Smith County, Tennessee · Carthage
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With 21% of homes built before 1960 and about 12 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
Basements flood here mostly in February. Smith County averages 14.6 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Sewage backups in Smith County spike on heavy-rain days, about 14.6 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Smith County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 4.27 inches, and about 65 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
9% of occupied homes in Smith County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Tennessee county median of 7.8%.
With 71 muggy nights a year, mold in Smith County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
About 20,389 people live in Smith County, 314 square miles in northern Tennessee, in roughly 8,752 homes. Carthage is the county seat; South Carthage, Gordonsville and Hickman are the next largest communities. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1988.
65/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Smith County ranks 10 of 95 Tennessee counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Smith County ranks highest compared with other Tennessee counties.
Smith is on the colder side of Tennessee for pipes. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 12 nights a year at or below 20°F (31st of 95) and 70 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
The longest cold spell was straight 6 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in February 2021. The coldest night reached about -7°F on January 17, 2024. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
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.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Nov 4 and the last spring freeze around Apr 7.
Rainfall is about average for Tennessee. About 14.6 days a year bring an inch or more (36th of 95), most often in February, out of 56.5 inches of total precipitation. On March 28, 2021, 4.27 inches fell in a single day. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 5.81 inches (through March 28, 2021).
About 65 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
Tennessee's 95 counties range widely in housing age; Smith ranks 40th, with 43% of its homes built before 1980.
In Smith County 21% of homes are older than 1960. If yours is one of them and the plumbing has never been replaced, expect galvanized steel supply pipe and cast iron drain lines, the two materials most likely to fail quietly.
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.
Manufactured and mobile homes make up 19% of the housing here. Water lines in the underbelly depend on intact skirting and working heat tape, and they're usually the first to freeze in a cold snap.
Beyond water
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 71 times a year here, close to the Tennessee county median of 74. 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 expectHeating fuel matters for fire risk. In Smith County it's 33% utility gas, 58% electric, 5% propane and 4% wood. Wood heat is more common here than the state median. Have chimneys swept and fuel-burning appliances serviced each fall, and keep three feet clear around stoves and space heaters.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Smith County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Jackson, Macon and Putnam get more pipe-freeze nights than Smith. All of its neighbors see more heavy-rain days. Its housing is the oldest in the area by share of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Smith | Tennessee median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 21% | 16% | 18 of 95 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 43% | 41% | 40 of 95 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 26% | 27% | 56 of 95 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 19% | 16% | 36 of 95 |
| Vacant homes | 9.4% | 12% | 64 of 95 |
| Wood or propane heat | 9.1% | 7.8% | 45 of 95 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 12/yr | 11/yr | 31 of 95 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 15/yr | 14/yr | 36 of 95 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 65/yr | 60/yr | 24 of 95 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 71/yr | 74/yr | 52 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 Smith 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