These U.S. states have the cheapest home insurance premiums in the country

Owning a home costs wildly different amounts depending on which state a buyer settles in, and insurance is one of the biggest reasons why. Two people with identical mortgages, similar-sized houses, and matching coverage limits can end up paying thousands of dollars apart every year simply because of where their homes sit on the map. Hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes, and hailstorms all shape what an insurer charges to cover a roof, and in states that face those threats often, premiums have climbed well past what many households budgeted for when they signed their mortgage. Reconstruction costs compound the problem. Lumber, labor, and materials all cost more than they did five years ago, and insurers pass those higher rebuilding costs straight through to policyholders regardless of whether a claim ever gets filed. For a growing number of homeowners, the insurance bill now rivals property taxes as a fixed cost that swings hard from one state line to the next.

The dollar gap between different states has widened even further this year. A homeowner paying the national average now spends $3,548 annually for a standard policy, but that figure masks how unevenly the cost actually lands from one state to the next. States exposed to hurricanes and severe convective storms carry a heavier reinsurance burden, since insurers there have to buy their own backup coverage to survive a bad storm season, and that expense gets built into every premium they write. Litigation-heavy insurance markets add another layer of cost, and so does exposure to expensive roof claims, which industry estimates put at more than $30 billion nationally in a single recent year. States with less exposure to those pressures pay less for the same coverage, and the difference between the two extremes now tops $9,600 a year, enough to cover a mortgage payment for months.

MoneyGeek's analysis of homeowners insurance premiums breaks down average annual costs in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., using a standardized homeowner profile that assumes a 2,500-square-foot home built in 2000 with $250,000 in dwelling coverage, $125,000 in personal property protection, $200,000 in liability coverage, and a $1,000 deductible. Pricing data comes from Quadrant Information Services, drawing on filings from major national and regional insurers. This list covers the seven states, including the District of Columbia, with the lowest average annual premiums in that analysis, each one landing at less than half the national average.

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MoneyGeek's data puts Hawaii's average homeowners premium at $601 a year, or about $50 a month, a rate that undercuts the $3,548 national average by 83%. No other state comes close to that gap. The number looks even more striking given Hawaii's reputation as one of the most expensive places in the country to own a home, where median home prices run well above the national figure and everyday costs like groceries and utilities carry a hefty island premium. Insurance is the one line item that runs in the opposite direction.

The explanation lies in what a standard Hawaii policy actually covers. Hurricane damage is excluded by default, and homeowners have to buy a separate hurricane policy to protect against wind and storm surge, an added cost that keeps the base premium artificially low. That gap matters because the underlying risk hasn't disappeared. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration counts just six direct hurricane hits on the islands since 1950, the most recent being Hurricane Hone in 2024, so insurers who write the standard policy face a thin claims history from that peril. Other threats remain real. Tsunamis, wildfires, and volcanic activity all show up in Hawaii's disaster record, and none of them get automatic coverage under a basic homeowners policy either.

Cracks are starting to show in that arrangement. A report from the Insurance Fairness Project flagged this year that increasingly costly climate disasters are shifting Hawaii's risk profile, and hundreds of thousands of properties in the state still don't qualify for flood insurance despite growing storm and flooding threats. Many homeowners remain uninsured or underinsured against water damage as a result. State Farm and Allstate $ALL remain competitive options for the standard policy, with Allstate quoting some of the cheapest rates in the state. For now, the headline number holds, and Hawaii remains the cheapest state for a standard homeowners policy, even though a homeowner needs to buy separate hurricane and flood coverage to be fully protected.

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Travelers $TRV charges Delaware homeowners just $697 a year for a standard policy, the cheapest rate among the major carriers MoneyGeek tracked in the state, and that's a reversal of the pattern that shows up almost everywhere else in the country, where Travelers usually ranks among the pricier options. The statewide average lands at $976 a year, or $81 a month, 72% below the $3,548 national figure MoneyGeek uses as its benchmark. That reversal reflects a regional underwriting model that favors the Mid-Atlantic, a region where catastrophic claims are rare enough that insurers can price more aggressively.

Mild weather explains most of the low statewide number. Delaware avoids the hail exposure that drives up premiums across the Midwest, and its wind risk stays moderate even along the coast. That stability shows up in how little a home's age changes the price. Newer Delaware homes average $704 a year, older homes average $944, a gap of $240, or about $20 a month, and middle-aged homes come in only $5 above the older tier once a house clears that early threshold. In storm-prone states, an aging roof or outdated wiring often sends premiums climbing fast, since insurers expect more frequent claims from properties that haven't been updated. Delaware's low claims frequency removes most of that penalty. Coastal exposure remains the exception, since Sussex and Kent counties carry higher rates than the rest of the state, and flooding remains common enough that homeowners there still need a separate flood policy on top of whatever Travelers, Nationwide, or State Farm charges for the standard one.

Delaware's small footprint also keeps the market simple to shop. With just a handful of major carriers active statewide, homeowners can compare quotes from Travelers, State Farm, Allstate $ALL, Nationwide, and Cumberland Mutual without wading through dozens of regional options, and the price spread between those carriers rarely exceeds a few hundred dollars a year.

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Vermont packs just 648,000 residents into 9,200 square miles, one of the lowest population densities in the country, and that geography shapes the state's insurance market as much as its weather does. The average Vermont premium comes in at $1,054 a year, or $88 a month, 70% below the $3,548 national figure MoneyGeek reports. Open geography cuts down on the liability disputes, theft, and vandalism that push up claims frequency in denser markets, and fewer claims give insurers room to write cheaper policies without losing money.

The trend line confirms the pattern. Vermont's average premium climbed only about 19% over the past five years, well below the 48% national increase over the same stretch, and the pace has slowed even further lately. Premiums rose 9% in 2024, then just 2.6% in 2025, a deceleration that puts Vermont well ahead of neighboring states like New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, all of which saw steeper increases over the same five years. Part of that stability comes from the housing stock itself. The average Vermont home is 42 years old and runs about 2,000 square feet, a modest profile that keeps rebuilding costs in check even as materials get more expensive nationally.

Local geography still creates winners and losers within the state. Hinesburg, Huntington, and Charlotte carry the cheapest premiums in Vermont, each landing between $941 and $945 a year, while towns like West Dummerston, East Poultney, and Westminster Station run closer to $1,100. All three of the pricier towns sit along or near rivers, where flash flooding from mountain runoff drives up claims and, in turn, premiums. Vermont Mutual remains the cheapest major carrier statewide at $514 a year, roughly half the state average, making it the first stop for homeowners trying to beat even Vermont's already low baseline. Concord Group and USAA follow close behind on price, though USAA's coverage is limited to military members, veterans, and their families, which leaves Concord Group as the more broadly available option for homeowners chasing a rate below the state average.

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Oregon's average annual premium lands at $1,083, or $90 a month, 69% below the $3,548 national average MoneyGeek calculates for a standard policy. Much of that gap comes down to what Oregon doesn't have. The Pacific Northwest sees far fewer hurricanes and tornadoes than the South or Great Plains, and federal weather data puts Oregon's average severe disaster count at less than one event a year. Insurers price for that calm baseline across most of the state, which keeps premiums well under what a similarly sized home would cost in Texas or Oklahoma.

That statewide average obscures a growing regional split. Wildfire risk has climbed sharply in southern and central Oregon, particularly around the Rogue Valley, Medford, and the Bend corridor, and insurers have responded by raising rates or pulling back coverage in those specific zones. Statewide premiums rose from about $583 in 2018 to more than $886 by 2023, an increase state regulators tie partly to wildfire losses and partly to the same reinsurance and construction cost pressures showing up nationwide. Homeowners in the Willamette Valley and along the coast still see relatively modest bills, while those near the Cascades foothills face tighter underwriting and steeper premiums for the same coverage.

Building codes help offset some of that pressure. Oregon adopted the 2021 International Residential Code with state-specific amendments addressing seismic safety, and stricter construction standards reduce the damage a home takes in an earthquake or windstorm, which in turn holds down claims costs over time. Homeowners chasing the cheapest coverage in the state have options too. USAA quotes some of the lowest rates in Oregon, though membership requires a military connection, and State Farm offers a lower-than-average rate for homeowners who don't qualify. The Oregon FAIR Plan Association exists as a backstop for homeowners who get turned down elsewhere, particularly in the high-risk wildfire zones near Bend and the Rogue Valley, and it provides basic dwelling coverage without weighing credit history or prior losses the way private carriers do.

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New Hampshire experiences an average of just half a severe disaster event a year, one of the lowest rates the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration tracks for any state, and that calm record shows up directly in what homeowners pay. The average annual premium comes in at $1,152, or $96 a month, 68% below the $3,548 national figure in MoneyGeek's analysis. New Hampshire's inland location adds to that picture, since the state sits far enough from the coast that Atlantic hurricanes rarely make landfall with real force, and its terrain limits the tornado and wildfire exposure that drives up costs across the South and West.

More than 30 companies actively write homeowners policies in the state, and that level of competition keeps individual insurers from padding their margins the way they do in markets with fewer options. That crowded field gives homeowners real room to shop, since a state with only a handful of active carriers tends to see less competitive pricing across the board.

Amica prices lowest among major carriers in the state, quoting an average of $742 a year for New Hampshire homeowners, well below the state average. State Farm, Concord Group, Main Street America, and Allstate $ALL all land somewhere between 2% and 36% cheaper than the statewide baseline, giving homeowners several ways to beat the average without sacrificing coverage. Bundling a home policy with an auto policy remains one of the more reliable ways to shave costs further, since most New Hampshire insurers offer meaningful multi-policy discounts on top of their already competitive base rates.

The trade-off shows up mostly in winter. New Hampshire homes still face real risk from ice dams, heavy snow loads, and burst pipes during cold months, and those claims remain the most common reason a New Hampshire policyholder files at all. Severe thunderstorms pose a secondary threat in the warmer months, bringing heavy rain and strong wind that can damage roofs and siding, though neither peril approaches the scale of the hurricane and wildfire losses that drive up premiums elsewhere in the country.

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Nevada doesn't get hurricanes, and most of its population lives on the Las Vegas valley floor, an area with only minimal wildfire exposure compared with the mountain and high-desert terrain surrounding it. Those two facts anchor the state's average annual premium at $1,212, or $101 a month, 66% below the $3,548 national figure MoneyGeek reports. Floods and droughts show up in the state's disaster record, but neither has produced the kind of widespread, expensive claims history that pushes premiums higher in California or Colorado.

Nevada's regulatory approach reinforces that low baseline, though not without controversy. A law passed by the state legislature took effect Jan. 1 and lets insurers exclude wildfire coverage from standard homeowners policies for the first time in the country, offering it instead as a separate, standalone product. Supporters argue the change will keep base premiums down by letting insurers price wildfire risk apart from everything else a policy covers. Critics counter that homeowners who skip the add-on face a real risk of no coverage during the next major wildfire, particularly as wildfire activity creeps closer to populated areas outside Las Vegas and Reno.

A separate report found Nevada near the bottom of the country for rate increases over the past five years relative to inflation, a reflection of just how little claims activity the state has generated compared with hurricane- and tornado-prone regions. Nevada also lacks a government-run FAIR Plan, the insurer of last resort that states like California and Florida rely on for homeowners the private market won't cover. Nevada homeowners who get turned down by standard carriers have to look to surplus lines insurers instead, a sign that the state's low-risk profile has kept the market functioning well enough that a public backstop hasn't been necessary yet. Travelers $TRV currently offers the cheapest standard policy in the state at $974 a year, a rate that undercuts the national average by nearly two-thirds while still covering a comparable home.

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Washington, D.C., homeowners pay $1,289 a year on average, or $107 a month, 64% below the $3,548 national figure MoneyGeek calculates. That number holds even though several local factors would normally push it higher. The district's housing stock leans older, with plenty of row houses and townhouses that cost more to repair than newer suburban construction, and the city's property crime rate runs above the national average, which adds to theft-related claims. D.C. also carries a below-national catastrophe risk that offsets those pressures. Tornado damage falls under the standard windstorm coverage in a D.C. policy, so homeowners don't need to buy a separate policy the way they might for flood or earthquake protection.

The district's insurance market stays unusually tight on price. Only five carriers get rated in MoneyGeek's D.C. analysis, and the gap between the cheapest and the most expensive of them runs about $54 a month, a narrower spread than most metro areas show. USAA quotes the lowest rate in the district, but its coverage is limited to military members, veterans, and their families. Nationwide offers the best rate among insurers with no military requirement. Chubb $CB costs the most of the five, but it also earns the strongest coverage score in MoneyGeek's analysis. The cheapest policy and the most comprehensive one aren't always the same pick.

Rebuilding costs matter more in D.C. than in most of the states on this list. The median cost to rebuild a home in the district runs about $510,547, driven by the same dense construction and high labor costs that make D.C. one of the more expensive places to renovate a house. Homeowners who get turned down by at least two private insurers can apply to the District of Columbia Property Insurance Facility, the city's insurer of last resort, though most D.C. residents never need to go that route given how competitive the standard market already is.