Crawford County, Ohio · Bucyrus
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With 52% of homes built before 1960 and about 36 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
June brings the most downpours to Crawford County, part of 4.2 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
52% 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.
Crawford County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 3.57 inches, and about 83 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
16% of occupied homes in Crawford County heat mainly with wood or propane, close to the Ohio county median of 15.9%.
With 30 muggy nights a year, mold in Crawford County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
About 41,711 people live in Crawford County, 402 square miles in central Ohio, in roughly 19,812 homes. The county seat is Bucyrus, and Galion, Crestline and New Washington round out the largest towns. It has some of the oldest housing in the state: the median home went up in 1959.
65/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Crawford County ranks 8 of 88 Ohio counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Crawford County ranks highest compared with other Ohio counties.
Crawford County gets more hard-freeze nights than most of Ohio. From 2015–2024 it averaged 36 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 112 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 7th of 88 counties.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 19 days below freezing (ending March 2015), and the low bottomed out near -11°F on February 20, 2015.
Expect the hardest freezes in January, inside a season that runs November to March. That's when an outdoor spigot left connected to a hose, or a pipe in a crawl space, is most likely to split.
Freezing nights typically start around Oct 26 and end around Apr 23.
Crawford gets fewer downpours than most Ohio counties, but they still fill basements. The county gets about 40.2 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 4.2 days of an inch or more (72nd of 88). Those downpours cluster in May, June and July, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 3.57 inches on August 24, 2023. The worst three-day stretch dropped 4.41 inches, ending August 26, 2023, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
About 83 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
80% of homes in Crawford County predate 1980, above the Ohio county median of 61.1%, which ranks 3rd of Ohio's 88 counties.
52% 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
About 30 nights a year in Crawford County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (65th of 88 counties). May is the wettest month. 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 Crawford County's occupied homes: 59% utility gas, 20% electric, 12% propane and 4% wood. Most homes here heat with gas or electricity, so cooking and electrical faults are the likelier fire sources. Even a contained kitchen fire can send soot through the ductwork to every room.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Crawford County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Morrow and Richland get more pipe-freeze nights than Crawford. Its housing is the oldest in the area by share of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Crawford | Ohio median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 52% | 37% | 3 of 88 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 80% | 61% | 3 of 88 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 8.9% | 17% | 84 of 88 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 2.9% | 5.9% | 71 of 88 |
| Vacant homes | 8.8% | 8.4% | 39 of 88 |
| Wood or propane heat | 16% | 16% | 47 of 88 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 36/yr | 31/yr | 7 of 88 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 4.2/yr | 5.7/yr | 72 of 88 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 83/yr | 82/yr | 38 of 88 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 30/yr | 35/yr | 65 of 88 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Ohio county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Crawford County: freezing from November to March, heavy rain in May, June 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