US Counties With the Highest Heating Degree Days

3,108 US counties ranked by heating degree days, from highest to lowest. First are Lake County, CO (11,328), San Juan County, CO (11,210) and Summit County, CO (10,987). The middle one of the 3,108 has 4,168.

What this measures

A measure of how cold the year was, as a total over its days. A day whose average temperature is 50°F counts 15 heating degree days, the degrees it fell short of 65°F. A day at 65°F or warmer counts none. Homes often need heat on days below 65°F, so more degree days mean more heating weather. NOAA estimates them from its monthly temperatures for each county. A state's figure is the average of its counties, each weighted by its land area. Alaska and Hawaii are not covered. Source: NOAA NCEI nClimDiv.

For most measures, a national ranking mostly sorts places by income and by how urban they are. Each county’s own page compares it with the 50 counties most like it instead, which is often the fairer view.

The 100 highest counties

Every state, highest first

Each state’s own published figure, not an average of its counties.

More on heating degree days

• US Counties With the Lowest Heating Degree Days
• Heating degree days by US county: map by year and what it goes with

A ranking describes places, not the people in them, and a high or low place does not by itself say why. All US rankings.