Jackson County, Mississippi · Pascagoula
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Pipes freeze in Jackson County on about 0 nights a year, mostly midwinter. Older homes, 11% of the stock here, are most at risk.
April brings the most downpours to Jackson County, part of 18.4 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
Sewage backups in Jackson County spike on heavy-rain days, about 18.4 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Jackson County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 6.86 inches.
4% of occupied homes in Jackson County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Mississippi county median of 15.1%.
With 152 muggy nights a year, mold in Jackson County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
With 63,558 homes and around 145,249 residents, Jackson County is 723 square miles of southeast Mississippi. Besides Pascagoula, the county seat, the biggest communities are Gautier, Ocean Springs and Moss Point. The county's median home was built in 1984.
44/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Jackson County ranks 54 of 82 Mississippi counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Jackson County ranks highest compared with other Mississippi counties.
Jackson County is milder than most of Mississippi, but not mild enough to skip winterizing. It averaged 13 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 0 of them at 20°F or colder, cold enough for pipes in outside walls and crawl spaces to freeze. Among 82 Mississippi counties that's 80th.
With only about 13 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 17°F, on January 18, 2018.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Mississippi. About 18.4 days a year bring an inch or more (12th of 82), most often in April, out of 68.2 inches of total precipitation. On August 30, 2021, 6.86 inches fell in a single day. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 9.49 inches (through August 31, 2021).
Housing
45% of homes in Jackson County predate 1980, close to the Mississippi county median of 45.1%, which ranks 41st of Mississippi's 82 counties.
30% of homes were built in 2000 or later, more than in most of Mississippi. Newer plumbing rarely corrodes, so damage here tends to come from appliance supply lines, water heaters, sump pumps and storms.
25% 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.
Here 9% of housing is manufactured homes. Check the skirting and the heat tape on the main water line every fall, because that one exposed line is what freezes.
Beyond water
Jackson County averages 152 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in June. 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 expectBy main heating fuel, Jackson County homes break down as 14% utility gas, 81% electric, 3% 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 Jackson County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
George and Stone get more pipe-freeze nights than Jackson. Its housing is the oldest in the area by share of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Jackson | Mississippi median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 11% | 15% | 62 of 82 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 45% | 45% | 41 of 82 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 30% | 23% | 20 of 82 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 8.5% | 20% | 72 of 82 |
| Vacant homes | 9.3% | 17% | 76 of 82 |
| Wood or propane heat | 3.7% | 15% | 80 of 82 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 0/yr | 3/yr | 80 of 82 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 18/yr | 16/yr | 12 of 82 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 13/yr | 32/yr | 80 of 82 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 152/yr | 125/yr | 3 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 Jackson County: freezing from midwinter, heavy rain in April, August and December.
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