Perry County, Missouri · Perryville
Water spreading, a burst pipe, sewage, mold or smoke? Call to be connected with a restoration company that serves Perryville, Shakertowne and Altenburg. 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.
With 25% of homes built before 1960 and about 22 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
March brings the most downpours to Perry County, part of 12.3 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
25% 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.
Perry County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 4.15 inches, and about 72 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
26% of occupied homes in Perry County heat mainly with wood or propane, close to the Missouri county median of 24.5%.
About 71 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
About 18,976 people live in Perry County, 474 square miles in eastern Missouri, in roughly 8,552 homes. The county seat is Perryville, and Shakertowne, Altenburg and Brewer round out the largest towns. Half the homes here were built before 1978, half after.
52/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Perry County ranks 52 of 114 Missouri counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Perry County ranks highest compared with other Missouri counties.
Winters here are on the gentler end for Missouri, and pipes still freeze. From 2015–2024 it averaged 22 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 85 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 86th of 114 counties.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 13 days below freezing (ending February 2021), and the low bottomed out near -7°F on February 19, 2015.
Most freezing nights fall from November to February, peaking in January. Disconnect garden hoses and shut off outdoor spigots before the first hard frost, and keep the heat at 55°F or higher if you'll be away.
Freezing nights typically start around Oct 28 and end around Apr 6.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Missouri. The county gets about 47.9 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 12.3 days of an inch or more (24th of 114). Those downpours cluster in March, April and July, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 4.15 inches on April 30, 2017. The worst three-day stretch dropped 8.08 inches, ending May 1, 2017, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
Freeze-thaw days, below freezing overnight and above it by afternoon, come about 72 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
54% of homes in Perry County predate 1980, close to the Missouri county median of 53%, which ranks 54th of Missouri's 114 counties.
Housing age is mixed: 25% of homes are pre-1960 and 22% are 2000 or newer. Ask any plumber which era your house is from and you'll know which failures to watch for.
The 1980s and 1990s account for 24% of the county's homes. If yours is from those decades, look under the sinks and at the water heater for gray plastic pipe stamped PB, which is polybutylene and leak-prone.
Manufactured and mobile homes make up 10% 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 71 times a year here, above the Missouri county median of 64.5. 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 Perry County's occupied homes: 29% utility gas, 45% electric, 17% propane and 9% wood. Wood heat is more common here than in most Missouri counties. Heating equipment is one of the leading causes of home fires nationally, and the NFPA recommends having chimneys and vents inspected every year.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Perry County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Madison, St. Francois and Ste. Genevieve get more pipe-freeze nights than Perry. Madison County has the oldest housing nearby, with 55% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Perry | Missouri median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 25% | 25% | 62 of 114 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 54% | 53% | 54 of 114 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 22% | 21% | 54 of 114 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 10% | 9.8% | 53 of 114 |
| Vacant homes | 12% | 15% | 81 of 114 |
| Wood or propane heat | 26% | 25% | 58 of 114 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 22/yr | 28/yr | 86 of 114 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 12/yr | 10/yr | 24 of 114 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 72/yr | 77/yr | 88 of 114 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 71/yr | 65/yr | 27 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 Perry County: freezing from November to February, heavy rain in March, April and July.
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