county median of 72.8%, which ranks 76th of Iowa's 99 counties.
Housing age is mixed: 44% 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.
Renters occupy 32% of homes. If you rent, the building is usually the landlord's to repair, but your belongings are only covered by renters insurance.
Beyond water
Jefferson County averages 37 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in May. Keep indoor humidity under 60%, as the EPA advises, and dry any leak within 24 to 48 hours; in a humid month a wet basement left alone won't dry by itself.
Mold remediation: what to expectHeating fuel matters for fire risk. In Jefferson County it's 48% utility gas, 22% electric, 24% propane and 4% wood. Wood and propane heat are above the Iowa norm. Annual chimney and vent inspection, which the NFPA recommends, is one of the most effective fire-prevention habits for these homes.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Jefferson County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Keokuk and Washington get more pipe-freeze nights than Jefferson. Keokuk County has the oldest housing nearby, with 80% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Jefferson | Iowa median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 44% | 48% | 61 of 99 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 65% | 73% | 76 of 99 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 15% | 13% | 39 of 99 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 6.4% | 3.2% | 12 of 99 |
| Vacant homes | 9.8% | 9.5% | 44 of 99 |
| Wood or propane heat | 28% | 22% | 35 of 99 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 51/yr | 62/yr | 87 of 99 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 6.7/yr | 7.1/yr | 65 of 99 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 93/yr | 94/yr | 54 of 99 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 37/yr | 29/yr | 24 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 Jefferson County: freezing from November to March, heavy rain in May, July and September.
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