Cabarrus County, North Carolina · Concord
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Pipes freeze in Cabarrus County on about 5 nights a year, mostly December to January. Older homes, 16% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Basements flood here mostly in May. Cabarrus County averages 10.4 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Cabarrus County gets about 10.4 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
Roof leaks here come from summer downpours and, with about 56 freeze-thaw days a year, from winter ice dams. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
3% of occupied homes in Cabarrus County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the North Carolina county median of 11.7%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 87 times a year in Cabarrus County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
Cabarrus County covers 361 square miles of central North Carolina, with about 236,133 residents and 93,691 homes. Besides Concord, the county seat, the biggest communities are Kannapolis, Harrisburg and Midland. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1997.
39/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Cabarrus County ranks 82 of 100 North Carolina counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Cabarrus County ranks highest compared with other North Carolina counties.
For frozen pipes, Cabarrus County is a typical North Carolina county, which is still plenty. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 5 nights a year at or below 20°F (50th of 100) and 57 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
Expect the hardest freezes in January, inside a season that runs December to January. That's when an outdoor spigot left connected to a hose, or a pipe in a crawl space, is most likely to split.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Nov 7 and the last spring freeze around Mar 29.
Cabarrus gets fewer downpours than most North Carolina counties, but they still fill basements. Of roughly 49 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 10.4 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 82nd of 100. May, September and October see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 3.66 inches, September 17, 2018. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 7.02 inches (through September 17, 2018).
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 56 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
North Carolina's 100 counties range widely in housing age; Cabarrus ranks 80th, with 30% of its homes built before 1980.
46% of homes were built in 2000 or later, more than in most of North Carolina. Newer plumbing rarely corrodes, so damage here tends to come from appliance supply lines, water heaters, sump pumps and storms.
About 24% of homes went up between 1980 and 1999. Some houses from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s were plumbed with polybutylene, a gray plastic pipe known for failing at fittings. A plumber can tell you in a few minutes whether you have it.
Beyond water
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 87 times a year here, close to the North Carolina county median of 88.5. 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 Cabarrus County's occupied homes: 40% utility gas, 56% electric, 2% propane and under 1% 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 Cabarrus County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Iredell and Rowan get more pipe-freeze nights than Cabarrus. Stanly County has the oldest housing nearby, with 56% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Cabarrus | North Carolina median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 16% | 18% | 57 of 100 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 30% | 41% | 80 of 100 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 46% | 26% | 10 of 100 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 5.8% | 17% | 91 of 100 |
| Vacant homes | 10% | 13% | 73 of 100 |
| Wood or propane heat | 2.8% | 12% | 95 of 100 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 5/yr | 5/yr | 50 of 100 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 10/yr | 12/yr | 82 of 100 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 56/yr | 57/yr | 51 of 100 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 87/yr | 89/yr | 52 of 100 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest North Carolina county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Cabarrus County: freezing from December to January, heavy rain in May, 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