Data report · 2026

Mississippi Water Damage Risk Index

Where in Mississippi is a house most likely to take on water? We combined Census housing age with ten years of daily weather for 82 of Mississippi's 82 counties to rank them.

Highest index

Washington

Score 73 of 100

Most pipe-freeze nights

Alcorn

9 nights ≤ 20°F a year

Oldest housing

Coahoma

37% built before 1960

Most heavy-rain days

Wayne

20.3 days ≥ 1 inch a year

< 4141–4545–5353–59≥ 59 index (0–100)

Key findings

The five highest-scoring counties are Washington, Franklin, Adams, Forrest, Leflore. Each combines old housing with harsher-than-average winters or frequent downpours.
Coahoma County has the oldest housing in the state, with 37% of homes built before 1960, against a county median of 15%.
Alcorn County averaged 9 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the most of any county in the data. The county median is 3.
Lafayette County has the newest housing, with 50% of homes built since 2000, which pulls its index down even where winters are cold.

Weather: NOAA nClimGrid-Daily county averages, 2015–2024. Housing: ACS 2020-2024.

All counties

Select a column header to sort.

Rank	County	Index	Freeze nights	Pre-1960 homes	Heavy-rain days	Muggy nights
1	Washington	73	3	23%	17.3	131
2	Franklin	69	2	22%	19.7	132
3	Adams	68	2	29%	17.3	135
4	Forrest	68	2	21%	18.9	136
5	Leflore	68	3	28%	16.2	134
6	Wilkinson	67	2	19%	18.7	143
7	Coahoma	66	4	37%	15.7	120
8	Bolivar	65	4	22%	15.9	124
9	Sunflower	65	3	22%	16.3	131
10	Union	65	6	18%	16.8	101
11	Hinds	64	2	25%	16.8	135
12	Pike	64	2	18%	17.7	138
13	Tippah	64	8	17%	16.5	94
14	Quitman	62	4	34%	15.5	118
15	Tishomingo	62	7	16%	16.8	90
16	Prentiss	60	7	15%	16.8	98
17	Attala	59	3	21%	16.3	117
18	Holmes	59	3	18%	16	131
19	Jones	59	2	18%	17.7	128
20	Newton	59	3	17%	16.9	121
21	Itawamba	58	5	13%	17.3	105
22	Tallahatchie	58	4	18%	15.6	122
23	Humphreys	57	2	24%	15.8	137
24	Warren	57	2	22%	15.8	138
25	Yazoo	57	2	23%	15.8	137
26	Alcorn	56	9	14%	16.2	92
27	Amite	56	2	13%	19.2	138
28	Walthall	56	2	14%	17.9	141
29	Marion	55	2	16%	16.7	141
30	Montgomery	55	4	21%	15.4	112
31	Choctaw	54	4	17%	15.8	111
32	Yalobusha	54	5	18%	15.5	110
33	Lincoln	53	2	16%	17.2	133
34	Monroe	52	4	19%	15.3	112
35	Smith	52	3	16%	16.1	121
36	Wayne	52	2	13%	20.3	129
37	Copiah	50	2	18%	16	134
38	Tunica	50	5	10%	16.6	117
39	Chickasaw	49	4	17%	15.4	110
40	Clay	49	3	20%	15.4	116
41	Lauderdale	49	2	20%	15.9	125
42	Pontotoc	49	5	15%	15.6	106
43	Pearl River	48	1	11%	19.8	144
44	Leake	47	3	13%	16.5	118
45	Panola	47	5	17%	14.5	111
46	Scott	47	3	10%	17.4	118
47	Winston	47	3	15%	15.9	116
48	Benton	46	7	12%	15.8	95
49	Clarke	46	2	13%	17.3	128
50	George	45	1	11%	18.4	140
51	Sharkey	45	2	17%	15.6	136
52	Greene	44	1	12%	18.9	134
53	Harrison	44	0	11%	18.9	153
54	Jackson	44	0	11%	18.4	152
55	Lafayette	44	6	7%	16.3	102
56	Stone	44	1	10%	20	140
57	Grenada	43	4	15%	14.6	117
58	Jasper	43	2	12%	17.2	123
59	Noxubee	43	3	17%	14.7	120
60	Oktibbeha	43	3	9%	16.9	119
61	Rankin	43	3	6%	16.9	127
62	Neshoba	42	3	15%	15.6	116
63	Perry	42	1	10%	19.4	135
64	Simpson	42	2	14%	16.2	129
65	Calhoun	41	5	14%	14.7	107
66	Hancock	41	0	7%	19.6	158
67	Jefferson Davis	41	2	9%	17.3	134
68	Lee	41	4	12%	15.7	109
69	Webster	40	4	15%	15	109
70	Lamar	39	2	5%	17.1	138
71	Lowndes	39	3	15%	14.6	119
72	Madison	38	3	6%	16	129
73	Tate	38	6	10%	15.2	110
74	Carroll	37	3	13%	15.3	125
75	Marshall	37	6	9%	15.5	101
76	Claiborne	35	2	12%	15.8	133
77	Covington	35	2	10%	16.4	129
78	Kemper	35	3	13%	14.7	120
79	DeSoto	34	6	3%	15.3	114
80	Jefferson	33	2	5%	16.7	130
81	Lawrence	33	2	11%	15.6	137
82	Issaquena	24	2	8%	15.2	134

Methodology

For each county with weather data, we convert four factors to a percentile rank among those counties (0 = lowest, 100 = highest), then take a weighted average:

Pipe-freeze nights (nights ≤ 20°F / yr), weight 30%
Homes built before 1960 (% of homes), weight 30%
Heavy-rain days (days ≥ 1 in / yr), weight 25%
Muggy nights (nights ≥ 65°F / yr), weight 15%

Freezing weather and old plumbing get the most weight because burst and failing supply lines are among the most common causes of household water damage. Heavy rain drives basement flooding and sewer backups, and warm, muggy nights mark the humid air that lets mold follow. The index is relative: a low score means lower risk than other Mississippi counties, not no risk.

Limits: weather values are county-wide averages, so hollows, ridges and lakeshores can differ; ACS housing figures are survey estimates; the index doesn't account for floodplains, soil, or local sewer systems. Full details on our data sources page.

Cite this data

You're welcome to use these figures with attribution. Suggested citation:

Local Water & Mold, "Mississippi Water Damage Risk Index 2026," https://localwatermold.com/mississippi/mississippi-water-damage-risk/. Data: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024; NOAA nClimGrid-Daily 2015–2024.