Winter Home Emergency Index · 2026 edition
Baltimore, MD: 23rd of 100 for winter heat and burst-pipe searches
Baltimore has 19.1 typical December–February searches for furnace, frozen-pipe and emergency plumber help per 1,000 households, 1.6x the median city (12.3). That's 1.21x what its normal winter cold predicts, 32nd of 99 cities on this measure.
Ranking check: Not confirmed. Baltimore ranks 23rd on households inside city limits but 38th on metro population. Its city limits hold 20% of the metro's people, so the city-limits figure may overstate it. How the check works
Winter in Baltimore
- Search demand typically peaks in January, when it runs 2.58x the city's yearly average.
- 16% of winter searches are for urgent problems: burst or frozen pipes, no heat, emergency furnace repair.
- Emergency plumber searches add up to about 15.6 per 1,000 households a year.
- A normal December–February brings 2,565 heating degree days at Baltimore-Washington International Airport.
Homes in Baltimore
- The median home was built in 1948.
- 83% of homes were built before 1980.
- 63% of households heat with gas and 31% with electricity.
- 48% of households own their home.
- 250,608 households in city limits (ACS 2023).
Baltimore ranks 48th in the Summer AC Emergency Index. See Baltimore's summer page.
About these numbers
Search demand from Google Ads, Oct 2022 to Sep 2026, for 30 heating and plumbing terms. Each month uses the median of that calendar month across four years. "Baltimore" is the location as Google Ads defines it; households are city limits. This measures searches, not breakdowns or claims. Full methodology.
Cite: Home Stats Data, "Baltimore, MD ranks 23rd of 100 for winter heat and burst-pipe searches," October 24, 2026, https://homestatsdata.com/plumbing/frozen-pipe-statistics/baltimore-md/