Oneida County, New York · Utica
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With 54% of homes built before 1960 and about 65 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
Basements flood here mostly in July. Oneida County averages 7.3 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
54% 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.
Oneida County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 2.63 inches, and about 101 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
11% of occupied homes in Oneida County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the New York county median of 19%.
About 8 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
Oneida County covers 1,212 square miles of central New York, with about 229,124 residents and 105,443 homes. Utica is the county seat; Rome, New York Mills and Whitesboro are the next largest communities. It has some of the oldest housing in the state: the median home went up in 1958.
70/100 Water Damage Risk Index: High Oneida County ranks 6 of 57 New York counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Oneida County ranks highest compared with other New York counties.
Oneida County gets more hard-freeze nights than most of New York. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 65 nights a year at or below 20°F (13th of 57) and 152 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
On February 15, 2016 the low fell to about -23°F, and in the stretch ending March 2015 the county went 38 days in a row below freezing. Leaks from split pipes typically appear the day the thaw arrives.
The freeze season here runs November to April, with January the coldest. If you travel then, leave the thermostat at 55°F or above and open sink cabinets on outside walls.
Freezing nights typically start around Oct 15 and end around May 9.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of New York. About 7.3 days a year bring an inch or more (17th of 57), most often in July, out of 49.7 inches of total precipitation. On August 10, 2024, 2.63 inches fell in a single day. The worst three-day stretch dropped 4.32 inches, ending August 20, 2021, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
About 101 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
75% of homes in Oneida County predate 1980, above the New York county median of 66.8%, which ranks 12th of New York's 57 counties.
In Oneida County 54% of homes are older than 1960. If yours is one of them and the plumbing has never been replaced, expect galvanized steel supply pipe and cast iron drain lines, the two materials most likely to fail quietly.
Beyond water
Oneida County averages 8 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in August. Keep indoor humidity under 60%, as the EPA advises, and dry any leak within 24 to 48 hours; in a humid month a wet basement left alone won't dry by itself.
Mold remediation: what to expectBy main heating fuel, Oneida County homes break down as 57% utility gas, 16% electric, 8% propane and 3% wood. Heating equipment, cooking and electrical failures cause most home fires nationally. Even a small kitchen fire can leave soot through the whole house, because smoke follows air currents into closets, ducts and attic space.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Oneida County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Herkimer, Lewis and Otsego get more pipe-freeze nights than Oneida. Its housing is the oldest in the area by share of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Oneida | New York median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 54% | 45% | 11 of 57 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 75% | 67% | 12 of 57 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 10% | 13% | 46 of 57 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 5.5% | 7.6% | 38 of 57 |
| Vacant homes | 9.7% | 14% | 39 of 57 |
| Wood or propane heat | 11% | 19% | 43 of 57 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 65/yr | 55/yr | 13 of 57 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 7.3/yr | 6/yr | 17 of 57 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 101/yr | 101/yr | 27 of 57 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 8/yr | 12/yr | 38 of 57 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest New York county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Oneida County: freezing from November to April, heavy rain in June, 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