Hays County, Texas · San Marcos
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Hays County averages 1 night a year at 20°F or colder, mostly midwinter, and 4% of its homes predate 1960.
Heavy rain days of an inch or more come about 8.4 times a year here, most often in May. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Hays County gets about 8.4 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.
6% of occupied homes in Hays County heat mainly with wood or propane, close to the Texas county median of 6.5%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 151 times a year in Hays County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
With 104,675 homes and around 268,638 residents, Hays County is 677 square miles of central Texas. Besides San Marcos, the county seat, the biggest communities are Kyle, Buda and Dripping Springs. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 2007.
32/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Hays County ranks 223 of 232 Texas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Hays County ranks highest compared with other Texas counties.
Hays County is milder than most of Texas, but not mild enough to skip winterizing. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 1 night a year at or below 20°F (159th of 232) and 14 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 4 days below freezing (ending February 2021), and the low bottomed out near 7°F on February 16, 2021.
With only about 14 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 7°F, on February 16, 2021.
Rainfall is about average for Texas. Of roughly 33.3 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 8.4 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 107th of 232. April, May and August see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 4.42 inches, October 14, 2021. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 7.07 inches (through October 25, 2015).
Housing
Roughly 12% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Hays among the newer housing stocks of Texas's 232 counties.
Since 2000 the county has added enough housing that 66% of homes are that new. Modern PEX and copper rarely fail on their own; the leaks come from connections, appliances and storms.
Renters occupy 36% 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 151 nights a year in Hays County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (65th 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 expectMain heating fuel in Hays County's occupied homes: 31% utility gas, 62% electric, 6% 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 Hays County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Blanco gets more pipe-freeze nights than Hays. Caldwell County has the oldest housing nearby, with 34% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Hays | Texas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 4.1% | 20% | 226 of 232 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 12% | 46% | 228 of 232 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 66% | 26% | 2 of 232 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 5.7% | 13% | 201 of 232 |
| Vacant homes | 4.6% | 17% | 228 of 232 |
| Wood or propane heat | 5.9% | 6.5% | 130 of 232 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 1/yr | 3/yr | 159 of 232 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 8.4/yr | 7.8/yr | 107 of 232 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 13/yr | 27/yr | 171 of 232 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 151/yr | 129/yr | 65 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 Hays County: freezing from midwinter, heavy rain in April, May and August.
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