As rising global temperatures fuel more destructive weather, homeowners across the country are paying the price — literally — with soaring home insurance rates.
What's happening?
A new trend report by insurance comparison platform The Zebra found home insurance costs are rising across the U.S. The report pinpointed severe weather events and inflation as the main culprits of these price increases.
The average annual cost of home insurance in the U.S. is $2,802, but rates vary widely across the country. Nebraska and Oklahoma have the highest annual premiums at around $7,000 to $8,000. Hawaiʻi's and Vermont's rates are much lower, hovering around $700 to $1,100.
Some especially vulnerable regions around the country — like Wrightsville Beach in North Carolina — are hit with premiums above $13,000 because of high flood and hurricane risks. Some insurers have even stopped covering homes in high-risk areas, including parts of California, Florida, and Louisiana.
"From hurricanes and wildfires to flooding, extreme weather has impacted homeowners across the country, leading to rising insurance costs," The Zebra explained in the report.
Why are rising home insurance rates concerning?
Insurers set rates based on risk, so rate increases indicate that weather-related disasters are becoming more frequent, more severe, and more expensive to recover from. Rising premiums aren't only a financial strain for homeowners — they're a warning sign of planetary degradation. Each spike in rates reflects the toll of rising global temperatures on our planet.
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When premiums rise, more homeowners struggle to afford and obtain policies — especially in already vulnerable regions.
More people are simply going without home insurance — about 7% of homeowners in 2024 — because they can't afford it. That can leave families without a safety net if disaster strikes, turning devastating destruction from a natural disaster into a full-blown financial crisis — but that's only if a homeowner can choose to go without insurance.
As The Zebra explained, home insurance is almost always a requirement for those who carry a mortgage, leaving many saddled with the cost or at risk of losing their home.
In the face of rising rates, entire communities could face slower disaster recoveries, reduced property values, and even displacement as insurance becomes harder to afford — or impossible to obtain at all.
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No way 😨 "Home insurance has become a cornerstone of the way homes are built, financed, and owned," David Seider, chief commercial officer at The Zebra, explained. "A lack of home insurance options — whether by limiting access or affordability — could have wide-ranging domino effects."
What's being done about rising insurance rates?
Experts recommend that homeowners compare policies and shop around if their current insurance costs become unaffordable. There are also some state and federal programs to help make homes more resilient to storms, reducing the risk of weather-related damage. Other state-backed initiatives offer financial assistance to help offset rising premiums.
On a larger scale, every environmentally conscious choice you make can help slow the conditions that fuel extreme weather. By making climate-minded choices, you can help address rising global temperatures, ultimately making destructive storms less common — and helping keep insurance costs from spiking even higher.
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