Marion County, Tennessee · Jasper
Water spreading, a burst pipe, sewage, mold or smoke? Call to be connected with a restoration company that serves Jasper, South Pittsburg and Whitwell. 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.
Marion County averages 9 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly December to February, and 14% of its homes predate 1960.
Heavy rain days of an inch or more come about 17.7 times a year here, most often in February. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
Sewage backups in Marion County spike on heavy-rain days, about 17.7 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Roof leaks here come from summer downpours and, with about 55 freeze-thaw days a year, from winter ice dams. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
11% of occupied homes in Marion County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Tennessee county median of 7.8%.
About 74 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
With 14,058 homes and around 29,250 residents, Marion County is 502 square miles of southern Tennessee. Jasper is the county seat; South Pittsburg, Whitwell and Kimball are the next largest communities. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1985.
49/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Marion County ranks 55 of 95 Tennessee counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Marion County ranks highest compared with other Tennessee counties.
Winters here are on the gentler end for Tennessee, and pipes still freeze. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 9 nights a year at or below 20°F (72nd of 95) and 58 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 3 days below freezing (ending February 2015), and the low bottomed out near -1°F on December 24, 2022.
Expect the hardest freezes in January, inside a season that runs December to February. 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 Nov 9 and end around Mar 27.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Tennessee. The county gets about 65.8 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 17.7 days of an inch or more (2nd of 95). Those downpours cluster in February, March and December, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 4.22 inches on February 6, 2020. The worst three-day stretch dropped 5.85 inches, ending February 7, 2020, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 55 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
41% of homes in Marion County predate 1980, close to the Tennessee county median of 41.2%, which ranks 51st of Tennessee's 95 counties.
Older and newer homes sit side by side here: 14% predate 1960 and 24% are from 2000 or later. Corroded pipe is the typical failure in the first group, burst supply hoses in the second.
36% 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.
19% of homes are manufactured or mobile homes, above 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.
The Census counted 16% of homes as vacant, above the Tennessee county median of 11.9%. Empty houses are where a small leak turns into a large claim, because nobody is there to hear it.
Beyond water
Marion County averages 74 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in February. 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, Marion County homes break down as 15% utility gas, 73% electric, 10% propane and 2% wood. Propane heat is above the Tennessee norm. Annual chimney and vent inspection, which the NFPA recommends, is one of the most effective fire-prevention habits for these homes.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Marion County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Grundy and Sequatchie get more pipe-freeze nights than Marion. Hamilton County has the oldest housing nearby, with 48% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Marion | Tennessee median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 14% | 16% | 62 of 95 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 41% | 41% | 51 of 95 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 24% | 27% | 64 of 95 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 19% | 16% | 33 of 95 |
| Vacant homes | 16% | 12% | 25 of 95 |
| Wood or propane heat | 11% | 7.8% | 33 of 95 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 9/yr | 11/yr | 72 of 95 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 18/yr | 14/yr | 2 of 95 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 55/yr | 60/yr | 82 of 95 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 74/yr | 74/yr | 44 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 Marion 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