Franklin County, Mississippi · Meadville
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Franklin County averages 2 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly midwinter, and 22% of its homes predate 1960.
Heavy rain days of an inch or more come about 19.7 times a year here, most often in May. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Franklin County gets about 19.7 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 24 freeze-thaw days a year, from winter ice dams. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
16% of occupied homes in Franklin County heat mainly with wood or propane, close to the Mississippi county median of 15.1%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 132 times a year in Franklin County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
With 4,329 homes and around 7,622 residents, Franklin County is 564 square miles of southwest Mississippi. Besides Meadville, the county seat, the biggest communities are Bude and Roxie. The county's median home was built in 1981.
69/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Franklin County ranks 2 of 82 Mississippi counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Franklin County ranks highest compared with other Mississippi counties.
For frozen pipes, Franklin County is a typical Mississippi county, which is still plenty. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 2 nights a year at or below 20°F (47th of 82) and 24 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
With only about 24 freezing nights a year, many homes here aren't built for cold, so a single arctic outbreak can burst pipes across the county. The record low in this data was about 12°F, on January 17, 2024.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Mississippi. About 19.7 days a year bring an inch or more (4th of 82), most often in May, out of 65.3 inches of total precipitation. On October 26, 2015, 7.92 inches fell in a single day. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 9.69 inches (through October 27, 2015).
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 24 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 48% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Franklin among the oldest housing stocks of Mississippi's 82 counties.
22% were built before 1960. Homes from that era often still have galvanized steel supply pipe, which rusts from the inside until it pinholes, and cast iron drains that crack with age. Slow leaks behind walls are a common start to water damage in these houses.
About 29% 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.
Manufactured and mobile homes make up 22% of the housing here. Water lines in the underbelly depend on intact skirting and working heat tape, and they're usually the first to freeze in a cold snap.
29% of homes were vacant at survey time. A leak in an empty rental or seasonal house can run for days before anyone notices, which is why those losses tend to be larger.
Beyond water
About 132 nights a year in Franklin County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (29th of 82 counties). January 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 Franklin County's occupied homes: 14% utility gas, 70% electric, 14% propane and 2% 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 Franklin County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Franklin gets more pipe-freeze nights than any of its neighbors. It also has the most heavy-rain days in its area. Adams County has the oldest housing nearby, with 69% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Franklin | Mississippi median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 22% | 15% | 10 of 82 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 48% | 45% | 26 of 82 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 23% | 23% | 42 of 82 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 22% | 20% | 36 of 82 |
| Vacant homes | 29% | 17% | 3 of 82 |
| Wood or propane heat | 16% | 15% | 36 of 82 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 2/yr | 3/yr | 47 of 82 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 20/yr | 16/yr | 4 of 82 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 24/yr | 32/yr | 59 of 82 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 132/yr | 125/yr | 29 of 82 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Mississippi county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Franklin County: freezing from midwinter, heavy rain in January, March and May.
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