Chester County, Tennessee · Henderson
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Pipes freeze in Chester County on about 10 nights a year, mostly December to February. Older homes, 17% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Basements flood here mostly in February. Chester County averages 13.8 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Sewage backups in Chester County spike on heavy-rain days, about 13.8 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Roof leaks here come from summer downpours and, with about 60 freeze-thaw days a year, from winter ice dams. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
8% of occupied homes in Chester County heat mainly with wood or propane, close to the Tennessee county median of 7.8%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 88 times a year in Chester County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
Chester County covers 286 square miles of southwest Tennessee, with about 17,611 residents and 7,279 homes. Henderson is the county seat; Enville and Jacks Creek are the next largest communities. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1989.
49/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Chester County ranks 53 of 95 Tennessee counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Chester County ranks highest compared with other Tennessee counties.
Pipe-freeze risk in Chester County sits near the middle of the state. From 2015–2024 it averaged 10 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 64 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 56th of 95 counties.
On January 17, 2024 the low fell to about -5°F, and in the stretch ending February 2021 the county went 7 days in a row below freezing. Leaks from split pipes typically appear the day the thaw arrives.
The freeze season here runs December to February, 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 Nov 6 and end around Mar 30.
Rainfall is about average for Tennessee. The county gets about 58.7 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 13.8 days of an inch or more (55th of 95). Those downpours cluster in February, March and December, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 4.52 inches on September 1, 2017. The worst three-day stretch dropped 5.53 inches, ending February 24, 2022, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
Freeze-thaw days, below freezing overnight and above it by afternoon, come about 60 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
Roughly 36% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Chester among the newer housing stocks of Tennessee's 95 counties.
Older and newer homes sit side by side here: 17% predate 1960 and 29% are from 2000 or later. Corroded pipe is the typical failure in the first group, burst supply hoses in the second.
34% date from 1980 to 1999, the window when polybutylene, a gray flexible plastic supply pipe, was used in some homes. It's prone to leaks at the fittings, so it's worth checking for in a house from those years.
13% of homes are manufactured or mobile homes, below the Tennessee county median of 15.9%. 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
Chester County averages 88 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in March. Keep indoor humidity under 60%, as the EPA advises, and dry any leak within 24 to 48 hours; in a humid month a wet basement left alone won't dry by itself.
Mold remediation: what to expectHeating fuel matters for fire risk. In Chester County it's 48% utility gas, 44% electric, 7% propane and 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 Chester County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Henderson gets more pipe-freeze nights than Chester. Hardeman County has the oldest housing nearby, with 46% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Chester | Tennessee median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 17% | 16% | 45 of 95 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 36% | 41% | 70 of 95 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 29% | 27% | 36 of 95 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 13% | 16% | 54 of 95 |
| Vacant homes | 12% | 12% | 49 of 95 |
| Wood or propane heat | 7.6% | 7.8% | 53 of 95 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 10/yr | 11/yr | 56 of 95 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 14/yr | 14/yr | 55 of 95 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 60/yr | 60/yr | 48 of 95 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 88/yr | 74/yr | 16 of 95 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Tennessee county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Chester County: freezing from December to February, heavy rain in February, March 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