Smith County, Mississippi · Raleigh
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With 16% of homes built before 1960 and about 3 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
Basements flood here mostly in January. Smith County averages 16.1 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Sewage backups in Smith County spike on heavy-rain days, about 16.1 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Smith County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 5.7 inches, and about 35 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
24% of occupied homes in Smith County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Mississippi county median of 15.1%.
With 121 muggy nights a year, mold in Smith County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
About 14,132 people live in Smith County, 636 square miles in central Mississippi, in roughly 6,714 homes. Raleigh is the county seat; Taylorsville, Polkville and Mize are the next largest communities. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1986.
52/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Smith County ranks 35 of 82 Mississippi counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Smith County ranks highest compared with other Mississippi counties.
Smith is on the colder side of Mississippi for pipes. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 3 nights a year at or below 20°F (28th of 82) and 36 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
Expect the hardest freezes in January, inside a season that runs January. 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 13 and the last spring freeze around Mar 10.
Rainfall is about average for Mississippi. About 16.1 days a year bring an inch or more (45th of 82), most often in January, out of 62.1 inches of total precipitation. On March 11, 2016, 5.7 inches fell in a single day. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 6.96 inches (through August 25, 2022).
About 35 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
Mississippi's 82 counties range widely in housing age; Smith ranks 55th, with 42% of its homes built before 1980.
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.
About 27% 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 25% 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.
Beyond water
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 121 times a year here, close to the Mississippi county median of 125. 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 Smith County it's 7% utility gas, 69% electric, 23% propane and under 1% wood. Propane heat is more common here than the state median. Have chimneys swept and fuel-burning appliances serviced each fall, and keep three feet clear around stoves and space heaters.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Smith 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 any of its neighbors. All of its neighbors see more heavy-rain days. Jones County has the oldest housing nearby, with 48% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Smith | Mississippi median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 16% | 15% | 36 of 82 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 42% | 45% | 55 of 82 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 31% | 23% | 17 of 82 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 25% | 20% | 26 of 82 |
| Vacant homes | 17% | 17% | 42 of 82 |
| Wood or propane heat | 24% | 15% | 21 of 82 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 3/yr | 3/yr | 28 of 82 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 16/yr | 16/yr | 45 of 82 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 35/yr | 32/yr | 34 of 82 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 121/yr | 125/yr | 46 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 Smith County: freezing from January, 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