World
AI Analysis
2025 saw relatively fewer natural disasters. Will you get a break on home insurance?
AI
AI Legal Analyst
Summary
ALLISON JOYCE/AFP via Getty Images/AFP hide caption toggle caption ALLISON JOYCE/AFP via Getty Images/AFP American homeowners have faced years of rising insurance costs, due in part to threats from climate change. The state has some of the country's highest insurance costs, and in recent years, a lot of homeowners had to rely on the state's insurer of last resort, known as Citizens Property Insurance Corp., because private carriers left Florida or went bankrupt after major storms. ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images/AFP hide caption toggle caption ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images/AFP 'A bit of an easing' The average cost of homeowners insurance in the U.S. is about $2,400 annually, according to Bankrate. Brandon Bell/Getty Images/Getty Images North America hide caption toggle caption Brandon Bell/Getty Images/Getty Images North America With a couple more years of relatively low disaster costs, more parts of the country would see insurance rates "stabilize and probably start heading down," says David Marlett, managing director of the Brantley Risk & Insurance Center at Appalachian State University. "It's a highly competitive market," he says, adding that insurers would look to "increase their market [share] by lowering premiums." Climate Risk Hits Home Disaster and insurance costs are rising.
## Summary
ALLISON JOYCE/AFP via Getty Images/AFP hide caption toggle caption ALLISON JOYCE/AFP via Getty Images/AFP American homeowners have faced years of rising insurance costs, due in part to threats from climate change. The state has some of the country's highest insurance costs, and in recent years, a lot of homeowners had to rely on the state's insurer of last resort, known as Citizens Property Insurance Corp., because private carriers left Florida or went bankrupt after major storms. ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images/AFP hide caption toggle caption ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images/AFP 'A bit of an easing' The average cost of homeowners insurance in the U.S. is about $2,400 annually, according to Bankrate. Brandon Bell/Getty Images/Getty Images North America hide caption toggle caption Brandon Bell/Getty Images/Getty Images North America With a couple more years of relatively low disaster costs, more parts of the country would see insurance rates "stabilize and probably start heading down," says David Marlett, managing director of the Brantley Risk & Insurance Center at Appalachian State University. "It's a highly competitive market," he says, adding that insurers would look to "increase their market [share] by lowering premiums." Climate Risk Hits Home Disaster and insurance costs are rising.
## Article Content
Climate
2025 saw relatively fewer natural disasters. Will you get a break on home insurance?
March 11, 2026
4:19 AM ET
Heard on
Morning Edition
By
Michael Copley
2025 saw relatively fewer natural disasters. Will you get a break on home insurance?
Listen
·
2:37
2:37
Toggle more options
Download
Embed
Embed
<
iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5734455/nx-s1-9682999" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
People in the remnants of a home in London, Kentucky after it was hit by a tornado in May 2025. Home insurance costs are expected to increase this year in states that have suffered hail and tornado damage from big convective storms.
ALLISON JOYCE/AFP via Getty Images/AFP
hide caption
toggle caption
ALLISON JOYCE/AFP via Getty Images/AFP
American homeowners have faced years of rising insurance costs, due in part to threats from climate change. But 2025 was a relatively quiet year for extreme weather disasters: wildfires and flooding devastated parts of
California
,
Texas
and
Alaska
, but no hurricanes
made landfall
in the continental U.S. So, will homeowners get a break on their insurance bills?
The answer is maybe — and only in some places.
Florida is one of those spots. The state has some of the country's highest insurance costs, and in recent years, a lot of homeowners had to rely on the state's insurer of last resort, known as Citizens Property Insurance Corp., because private carriers left Florida or went bankrupt after major storms. But private insurers have been returning to Florida, and most homeowners who are still covered by a state-backed plan will see their premiums go down this spring, Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican,
said
earlier this year.
Climate Risk Hits Home
Why home insurance is unaffordable, even in places without wildfires or hurricanes
Nationwide, however, industry forecasts show premiums rising between 3% and 8%,
according to Bankrate
. The steepest hikes are expected in Midwestern states that have suffered
hail
and tornado damage from big convective storms, says Mark Friedlander, a spokesperson for the Insurance Information Institute, an industry research group.
While disaster costs
fell
in the U.S. last year, it marked the fourth time in five years that extreme weather has inflicted more than $100 billion in annual losses. Given the mounting financial toll, a lot of home insurers probably won't rush to cut rates based on what happened in a single year, especially since the risk of more-intense storms, floods and wildfires is growing as temperatures rise, says Jacob Gellman, an assistant professor of applied economics at Oregon State University.
"We're talking about a 'better' than typical year in recent times," says Rob Hoyt, an insurance expert at the University of Georgia. "But that should be interpreted as amongst a very troubling set of years from a catastrophic loss perspective."
An aerial view shows cleared residential lots, with the San Gabriel Mountains in the background, in Altadena, California in August 2025, after the Eaton Fire destroyed more than 9,000 structures.
ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images/AFP
hide caption
toggle caption
ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images/AFP
'A bit of an easing'
The average cost of homeowners insurance in the U.S. is about $2,400 annually,
according
to Bankrate. In 2020, the most common type of home insurance policy cost about $1,300 a year on average,
according
to American Express. The increase is straining household budgets. About 14% of owner-occupied homes are uninsured nationwide,
said
LendingTree, which runs an online marketplace for loans, in a recent report. The number jumped more than 6% from 2023 to 2024 as rising insurance costs accounted for a greater share of household income, the company said. In addition to raising prices, insurers have pulled back from offering policies in some of the riskiest areas.
The cost increases are being driven by several factors. Home insurers, which are overseen by state regulators, have been raising rates partly because climate-fueled disasters damage and destroy property. Additionally, people have continued to move to coastal regions vulnerable to hurricanes and to forested areas prone to wildfires. That means more property is in harm's way. Then, when homes burn or flood, inflation has made it more expensive to rebuild.
On top of those pressures, insurers have contended with rising costs for
reinsurance
— insurance for insurance companies. Recently, though, reinsurance prices have been falling, according to the ratings firm Moody's. While reinsurers suffered heavy losses from the California wildfires in 2025, Moody's said they got a financial boost when hurricane season ended last year without any hits to the U.S.
Climate Risk Hits Home
It's harder to get home insurance. That's changing communities across the U.S.
For homeowners, any potential benefits — like insurers passing along savings on reinsurance or expanding coverage in risky are
---
## Expert Analysis
### Merits
- Homeowners in Louisiana and Texas could also benefit, according to insurance experts.
- That's more than $2,000 above the national average. "What consumers are seeing and what buyers of reinsurance are seeing is, yeah, this is a bit of an easing," Hoyt says. "But it's at a very high level after several years of significant increase." To bring down insurance prices long term, Hoyt says people need to reconsider where they live and how they protect their property against threats.
### Areas for Consideration
- Climate Risk Hits Home Why home insurance is unaffordable, even in places without wildfires or hurricanes Nationwide, however, industry forecasts show premiums rising between 3% and 8%, according to Bankrate .
- Given the mounting financial toll, a lot of home insurers probably won't rush to cut rates based on what happened in a single year, especially since the risk of more-intense storms, floods and wildfires is growing as temperatures rise, says Jacob Gellman, an assistant professor of applied economics at Oregon State University. "We're talking about a 'better' than typical year in recent times," says Rob Hoyt, an insurance expert at the University of Georgia. "But that should be interpreted as amongst a very troubling set of years from a catastrophic loss perspective." An aerial view shows cleared residential lots, with the San Gabriel Mountains in the background, in Altadena, California in August 2025, after the Eaton Fire destroyed more than 9,000 structures.
- Climate Risk Hits Home It's harder to get home insurance.
### Implications
- Will you get a break on home insurance?
- Will you get a break on home insurance?
- Listen · 2:37 2:37 Toggle more options Download Embed Embed < iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5734455/nx-s1-9682999" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> People in the remnants of a home in London, Kentucky after it was hit by a tornado in May 2025.
- ALLISON JOYCE/AFP via Getty Images/AFP hide caption toggle caption ALLISON JOYCE/AFP via Getty Images/AFP American homeowners have faced years of rising insurance costs, due in part to threats from climate change.
### Expert Commentary
This article covers insurance, home, homeowners topics. Notable strengths include discussion of insurance. Areas of concern are also raised. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 1223.
ALLISON JOYCE/AFP via Getty Images/AFP hide caption toggle caption ALLISON JOYCE/AFP via Getty Images/AFP American homeowners have faced years of rising insurance costs, due in part to threats from climate change. The state has some of the country's highest insurance costs, and in recent years, a lot of homeowners had to rely on the state's insurer of last resort, known as Citizens Property Insurance Corp., because private carriers left Florida or went bankrupt after major storms. ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images/AFP hide caption toggle caption ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images/AFP 'A bit of an easing' The average cost of homeowners insurance in the U.S. is about $2,400 annually, according to Bankrate. Brandon Bell/Getty Images/Getty Images North America hide caption toggle caption Brandon Bell/Getty Images/Getty Images North America With a couple more years of relatively low disaster costs, more parts of the country would see insurance rates "stabilize and probably start heading down," says David Marlett, managing director of the Brantley Risk & Insurance Center at Appalachian State University. "It's a highly competitive market," he says, adding that insurers would look to "increase their market [share] by lowering premiums." Climate Risk Hits Home Disaster and insurance costs are rising.
## Article Content
Climate
2025 saw relatively fewer natural disasters. Will you get a break on home insurance?
March 11, 2026
4:19 AM ET
Heard on
Morning Edition
By
Michael Copley
2025 saw relatively fewer natural disasters. Will you get a break on home insurance?
Listen
·
2:37
2:37
Toggle more options
Download
Embed
Embed
<
iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5734455/nx-s1-9682999" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
People in the remnants of a home in London, Kentucky after it was hit by a tornado in May 2025. Home insurance costs are expected to increase this year in states that have suffered hail and tornado damage from big convective storms.
ALLISON JOYCE/AFP via Getty Images/AFP
hide caption
toggle caption
ALLISON JOYCE/AFP via Getty Images/AFP
American homeowners have faced years of rising insurance costs, due in part to threats from climate change. But 2025 was a relatively quiet year for extreme weather disasters: wildfires and flooding devastated parts of
California
,
Texas
and
Alaska
, but no hurricanes
made landfall
in the continental U.S. So, will homeowners get a break on their insurance bills?
The answer is maybe — and only in some places.
Florida is one of those spots. The state has some of the country's highest insurance costs, and in recent years, a lot of homeowners had to rely on the state's insurer of last resort, known as Citizens Property Insurance Corp., because private carriers left Florida or went bankrupt after major storms. But private insurers have been returning to Florida, and most homeowners who are still covered by a state-backed plan will see their premiums go down this spring, Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican,
said
earlier this year.
Climate Risk Hits Home
Why home insurance is unaffordable, even in places without wildfires or hurricanes
Nationwide, however, industry forecasts show premiums rising between 3% and 8%,
according to Bankrate
. The steepest hikes are expected in Midwestern states that have suffered
hail
and tornado damage from big convective storms, says Mark Friedlander, a spokesperson for the Insurance Information Institute, an industry research group.
While disaster costs
fell
in the U.S. last year, it marked the fourth time in five years that extreme weather has inflicted more than $100 billion in annual losses. Given the mounting financial toll, a lot of home insurers probably won't rush to cut rates based on what happened in a single year, especially since the risk of more-intense storms, floods and wildfires is growing as temperatures rise, says Jacob Gellman, an assistant professor of applied economics at Oregon State University.
"We're talking about a 'better' than typical year in recent times," says Rob Hoyt, an insurance expert at the University of Georgia. "But that should be interpreted as amongst a very troubling set of years from a catastrophic loss perspective."
An aerial view shows cleared residential lots, with the San Gabriel Mountains in the background, in Altadena, California in August 2025, after the Eaton Fire destroyed more than 9,000 structures.
ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images/AFP
hide caption
toggle caption
ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images/AFP
'A bit of an easing'
The average cost of homeowners insurance in the U.S. is about $2,400 annually,
according
to Bankrate. In 2020, the most common type of home insurance policy cost about $1,300 a year on average,
according
to American Express. The increase is straining household budgets. About 14% of owner-occupied homes are uninsured nationwide,
said
LendingTree, which runs an online marketplace for loans, in a recent report. The number jumped more than 6% from 2023 to 2024 as rising insurance costs accounted for a greater share of household income, the company said. In addition to raising prices, insurers have pulled back from offering policies in some of the riskiest areas.
The cost increases are being driven by several factors. Home insurers, which are overseen by state regulators, have been raising rates partly because climate-fueled disasters damage and destroy property. Additionally, people have continued to move to coastal regions vulnerable to hurricanes and to forested areas prone to wildfires. That means more property is in harm's way. Then, when homes burn or flood, inflation has made it more expensive to rebuild.
On top of those pressures, insurers have contended with rising costs for
reinsurance
— insurance for insurance companies. Recently, though, reinsurance prices have been falling, according to the ratings firm Moody's. While reinsurers suffered heavy losses from the California wildfires in 2025, Moody's said they got a financial boost when hurricane season ended last year without any hits to the U.S.
Climate Risk Hits Home
It's harder to get home insurance. That's changing communities across the U.S.
For homeowners, any potential benefits — like insurers passing along savings on reinsurance or expanding coverage in risky are
---
## Expert Analysis
### Merits
- Homeowners in Louisiana and Texas could also benefit, according to insurance experts.
- That's more than $2,000 above the national average. "What consumers are seeing and what buyers of reinsurance are seeing is, yeah, this is a bit of an easing," Hoyt says. "But it's at a very high level after several years of significant increase." To bring down insurance prices long term, Hoyt says people need to reconsider where they live and how they protect their property against threats.
### Areas for Consideration
- Climate Risk Hits Home Why home insurance is unaffordable, even in places without wildfires or hurricanes Nationwide, however, industry forecasts show premiums rising between 3% and 8%, according to Bankrate .
- Given the mounting financial toll, a lot of home insurers probably won't rush to cut rates based on what happened in a single year, especially since the risk of more-intense storms, floods and wildfires is growing as temperatures rise, says Jacob Gellman, an assistant professor of applied economics at Oregon State University. "We're talking about a 'better' than typical year in recent times," says Rob Hoyt, an insurance expert at the University of Georgia. "But that should be interpreted as amongst a very troubling set of years from a catastrophic loss perspective." An aerial view shows cleared residential lots, with the San Gabriel Mountains in the background, in Altadena, California in August 2025, after the Eaton Fire destroyed more than 9,000 structures.
- Climate Risk Hits Home It's harder to get home insurance.
### Implications
- Will you get a break on home insurance?
- Will you get a break on home insurance?
- Listen · 2:37 2:37 Toggle more options Download Embed Embed < iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5734455/nx-s1-9682999" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> People in the remnants of a home in London, Kentucky after it was hit by a tornado in May 2025.
- ALLISON JOYCE/AFP via Getty Images/AFP hide caption toggle caption ALLISON JOYCE/AFP via Getty Images/AFP American homeowners have faced years of rising insurance costs, due in part to threats from climate change.
### Expert Commentary
This article covers insurance, home, homeowners topics. Notable strengths include discussion of insurance. Areas of concern are also raised. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 1223.
insurance
home
homeowners
costs
insurers
afp
getty
images
