Winter Home Emergency Index · 2026 edition
Houston, TX: 50th of 100 for winter heat and burst-pipe searches
Houston has 12.5 typical December–February searches for furnace, frozen-pipe and emergency plumber help per 1,000 households, about the same as the median city (12.3). That's 1.36x what its normal winter cold predicts, 22nd of 99 cities on this measure.
Winter in Houston
- Search demand typically peaks in January, when it runs 2.23x the city's yearly average.
- 12% of winter searches are for urgent problems: burst or frozen pipes, no heat, emergency furnace repair.
- Emergency plumber searches add up to about 13.7 per 1,000 households a year.
- A normal December–February brings 822 heating degree days at Houston William P Hobby Airport.
Homes in Houston
- The median home was built in 1981.
- 48% of homes were built before 1980.
- 33% of households heat with gas and 65% with electricity.
- 42% of households own their home.
- 916,536 households in city limits (ACS 2023).
Houston ranks 11th in the Summer AC Emergency Index. See Houston'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. "Houston" 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, "Houston, TX ranks 50th of 100 for winter heat and burst-pipe searches," October 24, 2026, https://homestatsdata.com/plumbing/frozen-pipe-statistics/houston-tx/