Sutton County, Texas · Sonora
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With 32% of homes built before 1960 and about 3 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
Basements flood here mostly in October. Sutton County averages 4.6 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Sewage backups in Sutton County spike on heavy-rain days, about 4.6 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Sutton County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 2.75 inches, and about 35 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
4% of occupied homes in Sutton County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Texas county median of 6.5%.
With 124 muggy nights a year, mold in Sutton County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
Sutton County covers 1,454 square miles of central Texas, with about 3,277 residents and 1,766 homes. Sonora is the county seat. The county's median home was built in 1972.
52/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Sutton County ranks 110 of 232 Texas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Sutton County ranks highest compared with other Texas counties.
For frozen pipes, Sutton County is a typical Texas county, which is still plenty. From 2015–2024 it averaged 3 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 36 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 94th of 232 counties.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 5 days below freezing (ending February 2021), and the low bottomed out near 4°F on February 15, 2021.
The freeze season here runs January, with January the coldest. If you travel then, leave the thermostat at 55°F or above and open sink cabinets on outside walls.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Nov 14 and the last spring freeze around Feb 27.
Sutton gets fewer downpours than most Texas counties, but they still fill basements. The county gets about 20.8 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 4.6 days of an inch or more (181st of 232). Those downpours cluster in May, September and October, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 2.75 inches on September 9, 2020. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 4.7 inches (through September 27, 2016).
Freeze-thaw days, below freezing overnight and above it by afternoon, come about 35 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
Texas's 232 counties range widely in housing age; Sutton ranks 61st, with 57% of its homes built before 1980.
In Sutton County 32% of homes are older than 1960. If yours is one of them and the plumbing has never been replaced, expect galvanized steel supply pipe and cast iron drain lines, the two materials most likely to fail quietly.
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 16% 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.
28% of homes were vacant at survey time. A leak in an empty rental or seasonal house can run for days before anyone notices, which is why those losses tend to be larger.
Beyond water
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 124 times a year here, close to the Texas county median of 129. 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 expectHeating fuel matters for fire risk. In Sutton County it's 36% utility gas, 60% electric, 4% 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 Sutton County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Schleicher gets more pipe-freeze nights than Sutton. Schleicher County has the oldest housing nearby, with 58% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Sutton | Texas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 32% | 20% | 45 of 232 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 57% | 46% | 61 of 232 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 11% | 26% | 208 of 232 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 16% | 13% | 79 of 232 |
| Vacant homes | 28% | 17% | 24 of 232 |
| Wood or propane heat | 3.7% | 6.5% | 175 of 232 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 3/yr | 3/yr | 94 of 232 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 4.6/yr | 7.8/yr | 181 of 232 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 35/yr | 27/yr | 80 of 232 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 124/yr | 129/yr | 133 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 Sutton County: freezing from January, 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