Cameron County, Texas · Brownsville
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Cameron County averages 0 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly midwinter, and 10% of its homes predate 1960.
Heavy rain days of an inch or more come about 6.1 times a year here, most often in September. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Cameron County gets about 6.1 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
Roof leaks here come from summer downpours. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
2% of occupied homes in Cameron County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Texas county median of 6.5%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 236 times a year in Cameron County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
With 159,679 homes and around 426,120 residents, Cameron County is 892 square miles of southeast Texas. Besides Brownsville, the county seat, the biggest communities are Harlingen, San Benito and Los Fresnos. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1992.
31/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Cameron County ranks 224 of 232 Texas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Cameron County ranks highest compared with other Texas counties.
Cameron County is milder than most of Texas, but not mild enough to skip winterizing. From 2015–2024 it averaged 0 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 1 night at or below 32°F. That ranks 205th of 232 counties.
With only about 1 freezing night a year, many homes here aren't built for cold, so a single arctic outbreak can burst pipes across the county. The record low in this data was about 23°F, on February 16, 2021.
Rainfall is about average for Texas. The county gets about 27.6 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 6.1 days of an inch or more (146th of 232). Those downpours cluster in May, June and September, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 5.99 inches on June 25, 2019. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 7.93 inches (through June 22, 2018).
Housing
Roughly 30% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Cameron among the newer housing stocks of Texas's 232 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 32% 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 11% 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.
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
Cameron County averages 236 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in September. 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 expectBy main heating fuel, Cameron County homes break down as 7% utility gas, 90% electric, 2% 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 Cameron County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Cameron gets more pipe-freeze nights than any of its neighbors. Willacy County has the oldest housing nearby, with 43% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Cameron | Texas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 9.6% | 20% | 194 of 232 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 30% | 46% | 192 of 232 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 38% | 26% | 42 of 232 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 11% | 13% | 153 of 232 |
| Vacant homes | 13% | 17% | 152 of 232 |
| Wood or propane heat | 1.6% | 6.5% | 217 of 232 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 0/yr | 3/yr | 205 of 232 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 6.1/yr | 7.8/yr | 146 of 232 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 1/yr | 27/yr | 232 of 232 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 236/yr | 129/yr | 1 of 232 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Texas county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Cameron County: freezing from midwinter, heavy rain in May, June and September.
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