Breathitt County, Kentucky · Jackson
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Breathitt County averages 18 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly November to February, and 11% of its homes predate 1960.
Basements flood here mostly in February. Breathitt County averages 9.3 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Breathitt County gets about 9.3 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
Roof leaks here come from summer downpours and, with about 76 freeze-thaw days a year, from winter ice dams. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
14% of occupied homes in Breathitt County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Kentucky county median of 12.6%.
About 51 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 6,575 homes and around 13,276 residents, Breathitt County is 492 square miles of eastern Kentucky. Jackson is the county seat. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1989.
24/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Lower Breathitt County ranks 118 of 120 Kentucky counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Breathitt County ranks highest compared with other Kentucky counties.
For frozen pipes, Breathitt County is a typical Kentucky county, which is still plenty. From 2015–2024 it averaged 18 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 84 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 71st of 120 counties.
On February 20, 2015 the low fell to about -15°F, and in the stretch ending January 2018 the county went 9 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 February. 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 Nov 1 and the last spring freeze around Apr 18.
Breathitt gets fewer downpours than most Kentucky counties, but they still fill basements. Of roughly 52.5 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 9.3 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 98th of 120. February, May and July see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 4.55 inches, July 28, 2022. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 7.55 inches (through July 29, 2022).
About 76 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
33% of homes in Breathitt County predate 1980, below the Kentucky county median of 44.1%, which ranks 106th of Kentucky's 120 counties.
Growth since 2000 added 31% of today's homes. In houses that new, the weak points are washing machine hoses, ice maker lines, water heaters and sump pumps rather than the pipes in the walls.
36% date from 1980 to 1999, the window when polybutylene, a gray flexible plastic supply pipe, was used in some homes. It's prone to leaks at the fittings, so it's worth checking for in a house from those years.
41% of homes are manufactured or mobile homes, above the Kentucky county median of 18.5%. 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.
With 17% of homes empty at survey time, landlords and seasonal owners should shut off the main or schedule checks in winter. An unheated vacant house is also where many policies limit freeze coverage.
Beyond water
Breathitt County averages 51 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in July. 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 expectHeating fuel matters for fire risk. In Breathitt County it's 16% utility gas, 59% electric, 7% propane and 7% wood. Wood heat is above the Kentucky 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 Breathitt County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Magoffin and Wolfe get more pipe-freeze nights than Breathitt. Knott County has the oldest housing nearby, with 47% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Breathitt | Kentucky median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 11% | 18% | 102 of 120 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 33% | 44% | 106 of 120 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 31% | 25% | 16 of 120 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 41% | 19% | 2 of 120 |
| Vacant homes | 17% | 13% | 31 of 120 |
| Wood or propane heat | 14% | 13% | 59 of 120 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 18/yr | 20/yr | 71 of 120 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 9.3/yr | 12/yr | 98 of 120 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 76/yr | 73/yr | 31 of 120 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 51/yr | 59/yr | 84 of 120 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Kentucky county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Breathitt County: freezing from November to February, heavy rain in February, May 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