Home / Frost line depth / Indiana
Frost data
Frost line depth in Indiana
The short answer
Indiana publishes a code frost depth of 24 to 36 in. Indiana publishes a county-by-county table rather than one number, and the foundation depths in it run from about 24 to 36 inches. Footings have to bear below that depth, and a water service line has to sit at least six inches below it and at least twelve inches down, which in Indiana works out to a minimum of 42 inches. Source: Indiana Administrative Code 675 IAC 14-4.4-5, Table R301.2(1), county frost depths (Cornell LII).
Indiana takes the approach most states skip. Rather than leaving the climate table blank, 675 IAC 14-4.4-5 fills it in for every county in the state, with a foundation depth column that the code defines as the minimum depth in inches from finish grade to the bottom of the footing. Wayne County reads 30 inches; Wells, White and Whitley read 36.
That makes Indiana one of the easier states to answer accurately and one of the harder ones to summarise, because the honest statewide answer is a range rather than a figure. Anyone quoting you a single Indiana frost depth is rounding something.
Indiana also writes the plumbing side into its own code instead of leaning on the model text. 675 IAC 14-4.4-157 requires water service pipe to be installed not less than 12 inches deep and not less than 6 inches below the frost line, so the county figure drives the burial depth directly.
By jurisdiction
What Indiana jurisdictions publish
Local figures that sit alongside the state number, each from the jurisdiction that publishes it.
| Jurisdiction | Frost depth | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Wayne County, IN | 30 in | 675 IAC 14-4.4-5, Table R301.2(1), foundation depth column (Cornell … |
| Wells, White and Whitley Counties, IN | 36 in | 675 IAC 14-4.4-5, Table R301.2(1), foundation depth column (Cornell … |
These are the jurisdictions whose published figure we could read and verify, so it isn’t a complete list of Indiana building departments. Yours may differ, and yours is the one that governs your permit.
The weather behind the number
When it freezes in Indiana
NOAA 1991 to 2020 normals at representative stations across the state.
| Station | First 32°F | First 28°F | First 20°F | Last 32°F | Nights below 20°F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BLOOMINGTON MONROE CO AP | October 22 | November 1 | November 26 | April 17 | 37 |
| EVANSVILLE REGIONAL AP | October 29 | November 8 | December 2 | April 4 | 24 |
| FT WAYNE INTL AP | October 21 | November 1 | November 24 | April 24 | 46 |
| INDIANAPOLIS EAGLE CREEK AP | October 29 | November 6 | November 29 | April 12 | 37 |
| SHELBYVILLE MUNI AP | October 23 | November 3 | November 30 | April 14 | 36 |
| VALPARAISO PORTER CO MUNI AP | October 26 | November 7 | November 30 | April 20 | 50 |
Dates are the median: half of years cross that threshold earlier, half later. “no normal” means NOAA publishes none for that station, which at a warm station means it does not reliably get that cold. Source: NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals, 1991-2020, retrieved 2026-09-09.
Across all 117 Indiana stations with published normals, the median first 32°F night falls around October 21 and the median station records 45 nights a year below 20°F, which is the coldest threshold NOAA counts and a decent proxy for a hard freeze rather than a light frost. The state’s spread runs from CAMBRIDGE CITY 3 N, where the median first freeze is October 9, to EVANSVILLE MUSEUM at November 10.
The median Indiana station reaches its first freeze around 21 October and its first 20°F night on 24 November, with about 45 nights a year below 20°F. The north-to-south spread is a month: Cambridge City in the east central counties is the earliest station at 9 October, and the Evansville museum station on the Ohio River the latest at 10 November. That gradient is the same one the county table encodes.
Water lines
Burial depth for a water service line in Indiana
Indiana writes the rule into its own code: 675 IAC 14-4.4-157 requires water service pipe to be installed not less than 12 inches deep and not less than 6 inches below the frost line, and the frost line itself is set county by county in Table R301.2(1).
Under the model rule that Indiana works from, a water service line goes Water service pipe shall be installed not less than 12 inches (305 mm) deep and not less than 6 inches (152 mm) below the frost line.
which puts the floor here at 42 inches. 2021 International Residential Code, Section P2603.5 (Freezing), ICC free code viewer. Your water utility may specify more for the portion of the service it owns, and the building department that issues the permit has the final say. The national picture is on how deep water lines are buried.
Get quotes from local pros
Angi is a national marketplace for home services. You describe the job, and plumbing contractors who work in your area contact you with their own quotes. Requesting quotes is free and you are never obliged to hire anyone.
Angi pays us a referral fee for a completed service request. The fee comes from Angi, not from you, and it does not change the cost figures on this page.
Common questions
Indiana frost line questions
How deep is the frost line in Indiana?
It depends on your county, and Indiana publishes the answer for all of them. The foundation depth column of Table R301.2(1) in 675 IAC 14-4.4-5 runs from roughly 24 inches in the south to 36 inches across much of the north. Wayne County is 30 inches; Wells, White and Whitley are 36. Check your own county in that table, then confirm with your building department.
How deep does a water line have to be buried in Indiana?
Indiana states it directly in 675 IAC 14-4.4-157: water service pipe goes not less than 12 inches deep and not less than 6 inches below the frost line. In a 36-inch county that puts the minimum at 42 inches. The utility that owns the service side may require more.
Next
Where to go from here
The frost depth is the digging number. It won’t tell you whether your pipes are at risk this winter, and the two pages that will are at what temperature pipes freeze and when pipes freeze where you live, both with a ZIP lookup. If a pipe has already split, burst pipe repair cost covers the repair and the water damage behind it, and what to do about a frozen pipe is the page to open first.
Other state pages: Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Virginia, Wisconsin, Missouri, and all fifty in the national table.
Where these numbers come from
The Indiana frost figure was researched against the body that publishes it, and it’s recorded with a confidence note of “state code, verified” in our source ledger. Freeze dates are NOAA normals for stations in the state, picked by a fixed rule rather than by hand: first-order stations, spread west to east. The full method is on our methodology page.
- Freeze dates and cold-night counts: NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals, 1991 to 2020, annual and seasonal by station. Retrieved 2026-09-09. Field definitions are in the by-variable readme.
- ZIP code locations: U.S. Census Bureau 2023 ZIP Code Tabulation Area gazetteer, matched to the nearest station by great-circle distance.
- Indiana Administrative Code 675 IAC 14-4.4-5, Table R301.2(1), county frost depths (Cornell LII) The Indiana frost depth figure and basis.
- Indiana Administrative Code 675 IAC 14-4.4-157, water service pipe depth (Cornell LII) The Indiana frost depth figure and basis.
- Indiana Administrative Code 675 IAC 14-4.4-43, frost protection of foundations (Cornell LII) The Indiana frost depth figure and basis.
- 2021 International Residential Code, Section P2603.5 (Freezing), ICC free code viewer The water service line burial rule.
The full method, including how we pick a station and what we do when there is not one close enough, is on our methodology page.
Get a real number for your repair
Plumbing work in Indiana?
Compare quotes from independent, licensed plumbers who know what your jurisdiction requires. Free to you.
Free to you. PlumbingRepairCost connects homeowners with independent, licensed plumbers who pay us — that never changes what you pay. We are not a plumbing contractor and we do not dispatch emergency crews.
How to get an honest price
Start with the range. Use the cost tables here to learn the national range and what moves the price for your job.
Get it in writing. Ask two or three licensed plumbers for an itemized quote that separates parts from labor.
Compare like for like. Confirm the scope, warranty, and permit before you compare totals.
Every cost figure on this site is cited to current industry cost data. We do not set prices and we take no payment from you.