Muscatine County, Iowa · Muscatine
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With 40% of homes built before 1960 and about 54 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
September brings the most downpours to Muscatine County, part of 7.7 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
40% 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 Muscatine County, 3.09 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
12% of occupied homes in Muscatine County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Iowa county median of 22.1%.
About 35 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
With 18,454 homes and around 42,559 residents, Muscatine County is 437 square miles of southeast Iowa. Muscatine is the county seat; West Liberty, Wilton and Kent Estates are the next largest communities. The county's median home was built in 1970.
41/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Muscatine County ranks 76 of 99 Iowa counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Muscatine County ranks highest compared with other Iowa counties.
Muscatine County is milder than most of Iowa, but not mild enough to skip winterizing. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 54 nights a year at or below 20°F (71st of 99) and 137 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 16 days below freezing (ending February 2021), and the low bottomed out near -31°F on January 31, 2019.
The freeze season here runs November to March, with January the coldest. If you travel then, leave the thermostat at 55°F or above and open sink cabinets on outside walls.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Oct 22 and the last spring freeze around Apr 24.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Iowa. Of roughly 36.8 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 7.7 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 27th of 99. June, July and September see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 3.09 inches, August 12, 2016. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 3.97 inches (through June 22, 2018).
About 97 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
Iowa's 99 counties range widely in housing age; Muscatine ranks 74th, with 65% of its homes built before 1980.
Older and newer homes sit side by side here: 40% predate 1960 and 14% are from 2000 or later. Corroded pipe is the typical failure in the first group, burst supply hoses in the second.
Beyond water
About 35 nights a year in Muscatine County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (33rd of 99 counties). June is the wettest month. 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 expectMain heating fuel in Muscatine County's occupied homes: 70% utility gas, 17% electric, 11% 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 Muscatine County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Cedar and Johnson get more pipe-freeze nights than Muscatine. Louisa County has the oldest housing nearby, with 70% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Muscatine | Iowa median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 40% | 48% | 81 of 99 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 65% | 73% | 74 of 99 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 14% | 13% | 47 of 99 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 5.7% | 3.2% | 15 of 99 |
| Vacant homes | 6% | 9.5% | 92 of 99 |
| Wood or propane heat | 12% | 22% | 86 of 99 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 54/yr | 62/yr | 71 of 99 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 7.7/yr | 7.1/yr | 27 of 99 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 97/yr | 94/yr | 11 of 99 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 35/yr | 29/yr | 33 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 Muscatine County: freezing from November to March, heavy rain in June, 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