Find out how much home insurance costs and how to reduce your insurance bill.
Many folks buy homeowners insurance because it’s required by their mortgage company, but it’s important to remember the real value of your policy: it’s a safety net for the worst-case scenario. Your policy is an investment in the protection of your home, belongings, and yourself and your family. But we get it – no one is trying to spend more on coverage than they have to.
The national average cost of home insurance is $1,249 per year and trending upward – likely due to inflation and an increase in extreme weather.
| Year | Average Home Insurance Premium |
|---|---|
| 2009 | $880 |
| 2010 | $909 |
| 2011 | $979 |
| 2012 | $1,034 |
| 2013 | $1,096 |
| 2014 | $1,132 |
| 2015 | $1,173 |
| 2016 | $1,192 |
| 2017 | $1,211 |
| 2018 | $1,249 |
Source: Insurance Information Institute & 2019 National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC)
That said, your individual costs depend on several factors:
These variables mean that the cost of home insurance fluctuates – a lot. That’s why answering questions like, “What is a good price for home insurance?” isn’t always straightforward. Your state’s averages likely offer a more helpful impression of the baseline price for home insurance in your area. Let’s take a look.
| State | Average Premium | State | Average Premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $1,409 | Montana | $1,237 |
| Alaska | $984 | Nebraska | $1,569 |
| Arizona | $843 | Nevada | $776 |
| Arkansas | $1,419 | New Hampshire | $984 |
| California | $1,073 | New Jersey | $1,209 |
| Colorado | $1,616 | New Mexico | $1,075 |
| Connecticut | $1,494 | New York | $1,321 |
| Delaware | $873 | North Carolina | $1,103 |
| D.C. | $1,264 | North Dakota | $1,293 |
| Florida | $1,960 | Ohio | $874 |
| Georgia | $1,313 | Oklahoma | $1,944 |
| Hawaii | $1,140 | Oregon | $706 |
| Idaho | $772 | Pennsylvania | $943 |
| Illinois | $1,103 | Rhode Island | $1,630 |
| Indiana | $1,030 | South Carolina | $1,284 |
| Iowa | $987 | South Dakota | $1,280 |
| Kansas | $1,617 | Tennessee | $1,232 |
| Kentucky | $1,152 | Texas | $1,955 |
| Louisiana | $1,987 | Utah | $730 |
| Maine | $905 | Vermont | $935 |
| Maryland | $1,071 | Virginia | $1,026 |
| Massachusetts | $1,543 | Washington | $881 |
| Michigan | $981 | West Virginia | $970 |
| Minnesota | $1,400 | Wisconsin | $814 |
| Mississippi | $1,578 | Wyoming | $1,187 |
| Missouri | $1,383 | United States | $1,249 |
Source: Insurance Information Institute & 2019 National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC)
Every state has its own rules, regulations, and risks. While some perils are universal – a home can get broken into anywhere – others are regionally specific. For example, a home along the coast of Florida is uniquely exposed to hurricanes, while a home in Oklahoma may be at risk for tornadoes and earthquakes. Many California homes face serious risk of wildfire, while homes in Louisiana may face flooding and hurricanes.
On the other side of the coin, landlocked homes in the Midwest and West – Utah, Wisconsin, Idaho, and Nevada – often have lower home insurance rates because they are exposed to fewer catastrophes like floods, hurricanes, wildfires, and earthquakes.
It’s also worth noting that where you get your home insurance can seriously impact how much you pay for coverage. For example, while the national average premium for Florida home insurance is $1,951, Kin’s Florida customers pay an average of $1,354 yearly. Your city may influence your rates, too. For example, these are the yearly median premiums Kin customers pay in the following Florida cities, based on our data:
With that in mind, let’s look at the highest and lowest home insurance costs by state.
The following states have the highest average home insurance premiums:
The following states have the lowest average home insurance premiums:
Now’s a good time to remind you that the coverage you choose impacts your home insurance premium, too. These averages are based on HO3 policies with all-perils coverage for the dwelling and named perils coverage for personal property – that’s pretty standard for a home insurance policy. If you opt for all-perils coverage for your belongings, too, that will increase the cost of your policy.
Similarly, your policy limits – or the amount of coverage you have – for your dwelling will impact your costs. If you look at national averages for home insurance costs based on coverage levels, you can get an idea of how your choices may increase or reduce your rates.
| Average Premium | Dwelling Coverage Limits | Deductible Amount | Liability Coverage Limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| $1,228 | $200,000 | $1,000 | $100,000 |
| $1,244 | $200,000 | $1,000 | $300,000 |
| $1,737 | $300,000 | $1,000 | $300,000 |
| $2,252 | $400,000 | $1,000 | $300,000 |
| $2,790 | $500,000 | $1,000 | $300,000 |
| $3,295 | $600,000 | $1,000 | $300,000 |
Source: Insurance.com
If your home’s replacement cost – that is, how much it would cost to rebuild it from the ground up – is high, your premium will be higher, too. As illustrated above, the amount of dwelling coverage you have can impact your rates considerably.
For homeowners in Florida, the home’s roof shape and wind mitigation measures can be a significant cost factor, too. Hip shape roofs tend to weather hurricane winds better, so they may fetch a lower rate. A homeowner who has invested in other wind mitigation measures, like stronger roof-to-wall connections, roof-to-deck connections, and roofing materials, can lower their rates even more.
| Cost Factors You Can Control | Cost Factors That Are Mostly Fixed |
|---|---|
| Coverage Types and Amounts | Location |
| Deductibles | Claims History |
| Risk Mitigation Discounts | Home Age and Replacement Cost |
The following factors impact your home insurance costs, but you can tinker with them to make your policy more affordable:
The following variables are often fixed but have a significant impact on your home insurance rates:
While you can’t control some factors that influence your homeowners insurance cost, such as your home’s location, its age, and its replacement cost, there are some things you can do to reduce your rates.
These tips can help you get the cheapest homeowners insurance possible without sacrificing the quality of your coverage.
Don’t go with the first insurance provider you find or the one your parents use. The best way to make sure you get a good deal on your coverage is to shop around. Get a quote from a few different providers, and don’t look at price alone. You’ll also want to consider:
When you find an insurance provider you trust, this part should be easy. A good insurance provider will help you choose the appropriate amount of coverage for your home, your belongings, and your liability. Not too much coverage, which can drive up your premiums, and not too little, which leaves you inadequately protected.
Ideally, your policy will offer replacement cost coverage for both your home (which means you can rebuild with similar materials at the current market rate) and your belongings (which allows you to replace your missing or damaged possessions with similar, new items).
Typically, the higher your deductible, the lower your premium will be. While it may be tempting to choose the highest possible deductible to offset your monthly bill, be careful. You don’t want to choose such a high deductible that it puts an unreasonable financial burden on you when you need to make a claim.
For reference, Kin customers can choose between the following deductible options: $500, $1,000, $2,500, $5,000 or 1, 2, 3, or 5 percent of your dwelling coverage.
While you can’t pick up your home and move it to a new location, you can opt out of adding things to your home that may raise your premium. For example:
Certain updates to your house not only make the home safer, but they can also cut your home insurance costs. For example, the following improvements may reduce your bill:
Before making big investments, talk to your insurance agent to see what kind of discounts you can expect from each improvement. That can help you spend money that will be offset by savings down the road.
Most insurers can use your insurance score, which is based on your credit score, as a factor to determine your premium. The logic is the better your score, the less likely you are to make a claim (and subsequently, you qualify for lower rates).
To improve your credit score and reduce your insurance bill, you can:
We get the impulse to buy and forget about your coverage, but a yearly review is a good practice for a few reasons:
Every insurer offers different discounts, prices, and coverage. So while the tips here apply to most insurance companies, you’ll get the best insight from a provider who can give you the scoop on:
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