Mills County, Texas · Goldthwaite
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Mills County averages 4 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly midwinter, and 31% of its homes predate 1960.
Heavy rain days of an inch or more come about 7.3 times a year here, most often in May. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
31% 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 Mills 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.
32% of occupied homes in Mills County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Texas county median of 6.5%.
About 123 nights a year here stay at 65°F or warmer, so basements and crawl spaces can grow mold even without a leak.
Local risk profile
About 4,511 people live in Mills County, 748 square miles in central Texas, in roughly 2,597 homes. Goldthwaite is the county seat; Mullin and Priddy are the next largest communities. The county's median home was built in 1977.
61/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Mills County ranks 37 of 232 Texas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Mills County ranks highest compared with other Texas counties.
Mills is on the colder side of Texas for pipes. From 2015–2024 it averaged 4 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 30 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 68th of 232 counties.
The longest cold spell was straight 7 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in February 2021. The coldest night reached about 0°F on February 16, 2021. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
Most freezing nights fall from midwinter, peaking in January. Disconnect garden hoses and shut off outdoor spigots before the first hard frost, and keep the heat at 55°F or higher if you'll be away.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Nov 25 and the last spring freeze around Mar 1.
Rainfall is about average for Texas. The county gets about 28.6 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 7.3 days of an inch or more (126th of 232). Those downpours cluster in May, September and October, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 4.14 inches on October 24, 2015. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 7.95 inches (through October 17, 2018).
Freeze-thaw days, below freezing overnight and above it by afternoon, come about 28 times a year here. They're the main driver of ice dams and of water working its way through foundation cracks in late winter.
Housing
Roughly 54% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Mills among the oldest housing stocks of Texas's 232 counties.
Before 1960 is when 31% of these homes went up. Galvanized supply lines and cast iron drains were standard then, and after 60-plus years both corrode and crack, often out of sight inside a wall or under a slab.
23% date from 1980 to 1999, the window when polybutylene, a gray flexible plastic supply pipe, was used in some homes. It's prone to leaks at the fittings, so it's worth checking for in a house from those years.
Here 14% of housing is manufactured homes. Check the skirting and the heat tape on the main water line every fall, because that one exposed line is what freezes.
The Census counted 31% of homes as vacant, above the Texas county median of 16.6%. Empty houses are where a small leak turns into a large claim, because nobody is there to hear it.
Beyond water
About 123 nights a year in Mills County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (136th of 232 counties). May is the wettest month. The EPA recommends keeping indoor humidity below 60%, ideally 30 to 50%. Basements can pass 60% on their own in summer, so a dehumidifier matters even without a leak, and anything wet should be dried within 24 to 48 hours.
Mold remediation: what to expectBy main heating fuel, Mills County homes break down as 18% utility gas, 50% electric, 28% propane and 4% wood. Wood and propane heat are more common here than in most Texas counties. Heating equipment is one of the leading causes of home fires nationally, and the NFPA recommends having chimneys and vents inspected every year.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Mills County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Mills gets more pipe-freeze nights than any of its neighbors. Hamilton County has the oldest housing nearby, with 69% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Mills | Texas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 31% | 20% | 49 of 232 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 54% | 46% | 73 of 232 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 22% | 26% | 148 of 232 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 14% | 13% | 105 of 232 |
| Vacant homes | 31% | 17% | 18 of 232 |
| Wood or propane heat | 32% | 6.5% | 3 of 232 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 4/yr | 3/yr | 68 of 232 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 7.3/yr | 7.8/yr | 126 of 232 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 28/yr | 27/yr | 107 of 232 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 123/yr | 129/yr | 136 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 Mills County: freezing from midwinter, heavy rain in May, September 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