Stanton County, Kansas · Johnson City
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With 37% of homes built before 1960 and about 49 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
July brings the most downpours to Stanton County, part of 2.8 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
37% 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 Stanton County, 2.44 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 Stanton County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Kansas county median of 16.9%.
About 28 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
Stanton County covers 680 square miles of southwest Kansas, with about 2,038 residents and 1,029 homes. Johnson City is the county seat; Manter and Big Bow are the next largest communities. The county's median home was built in 1968.
35/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Stanton County ranks 101 of 105 Kansas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Stanton County ranks highest compared with other Kansas counties.
Stanton is on the colder side of Kansas for pipes. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 49 nights a year at or below 20°F (22nd of 105) and 134 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 11 days below freezing (ending February 2021), and the low bottomed out near -20°F on February 15, 2021.
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 23 and the last spring freeze around Apr 17.
Stanton gets fewer downpours than most Kansas counties, but they still fill basements. About 2.8 days a year bring an inch or more (100th of 105), most often in July, out of 17.3 inches of total precipitation. On October 22, 2015, 2.44 inches fell in a single day. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 2.69 inches (through July 31, 2017).
About 122 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
Kansas's 105 counties range widely in housing age; Stanton ranks 87th, with 59% of its homes built before 1980.
The mix runs from 37% built before 1960 to 15% built since 2000, so older neighborhoods bring aging pipe while newer subdivisions bring failed appliance lines and water heaters.
The 1980s and 1990s account for 26% of the county's homes. If yours is from those decades, look under the sinks and at the water heater for gray plastic pipe stamped PB, which is polybutylene and leak-prone.
23% of homes are manufactured or mobile homes, above the Kansas county median of 5.6%. Their water lines run under the floor behind the skirting, so a torn skirt or failed heat tape freezes them faster than lines in a site-built house.
Beyond water
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 28 times a year here, below the Kansas county median of 59. 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 expectHeating fuel matters for fire risk. In Stanton County it's 79% utility gas, 13% electric, 2% 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 Stanton County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Grant and Hamilton get more pipe-freeze nights than Stanton. Morton County has the oldest housing nearby, with 81% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Stanton | Kansas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 37% | 48% | 76 of 105 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 59% | 74% | 87 of 105 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 15% | 11% | 31 of 105 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 23% | 5.6% | 3 of 105 |
| Vacant homes | 17% | 15% | 38 of 105 |
| Wood or propane heat | 1.9% | 17% | 104 of 105 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 49/yr | 39/yr | 22 of 105 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 2.8/yr | 6.8/yr | 100 of 105 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 122/yr | 97/yr | 13 of 105 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 28/yr | 59/yr | 93 of 105 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Kansas county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Stanton County: freezing from November to March, heavy rain in March, April and July.
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