Lexington County, South Carolina · Lexington
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With 8% of homes built before 1960 and about 2 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
June brings the most downpours to Lexington County, part of 12.1 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Lexington County gets about 12.1 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
In Lexington County, 5.99 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
4% of occupied homes in Lexington County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the South Carolina county median of 5.1%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 110 times a year in Lexington County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
Lexington County covers 699 square miles of central South Carolina, with about 304,887 residents and 132,916 homes. The county seat is Lexington, and West Columbia, Seven Oaks and Cayce round out the largest towns. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1993.
33/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Lexington County ranks 43 of 46 South Carolina counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Lexington County ranks highest compared with other South Carolina counties.
Pipe-freeze risk in Lexington County sits near the middle of the state. It averaged 34 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 2 of them at 20°F or colder, cold enough for pipes in outside walls and crawl spaces to freeze. Among 46 South Carolina counties that's 20th.
Most freezing nights fall from January, 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.
Freezing nights typically start around Nov 17 and end around Mar 14.
Rainfall is about average for South Carolina. Of roughly 50.1 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 12.1 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 24th of 46. January, June and December see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 5.99 inches, October 4, 2015. The worst three-day stretch dropped 11.09 inches, ending October 5, 2015, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
About 34 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 31% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Lexington among the newer housing stocks of South Carolina's 46 counties.
Growth since 2000 added 38% 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 31% 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.
17% of homes are manufactured or mobile homes, below the South Carolina county median of 22%. Their water lines run under the floor behind the skirting, so a torn skirt or failed heat tape freezes them faster than lines in a site-built house.
Beyond water
Lexington County averages 110 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in December. 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, Lexington County homes break down as 25% utility gas, 69% electric, 3% propane and under 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 Lexington County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Newberry gets more pipe-freeze nights than Lexington. Newberry County has the oldest housing nearby, with 49% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Lexington | South Carolina median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 8% | 15% | 40 of 46 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 31% | 40% | 37 of 46 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 38% | 25% | 10 of 46 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 17% | 22% | 33 of 46 |
| Vacant homes | 8.2% | 16% | 42 of 46 |
| Wood or propane heat | 4.1% | 5.1% | 33 of 46 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 2/yr | 2/yr | 20 of 46 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 12/yr | 12/yr | 24 of 46 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 34/yr | 35/yr | 24 of 46 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 110/yr | 114/yr | 27 of 46 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest South Carolina county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Lexington County: freezing from January, heavy rain in January, June and December.
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