Livingston County, Michigan · Howell
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With 14% of homes built before 1960 and about 48 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
August brings the most downpours to Livingston County, part of 4 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
14% 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 Livingston County, 2.97 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
11% of occupied homes in Livingston County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Michigan county median of 29%.
With 20 muggy nights a year, mold in Livingston County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
Livingston County covers 565 square miles of southeast Michigan, with about 195,833 residents and 80,367 homes. Howell is the county seat; Brighton, Fowlerville and Pinckney are the next largest communities. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1991.
37/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Livingston County ranks 71 of 83 Michigan counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Livingston County ranks highest compared with other Michigan counties.
For frozen pipes, Livingston County is a typical Michigan county, which is still plenty. From 2015–2024 it averaged 48 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 134 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 48th of 83 counties.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 21 days below freezing (ending March 2015), and the low bottomed out near -19°F on February 20, 2015.
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 20 and the last spring freeze around Apr 30.
Rainfall is about average for Michigan. About 4 days a year bring an inch or more (36th of 83), most often in August, out of 35.1 inches of total precipitation. On August 16, 2016, 2.97 inches fell in a single day. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 3.58 inches (through September 24, 2021).
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 95 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
Roughly 37% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Livingston among the newer housing stocks of Michigan's 83 counties.
Growth since 2000 added 30% 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.
About 33% of homes went up between 1980 and 1999. Some houses from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s were plumbed with polybutylene, a gray plastic pipe known for failing at fittings. A plumber can tell you in a few minutes whether you have it.
Beyond water
Livingston County averages 20 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in August. 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 Livingston County's occupied homes: 78% utility gas, 10% electric, 9% propane and 2% 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 Livingston County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Livingston gets more pipe-freeze nights than any of its neighbors. Shiawassee County has the oldest housing nearby, with 70% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Livingston | Michigan median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 14% | 32% | 83 of 83 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 37% | 58% | 83 of 83 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 30% | 16% | 3 of 83 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 5.8% | 7.3% | 56 of 83 |
| Vacant homes | 4.9% | 20% | 80 of 83 |
| Wood or propane heat | 11% | 29% | 69 of 83 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 48/yr | 54/yr | 48 of 83 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 4/yr | 3.9/yr | 36 of 83 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 95/yr | 95/yr | 42 of 83 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 20/yr | 10/yr | 20 of 83 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Michigan county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Livingston 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