Gonzales County, Texas · Gonzales
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Pipes freeze in Gonzales County on about 1 night a year, mostly midwinter. Older homes, 26% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Basements flood here mostly in May. Gonzales County averages 8.5 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Sewage backups in Gonzales County spike on heavy-rain days, about 8.5 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Gonzales County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 6.68 inches.
6% of occupied homes in Gonzales County heat mainly with wood or propane, close to the Texas county median of 6.5%.
With 168 muggy nights a year, mold in Gonzales County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
With 9,020 homes and around 19,851 residents, Gonzales County is 1,067 square miles of southeast Texas. Besides Gonzales, the county seat, the biggest communities are Nixon, Waelder and Smiley. The county's median home was built in 1983.
53/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Gonzales County ranks 93 of 232 Texas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Gonzales County ranks highest compared with other Texas counties.
Gonzales County is milder than most of Texas, but not mild enough to skip winterizing. It averaged 9 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 1 of them at 20°F or colder, cold enough for pipes in outside walls and crawl spaces to freeze. Among 232 Texas counties that's 159th.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 3 days below freezing (ending February 2021), and the low bottomed out near 13°F on February 15, 2021.
With only about 9 freezing nights 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 13°F, on February 15, 2021.
Rainfall is about average for Texas. About 8.5 days a year bring an inch or more (104th of 232), most often in May, out of 33.3 inches of total precipitation. On October 14, 2021, 6.68 inches fell in a single day. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 13.25 inches (through August 28, 2017).
Housing
Texas's 232 counties range widely in housing age; Gonzales ranks 112th, with 46% of its homes built before 1980.
26% were built before 1960. Homes from that era often still have galvanized steel supply pipe, which rusts from the inside until it pinholes, and cast iron drains that crack with age. Slow leaks behind walls are a common start to water damage in these houses.
The 1980s and 1990s account for 27% of the county's homes. If yours is from those decades, look under the sinks and at the water heater for gray plastic pipe stamped PB, which is polybutylene and leak-prone.
Manufactured and mobile homes make up 22% 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 34% 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
About 168 nights a year in Gonzales County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (41st of 232 counties). May is the wettest month. 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 expectBy main heating fuel, Gonzales County homes break down as 13% utility gas, 80% electric, 5% propane and 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 Gonzales County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Gonzales gets more pipe-freeze nights than any of its neighbors. Lavaca County has the oldest housing nearby, with 54% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Gonzales | Texas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 26% | 20% | 77 of 232 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 46% | 46% | 112 of 232 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 27% | 26% | 109 of 232 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 22% | 13% | 44 of 232 |
| Vacant homes | 12% | 17% | 167 of 232 |
| Wood or propane heat | 6.1% | 6.5% | 127 of 232 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 1/yr | 3/yr | 159 of 232 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 8.5/yr | 7.8/yr | 104 of 232 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 9/yr | 27/yr | 186 of 232 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 168/yr | 129/yr | 41 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 Gonzales County: freezing from midwinter, heavy rain in April, May and October.
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