Livingston County, Missouri · Chillicothe
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With 40% of homes built before 1960 and about 39 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
July brings the most downpours to Livingston County, part of 10.1 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
40% 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 Livingston County, 6.28 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
21% of occupied homes in Livingston County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Missouri county median of 24.5%.
With 59 muggy nights a year, mold in Livingston County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
Livingston County covers 532 square miles of northwest Missouri, with about 14,364 residents and 6,399 homes. Chillicothe is the county seat; Utica, Chula and Wheeling are the next largest communities. The county's median home was built in 1968.
68/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Livingston County ranks 2 of 114 Missouri counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Livingston County ranks highest compared with other Missouri counties.
Livingston is on the colder side of Missouri for pipes. From 2015–2024 it averaged 39 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 110 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 22nd of 114 counties.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 16 days below freezing (ending January 2018), and the low bottomed out near -13°F on January 15, 2024.
The freeze season here runs November to March, 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 Oct 24 and the last spring freeze around Apr 12.
Rainfall is about average for Missouri. About 10.1 days a year bring an inch or more (60th of 114), most often in July, out of 39.9 inches of total precipitation. On June 25, 2021, 6.28 inches fell in a single day. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 7.32 inches (through June 27, 2021).
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 82 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 69% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Livingston among the oldest housing stocks of Missouri's 114 counties.
40% 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.
Beyond water
Livingston County averages 59 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 expectMain heating fuel in Livingston County's occupied homes: 42% utility gas, 36% electric, 17% propane and 4% wood. Fires here are likelier to start in the kitchen or the wiring than in the furnace. After any fire, keep the HVAC off until ducts are checked, or soot will travel through the house.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Livingston County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Daviess and Grundy get more pipe-freeze nights than Livingston. Carroll County has the oldest housing nearby, with 77% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Livingston | Missouri median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 40% | 25% | 13 of 114 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 69% | 53% | 11 of 114 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 13% | 21% | 105 of 114 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 4.8% | 9.8% | 98 of 114 |
| Vacant homes | 12% | 15% | 79 of 114 |
| Wood or propane heat | 21% | 25% | 73 of 114 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 39/yr | 28/yr | 22 of 114 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 10/yr | 10/yr | 60 of 114 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 82/yr | 77/yr | 32 of 114 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 59/yr | 65/yr | 73 of 114 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Missouri county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Livingston County: freezing from November to March, heavy rain in May, July and August.
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