Abstract Here an embedded piezoelectric sensor was fabricated to monitor the freezing-thawing and crack damage of concrete by using electromechanical impedance technique. The results show that the damage evolution of concrete is dependent on impedance spectra of the piezoelectric sensor. The resistance values of the sensor increase gradually with increasing the concrete freezing-thawing cycles and the crack depth under the same testing frequency interval. The root mean square deviation index was used to evaluate the damage extent of concrete. It increases with increasing the freezing-thawing cycles and crack depth, and shows a most obvious variation in the 100–150 kHz frequency intervals. This research shows that the concrete damage and its evolution can be effectively monitored by employing the embedded piezoelectric sensor based on the electromechanical impedance technique.