Rutherford County, Tennessee · Murfreesboro
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With 7% of homes built before 1960 and about 10 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
Heavy rain days of an inch or more come about 14.7 times a year here, most often in February. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
7% 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 Rutherford County, 4.14 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 Rutherford County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Tennessee county median of 7.8%.
With 80 muggy nights a year, mold in Rutherford County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
With 138,929 homes and around 360,646 residents, Rutherford County is 619 square miles of central Tennessee. Besides Murfreesboro, the county seat, the biggest communities are Smyrna, La Vergne and Christiana. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 2001.
37/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Rutherford County ranks 80 of 95 Tennessee counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Rutherford County ranks highest compared with other Tennessee counties.
For frozen pipes, Rutherford County is a typical Tennessee county, which is still plenty. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 10 nights a year at or below 20°F (56th of 95) and 64 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
On January 17, 2024 the low fell to about -7°F, and in the stretch ending February 2021 the county went 6 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.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Nov 6 and the last spring freeze around Apr 2.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Tennessee. The county gets about 58.2 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 14.7 days of an inch or more (32nd of 95). Those downpours cluster in January, February and December, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 4.14 inches on March 28, 2021. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 5.79 inches (through March 28, 2021).
About 60 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 19% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Rutherford among the newer housing stocks of Tennessee's 95 counties.
Growth since 2000 added 52% 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 30% 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.
Renters occupy 35% 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
Rutherford County averages 80 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in February. 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 expectMain heating fuel in Rutherford County's occupied homes: 23% utility gas, 74% 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 Rutherford County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Cannon, Coffee, Marshall, Williamson and Wilson get more pipe-freeze nights than Rutherford. Coffee County has the oldest housing nearby, with 42% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Rutherford | Tennessee median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 6.5% | 16% | 94 of 95 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 19% | 41% | 94 of 95 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 52% | 27% | 2 of 95 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 2.4% | 16% | 92 of 95 |
| Vacant homes | 6.8% | 12% | 88 of 95 |
| Wood or propane heat | 2.1% | 7.8% | 91 of 95 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 10/yr | 11/yr | 56 of 95 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 15/yr | 14/yr | 32 of 95 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 60/yr | 60/yr | 48 of 95 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 80/yr | 74/yr | 31 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 Rutherford County: freezing from December to February, heavy rain in January, February 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