Northampton County, Pennsylvania · Easton
Water spreading, a burst pipe, sewage, mold or smoke? Call to be connected with a restoration company that serves Bethlehem, Easton and Northampton. Start the steps below while you wait.
Answered 24/7 by a participating local provider. We're a referral service and don't do the work ourselves. How it works
Start here
Pick the closest match. These steps limit the damage and protect your insurance claim. Skip anything that isn't safe.
With 41% 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.
August brings the most downpours to Northampton County, part of 11 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Northampton County gets about 11 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
In Northampton County, 5.36 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
6% of occupied homes in Northampton County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Pennsylvania county median of 10%.
About 31 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
Northampton County covers 370 square miles of eastern Pennsylvania, with about 318,580 residents and 129,448 homes. The county seat is Easton, and Bethlehem, Northampton and Wilson round out the largest towns. Half the homes here were built before 1971, half after.
62/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Northampton County ranks 11 of 67 Pennsylvania counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Northampton County ranks highest compared with other Pennsylvania counties.
Pipe-freeze risk in Northampton County sits near the middle of the state. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 35 nights a year at or below 20°F (38th of 67) and 118 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
The longest cold spell was straight 14 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in January 2018. The coldest night reached about -8°F on February 24, 2015. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
The freeze season here runs November to March, with January the coldest. If you travel then, leave the thermostat at 55°F or above and open sink cabinets on outside walls.
Freezing nights typically start around Oct 27 and end around Apr 21.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Pennsylvania. The county gets about 49.6 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 11 days of an inch or more (3rd of 67). Those downpours cluster in April, August and September, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 5.36 inches on August 5, 2020. The worst three-day stretch dropped 6.58 inches, ending August 5, 2020, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 102 days a year. Each cycle melts and refreezes water at roof edges and in foundation cracks, which is how ice dams and basement seepage get started.
Housing
Pennsylvania's 67 counties range widely in housing age; Northampton ranks 48th, with 60% of its homes built before 1980.
Since 2000 the county has added enough housing that 19% of homes are that new. Modern PEX and copper rarely fail on their own; the leaks come from connections, appliances and storms.
Beyond water
Northampton County averages 31 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in August. 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, Northampton County homes break down as 40% utility gas, 31% electric, 4% propane and 1% wood. Fires here are likelier to start in the kitchen or the wiring than in the furnace. After any fire, keep the HVAC off until ducts are checked, or soot will travel through the house.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Northampton County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Carbon and Monroe get more pipe-freeze nights than Northampton. Lehigh County has the oldest housing nearby, with 65% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Northampton | Pennsylvania median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 41% | 42% | 37 of 67 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 60% | 66% | 48 of 67 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 19% | 13% | 12 of 67 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 2.5% | 6.6% | 59 of 67 |
| Vacant homes | 5.3% | 12% | 57 of 67 |
| Wood or propane heat | 5.7% | 10% | 57 of 67 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 35/yr | 37/yr | 38 of 67 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 11/yr | 7/yr | 3 of 67 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 102/yr | 98/yr | 19 of 67 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 31/yr | 16/yr | 17 of 67 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Pennsylvania county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Northampton County: freezing from November to March, heavy rain in April, August 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