Stephens County, Texas · Breckenridge
Water spreading, a burst pipe, sewage, mold or smoke? Call to be connected with a restoration company that serves Breckenridge. Start the steps below while you wait.
Answered 24/7 by a participating local provider. We're a referral service and don't do the work ourselves. How it works
Start here
Pick the closest match. These steps limit the damage and protect your insurance claim. Skip anything that isn't safe.
Pipes freeze in Stephens County on about 6 nights a year, mostly January. Older homes, 23% of the stock here, are most at risk.
May brings the most downpours to Stephens County, part of 9.3 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
23% 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.
Stephens County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 3.35 inches, and about 42 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
6% of occupied homes in Stephens County heat mainly with wood or propane, close to the Texas county median of 6.5%.
About 114 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
With 4,676 homes and around 9,351 residents, Stephens County is 897 square miles of central Texas. Breckenridge is the county seat. Half the homes here were built before 1975, half after.
61/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Stephens County ranks 40 of 232 Texas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Stephens County ranks highest compared with other Texas counties.
Stephens County gets more hard-freeze nights than most of Texas. From 2015–2024 it averaged 6 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 46 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 44th of 232 counties.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 10 days below freezing (ending February 2021), and the low bottomed out near -6°F on February 16, 2021.
Most freezing nights fall from January, 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.
Freezing nights typically start around Nov 14 and end around Mar 19.
Rainfall is about average for Texas. Of roughly 32.7 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 9.3 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 96th of 232. April, May and June see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 3.35 inches, November 8, 2024. The worst three-day stretch dropped 5.2 inches, ending September 11, 2020, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 42 days a year. Each cycle melts and refreezes water at roof edges and in foundation cracks, which is how ice dams and basement seepage get started.
Housing
Roughly 63% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Stephens among the oldest housing stocks of Texas's 232 counties.
The mix runs from 23% built before 1960 to 13% built since 2000, so older neighborhoods bring aging pipe while newer subdivisions bring failed appliance lines and water heaters.
About 23% 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.
18% of homes are manufactured or mobile homes, above the Texas county median of 13.4%. Their water lines run under the floor behind the skirting, so a torn skirt or failed heat tape freezes them faster than lines in a site-built house.
The Census counted 23% 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 114 nights a year in Stephens County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (160th of 232 counties). May is the wettest month. 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, Stephens County homes break down as 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 Stephens County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Stephens gets more pipe-freeze nights than any of its neighbors. Eastland County has the oldest housing nearby, with 65% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Stephens | Texas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 23% | 20% | 96 of 232 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 63% | 46% | 46 of 232 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 13% | 26% | 198 of 232 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 18% | 13% | 66 of 232 |
| Vacant homes | 23% | 17% | 58 of 232 |
| Wood or propane heat | 6.3% | 6.5% | 120 of 232 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 6/yr | 3/yr | 44 of 232 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 9.3/yr | 7.8/yr | 96 of 232 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 42/yr | 27/yr | 50 of 232 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 114/yr | 129/yr | 160 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 Stephens County: freezing from January, heavy rain in April, May and June.
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