Summit County, Ohio · Akron
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With 43% of homes built before 1960 and about 31 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
June brings the most downpours to Summit County, part of 4 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
43% 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 Summit County, 2.2 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
2% of occupied homes in Summit 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 38 times a year in Summit County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
Summit County covers 413 square miles of northeast Ohio, with about 537,864 residents and 247,924 homes. Akron is the county seat; Cuyahoga Falls, Stow and Green are the next largest communities. The county's median home was built in 1966.
49/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Summit County ranks 47 of 88 Ohio counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Summit County ranks highest compared with other Ohio counties.
For frozen pipes, Summit County is a typical Ohio county, which is still plenty. It averaged 103 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 31 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 42nd.
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 -14°F on February 20, 2015.
Expect the hardest freezes in January, inside a season that runs December 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 Nov 2 and the last spring freeze around Apr 23.
Summit gets fewer downpours than most Ohio counties, but they still fill basements. The county gets about 36.8 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 4 days of an inch or more (76th of 88). Those downpours cluster in March, June and September, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 2.2 inches on August 24, 2023. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 3.11 inches (through June 16, 2015).
About 77 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; Summit ranks 26th, with 68% of its homes built before 1980.
Before 1960 is when 43% of these homes went up. Galvanized supply lines and cast iron drains were standard then, and after 60-plus years both corrode and crack, often out of sight inside a wall or under a slab.
Renters occupy 33% of homes. If you rent, the building is usually the landlord's to repair, but your belongings are only covered by renters insurance.
Beyond water
Summit County averages 38 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in June. 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 Summit County it's 83% utility gas, 14% electric, 2% 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 Summit County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Medina, Portage, Stark and Wayne get more pipe-freeze nights than Summit. Cuyahoga County has the oldest housing nearby, with 80% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Summit | Ohio median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 43% | 37% | 26 of 88 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 68% | 61% | 26 of 88 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 13% | 17% | 59 of 88 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 0.9% | 5.9% | 85 of 88 |
| Vacant homes | 6.7% | 8.4% | 63 of 88 |
| Wood or propane heat | 1.9% | 16% | 85 of 88 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 31/yr | 31/yr | 42 of 88 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 4/yr | 5.7/yr | 76 of 88 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 77/yr | 82/yr | 71 of 88 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 38/yr | 35/yr | 28 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 Summit County: freezing from December to March, heavy rain in March, 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