Price County, Wisconsin · Phillips
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Price County averages 99 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly November to April, and 33% of its homes predate 1960.
Basements flood here mostly in June. Price County averages 4 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Price County gets about 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 and, with about 95 freeze-thaw days a year, from winter ice dams. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
50% of occupied homes in Price County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Wisconsin county median of 32.9%.
About 1 night 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 10,819 homes and around 14,092 residents, Price County is 1,254 square miles of northern Wisconsin. Besides Phillips, the county seat, the biggest communities are Park Falls, Prentice and Ogema. The county's median home was built in 1976.
46/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Price County ranks 45 of 72 Wisconsin counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Price County ranks highest compared with other Wisconsin counties.
Price is on the colder side of Wisconsin for pipes. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 99 nights a year at or below 20°F (7th of 72) and 179 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
The longest cold spell was straight 41 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in March 2015. The coldest night reached about -32°F on January 31, 2019. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
The freeze season here runs November to April, 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 Oct 5 and the last spring freeze around May 17.
Price gets fewer downpours than most Wisconsin counties, but they still fill basements. About 4 days a year bring an inch or more (70th of 72), most often in June, out of 32.7 inches of total precipitation. On June 12, 2017, 3.34 inches fell in a single day. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 4.42 inches (through June 18, 2018).
Freeze-thaw days, below freezing overnight and above it by afternoon, come about 95 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
57% of homes in Price County predate 1980, close to the Wisconsin county median of 54.1%, which ranks 28th of Wisconsin's 72 counties.
Older and newer homes sit side by side here: 33% predate 1960 and 19% are from 2000 or later. Corroded pipe is the typical failure in the first group, burst supply hoses in the second.
24% 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.
9% of homes are manufactured or mobile homes, above the Wisconsin county median of 4.8%. 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.
With 40% of homes empty at survey time, landlords and seasonal owners should shut off the main or schedule checks in winter. An unheated vacant house is also where many policies limit freeze coverage.
Beyond water
Price County averages 1 warm, muggy night a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in June. 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 Price County it's 36% utility gas, 11% electric, 35% propane and 15% wood. Wood and propane heat are more common here than the state median. Have chimneys swept and fuel-burning appliances serviced each fall, and keep three feet clear around stoves and space heaters.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Price County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Ashland, Iron, Oneida and Vilas get more pipe-freeze nights than Price. All of its neighbors see more heavy-rain days. Ashland County has the oldest housing nearby, with 62% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Price | Wisconsin median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 33% | 31% | 31 of 72 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 57% | 54% | 28 of 72 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 19% | 21% | 48 of 72 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 8.5% | 4.8% | 13 of 72 |
| Vacant homes | 40% | 12% | 11 of 72 |
| Wood or propane heat | 50% | 33% | 14 of 72 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 99/yr | 73/yr | 7 of 72 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 4/yr | 6.3/yr | 70 of 72 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 95/yr | 94/yr | 27 of 72 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 1/yr | 11/yr | 65 of 72 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Wisconsin county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Price County: freezing from November to April, heavy rain in May, June and July.
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