Tompkins County, New York · Ithaca
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With 36% of homes built before 1960 and about 55 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
October brings the most downpours to Tompkins County, part of 4.6 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
36% 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 Tompkins County, 3.12 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
18% of occupied homes in Tompkins County heat mainly with wood or propane, close to the New York county median of 19%.
With 11 muggy nights a year, mold in Tompkins County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
Tompkins County covers 475 square miles of central New York, with about 104,537 residents and 47,804 homes. Ithaca is the county seat; South Hill, Cayuga Heights and Lansing are the next largest communities. The county's median home was built in 1974.
33/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Tompkins County ranks 52 of 57 New York counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Tompkins County ranks highest compared with other New York counties.
For frozen pipes, Tompkins County is a typical New York county, which is still plenty. It averaged 143 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 55 of them at 20°F or colder, cold enough for pipes in outside walls and crawl spaces to freeze. Among 57 New York counties that's 28th.
The longest cold spell was straight 22 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in March 2015. The coldest night reached about -16°F on February 24, 2015. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
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.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Oct 16 and the last spring freeze around May 9.
Tompkins gets fewer downpours than most New York counties, but they still fill basements. Of roughly 40.4 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 4.6 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 40th of 57. June, September and October see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 3.12 inches, October 30, 2017. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 4.3 inches (through August 19, 2021).
Freeze-thaw days, below freezing overnight and above it by afternoon, come about 98 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
57% of homes in Tompkins County predate 1980, below the New York county median of 66.8%, which ranks 52nd of New York's 57 counties.
17% of homes were built in 2000 or later, more than in most of New York. Newer plumbing rarely corrodes, so damage here tends to come from appliance supply lines, water heaters, sump pumps and storms.
25% date from 1980 to 1999, the window when polybutylene, a gray flexible plastic supply pipe, was used in some homes. It's prone to leaks at the fittings, so it's worth checking for in a house from those years.
Here 8% of housing is manufactured homes. Check the skirting and the heat tape on the main water line every fall, because that one exposed line is what freezes.
Renters occupy 46% of homes. If you rent, the building is usually the landlord's to repair, but your belongings are only covered by renters insurance.
Beyond water
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 11 times a year here, close to the New York county median of 12. 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 Tompkins County's occupied homes: 46% utility gas, 26% electric, 13% propane and 4% 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 Tompkins County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Cortland gets more pipe-freeze nights than Tompkins. Cortland County has the oldest housing nearby, with 74% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Tompkins | New York median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 36% | 45% | 51 of 57 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 57% | 67% | 52 of 57 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 17% | 13% | 8 of 57 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 7.6% | 7.6% | 28 of 57 |
| Vacant homes | 9.5% | 14% | 40 of 57 |
| Wood or propane heat | 18% | 19% | 32 of 57 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 55/yr | 55/yr | 28 of 57 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 4.6/yr | 6/yr | 40 of 57 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 98/yr | 101/yr | 33 of 57 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 11/yr | 12/yr | 30 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 Tompkins County: freezing from November to April, heavy rain in June, September and October.
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