Mahoning County, Ohio · Youngstown
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Pipes freeze in Mahoning County on about 36 nights a year, mostly November to March. Older homes, 46% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Basements flood here mostly in September. Mahoning County averages 4.7 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Mahoning County gets about 4.7 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 95 freeze-thaw days a year, from winter ice dams. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
3% of occupied homes in Mahoning County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Ohio county median of 15.9%.
About 19 nights a year here stay at 65°F or warmer, so basements and crawl spaces can grow mold even without a leak.
Local risk profile
Mahoning County covers 411 square miles of northeast Ohio, with about 226,491 residents and 107,990 homes. Besides Youngstown, the county seat, the biggest communities are Austintown, Struthers and Campbell. The county's median home was built in 1963.
60/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Mahoning County ranks 21 of 88 Ohio counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Mahoning County ranks highest compared with other Ohio counties.
Mahoning is on the colder side of Ohio for pipes. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 36 nights a year at or below 20°F (7th of 88) and 122 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
The longest cold spell was straight 16 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in February 2021. The coldest night reached about -17°F on February 20, 2015. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
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.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Oct 25 and the last spring freeze around May 1.
Mahoning gets fewer downpours than most Ohio counties, but they still fill basements. About 4.7 days a year bring an inch or more (64th of 88), most often in September, out of 41.8 inches of total precipitation. On August 29, 2020, 2.36 inches fell in a single day. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 4.34 inches (through June 16, 2015).
Freeze-thaw days, below freezing overnight and above it by afternoon, come about 95 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
76% of homes in Mahoning County predate 1980, above the Ohio county median of 61.1%, which ranks 6th of Ohio's 88 counties.
46% 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
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 19 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 expectMain heating fuel in Mahoning County's occupied homes: 78% utility gas, 16% electric, 3% propane and under 1% 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 Mahoning County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Trumbull gets more pipe-freeze nights than Mahoning. Trumbull County has the oldest housing nearby, with 77% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Mahoning | Ohio median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 46% | 37% | 14 of 88 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 76% | 61% | 6 of 88 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 9.1% | 17% | 81 of 88 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 1.6% | 5.9% | 79 of 88 |
| Vacant homes | 9.2% | 8.4% | 35 of 88 |
| Wood or propane heat | 3.1% | 16% | 80 of 88 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 36/yr | 31/yr | 7 of 88 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 4.7/yr | 5.7/yr | 64 of 88 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 95/yr | 82/yr | 2 of 88 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 19/yr | 35/yr | 86 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 Mahoning County: freezing from November to March, heavy rain in April, June 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