Licking County, Ohio · Newark
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Licking County averages 32 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly November to March, and 26% of its homes predate 1960.
March brings the most downpours to Licking County, part of 5.8 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
26% 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 Licking County, 2.87 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
11% of occupied homes in Licking County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Ohio county median of 15.9%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 28 times a year in Licking County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
Licking County covers 682 square miles of central Ohio, with about 181,837 residents and 73,273 homes. Besides Newark, the county seat, the biggest communities are Pataskala, Heath and Granville. The county's median home was built in 1980.
38/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Licking County ranks 74 of 88 Ohio counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Licking County ranks highest compared with other Ohio counties.
For frozen pipes, Licking County is a typical Ohio county, which is still plenty. It averaged 112 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 32 of them at 20°F or colder, cold enough for pipes in outside walls and crawl spaces to freeze. Among 88 Ohio counties that's 35th.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 16 days below freezing (ending February 2021), and the low bottomed out near -12°F on February 24, 2015.
Most freezing nights fall from November to March, peaking in January. Disconnect garden hoses and shut off outdoor spigots before the first hard frost, and keep the heat at 55°F or higher if you'll be away.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Oct 23 and the last spring freeze around Apr 23.
Rainfall is about average for Ohio. About 5.8 days a year bring an inch or more (42nd of 88), most often in March, out of 44.2 inches of total precipitation. On June 23, 2016, 2.87 inches fell in a single day. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 4.39 inches (through September 10, 2018).
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 50% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Licking among the newer housing stocks of Ohio's 88 counties.
25% of homes were built in 2000 or later, more than in most of Ohio. 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.
Beyond water
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 28 times a year here, below the Ohio county median of 35. 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 expectHeating fuel matters for fire risk. In Licking County it's 65% utility gas, 22% electric, 8% propane and 2% 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 Licking County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Knox gets more pipe-freeze nights than Licking. Coshocton County has the oldest housing nearby, with 67% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Licking | Ohio median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 26% | 37% | 74 of 88 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 50% | 61% | 75 of 88 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 25% | 17% | 11 of 88 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 4.8% | 5.9% | 49 of 88 |
| Vacant homes | 6.4% | 8.4% | 66 of 88 |
| Wood or propane heat | 11% | 16% | 60 of 88 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 32/yr | 31/yr | 35 of 88 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 5.8/yr | 5.7/yr | 42 of 88 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 88/yr | 82/yr | 12 of 88 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 28/yr | 35/yr | 71 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 Licking County: freezing from November to March, heavy rain in March, May and June.
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