Jones County, Mississippi · Ellisville
Water spreading, a burst pipe, sewage, mold or smoke? Call to be connected with a restoration company that serves Laurel, Ellisville and Sharon. Start the steps below while you wait.
Answered 24/7 by a participating local provider. We're a referral service and don't do the work ourselves. How it works
Start here
Pick the closest match. These steps limit the damage and protect your insurance claim. Skip anything that isn't safe.
Jones County averages 2 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly midwinter, and 18% of its homes predate 1960.
Heavy rain days of an inch or more come about 17.7 times a year here, most often in April. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
18% 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 Jones County, 6.27 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
10% of occupied homes in Jones County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Mississippi county median of 15.1%.
About 128 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
Jones County covers 695 square miles of southeast Mississippi, with about 66,472 residents and 28,826 homes. Besides Ellisville, the county seat, the biggest communities are Laurel, Sharon and Soso. The county's median home was built in 1981.
59/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Jones County ranks 19 of 82 Mississippi counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Jones County ranks highest compared with other Mississippi counties.
For frozen pipes, Jones County is a typical Mississippi county, which is still plenty. It averaged 31 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 2 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 47th.
The freeze season here runs midwinter, 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 Nov 17 and the last spring freeze around Mar 7.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Mississippi. The county gets about 63 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 17.7 days of an inch or more (15th of 82). Those downpours cluster in January, February and April, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 6.27 inches on March 11, 2016. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 7.65 inches (through March 12, 2016).
Freeze-thaw days, below freezing overnight and above it by afternoon, come about 30 times a year here. They're the main driver of ice dams and of water working its way through foundation cracks in late winter.
Housing
Mississippi's 82 counties range widely in housing age; Jones ranks 27th, with 48% of its homes built before 1980.
Housing age is mixed: 18% of homes are pre-1960 and 26% are 2000 or newer. Ask any plumber which era your house is from and you'll know which failures to watch for.
About 26% 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.
21% of homes are manufactured or mobile homes, close to the Mississippi county median of 20%. 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
Jones County averages 128 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in April. 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 expectBy main heating fuel, Jones County homes break down as 25% utility gas, 64% electric, 9% propane and under 1% wood. Heating equipment, cooking and electrical failures cause most home fires nationally. Even a small kitchen fire can leave soot through the whole house, because smoke follows air currents into closets, ducts and attic space.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Jones County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Smith gets more pipe-freeze nights than Jones. Its housing is the oldest in the area by share of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Jones | Mississippi median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 18% | 15% | 20 of 82 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 48% | 45% | 27 of 82 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 26% | 23% | 32 of 82 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 21% | 20% | 40 of 82 |
| Vacant homes | 13% | 17% | 64 of 82 |
| Wood or propane heat | 10% | 15% | 56 of 82 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 2/yr | 3/yr | 47 of 82 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 18/yr | 16/yr | 15 of 82 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 30/yr | 32/yr | 44 of 82 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 128/yr | 125/yr | 38 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 Jones County: freezing from midwinter, heavy rain in January, February and April.
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