Medina County, Ohio · Medina
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Pipes freeze in Medina County on about 34 nights a year, mostly November to March. Older homes, 20% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Basements flood here mostly in June. Medina County averages 3.7 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Sewage backups in Medina County spike on heavy-rain days, about 3.7 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Roof leaks here come from summer downpours and, with about 80 freeze-thaw days a year, from winter ice dams. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
6% of occupied homes in Medina 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 33 times a year in Medina County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
Medina County covers 421 square miles of northeast Ohio, with about 183,660 residents and 76,202 homes. Medina is the county seat; Brunswick, Wadsworth and Lodi are the next largest communities. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1985.
31/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Medina County ranks 86 of 88 Ohio counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Medina County ranks highest compared with other Ohio counties.
Medina County gets more hard-freeze nights than most of Ohio. It averaged 110 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 34 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 21st.
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 -14°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 31 and end around Apr 24.
Medina gets fewer downpours than most Ohio counties, but they still fill basements. Of roughly 38.6 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 3.7 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 80th of 88. March, June and July see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 2.97 inches, August 24, 2023. The worst three-day stretch dropped 3.55 inches, ending August 25, 2023, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
About 80 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
Ohio's 88 counties range widely in housing age; Medina ranks 83rd, with 46% of its homes built before 1980.
Growth since 2000 added 27% of today's homes. In houses that new, the weak points are washing machine hoses, ice maker lines, water heaters and sump pumps rather than the pipes in the walls.
About 27% 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 33 times a year here, close to 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 Medina County's occupied homes: 73% utility gas, 19% electric, 4% 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 Medina County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Ashland and Wayne get more pipe-freeze nights than Medina. All of its neighbors see more heavy-rain days. Cuyahoga County has the oldest housing nearby, with 80% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Medina | Ohio median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 20% | 37% | 85 of 88 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 46% | 61% | 83 of 88 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 27% | 17% | 5 of 88 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 1% | 5.9% | 82 of 88 |
| Vacant homes | 4.1% | 8.4% | 86 of 88 |
| Wood or propane heat | 5.8% | 16% | 74 of 88 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 34/yr | 31/yr | 21 of 88 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 3.7/yr | 5.7/yr | 80 of 88 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 80/yr | 82/yr | 55 of 88 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 33/yr | 35/yr | 51 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 Medina County: freezing from November to March, heavy rain in March, 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