Holmes County, Ohio · Millersburg
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With 25% of homes built before 1960 and about 35 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
June brings the most downpours to Holmes County, part of 5.3 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Holmes County gets about 5.3 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
In Holmes County, 2.71 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
25% of occupied homes in Holmes County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Ohio county median of 15.9%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 25 times a year in Holmes County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
With 14,561 homes and around 44,418 residents, Holmes County is 423 square miles of eastern Ohio. Millersburg is the county seat; Berlin, Killbuck and Walnut Creek are the next largest communities. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1986.
38/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Holmes County ranks 72 of 88 Ohio counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Holmes County ranks highest compared with other Ohio counties.
Holmes County gets more hard-freeze nights than most of Ohio. From 2015–2024 it averaged 35 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 116 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 12th of 88 counties.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 17 days below freezing (ending March 2015), and the low bottomed out near -13°F on February 24, 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 25 and end around Apr 30.
Rainfall is about average for Ohio. The county gets about 42.6 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 5.3 days of an inch or more (55th of 88). Those downpours cluster in June, July and September, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 2.71 inches on August 24, 2023. The worst three-day stretch dropped 4.11 inches, ending September 10, 2018, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
About 88 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 43% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Holmes among the newer housing stocks of Ohio's 88 counties.
Since 2000 the county has added enough housing that 29% of homes are that new. Modern PEX and copper rarely fail on their own; the leaks come from connections, appliances and storms.
About 28% 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
Holmes County averages 25 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in June. 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 expectBy main heating fuel, Holmes County homes break down as 58% utility gas, 14% electric, 10% propane and 15% wood. Wood heat is more common here than the state median. Have chimneys swept and fuel-burning appliances serviced each fall, and keep three feet clear around stoves and space heaters.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Holmes County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Ashland and Knox get more pipe-freeze nights than Holmes. Stark County has the oldest housing nearby, with 71% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Holmes | Ohio median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 25% | 37% | 81 of 88 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 43% | 61% | 84 of 88 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 29% | 17% | 4 of 88 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 6.8% | 5.9% | 35 of 88 |
| Vacant homes | 8% | 8.4% | 50 of 88 |
| Wood or propane heat | 25% | 16% | 15 of 88 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 35/yr | 31/yr | 12 of 88 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 5.3/yr | 5.7/yr | 55 of 88 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 88/yr | 82/yr | 12 of 88 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 25/yr | 35/yr | 79 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 Holmes County: freezing from November to March, heavy rain in June, July and September.
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