Perkins County, Nebraska · Grant
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With 62% of homes built before 1960 and about 63 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
May brings the most downpours to Perkins County, part of 1.9 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Perkins County gets about 1.9 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
In Perkins County, 2.61 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
31% of occupied homes in Perkins County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Nebraska county median of 19.4%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 9 times a year in Perkins County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
With 1,359 homes and around 2,821 residents, Perkins County is 883 square miles of southwest Nebraska. Grant is the county seat; Madrid, Venango and Elsie are the next largest communities. It has some of the oldest housing in the state: the median home went up in 1951.
48/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Perkins County ranks 59 of 93 Nebraska counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Perkins County ranks highest compared with other Nebraska counties.
Pipe-freeze risk in Perkins County sits near the middle of the state. From 2015–2024 it averaged 63 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 155 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 49th of 93 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 -26°F on February 15, 2021.
Most freezing nights fall from November to March, 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 15 and end around May 1.
Perkins gets fewer downpours than most Nebraska counties, but they still fill basements. The county gets about 18.2 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 1.9 days of an inch or more (81st of 93). Those downpours cluster in April, May and August, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 2.61 inches on August 20, 2021. The worst three-day stretch dropped 3.72 inches, ending April 18, 2016, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
About 128 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
Roughly 83% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Perkins among the oldest housing stocks of Nebraska's 93 counties.
62% 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
Perkins County averages 9 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in May. The EPA recommends keeping indoor humidity below 60%, ideally 30 to 50%. Basements can pass 60% on their own in summer, so a dehumidifier matters even without a leak, and anything wet should be dried within 24 to 48 hours.
Mold remediation: what to expectMain heating fuel in Perkins County's occupied homes: 38% utility gas, 29% electric, 29% propane and 2% wood. Propane heat is above the Nebraska norm. Annual chimney and vent inspection, which the NFPA recommends, is one of the most effective fire-prevention habits for these homes.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Perkins County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Lincoln gets more pipe-freeze nights than Perkins. Its housing is the oldest in the area by share of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Perkins | Nebraska median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 62% | 49% | 7 of 93 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 83% | 73% | 10 of 93 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 5.7% | 12% | 85 of 93 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 5.3% | 5% | 39 of 93 |
| Vacant homes | 12% | 14% | 59 of 93 |
| Wood or propane heat | 31% | 19% | 24 of 93 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 63/yr | 64/yr | 49 of 93 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 1.9/yr | 5.1/yr | 81 of 93 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 128/yr | 112/yr | 20 of 93 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 9/yr | 27/yr | 75 of 93 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Nebraska county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Perkins County: freezing from November to March, heavy rain in April, May 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