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By Giulia Carbonaro
Senior Reporter
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Florida’s property insurance market is finally improving after years of instability caused by excessive litigation, widespread fraud and an exodus of major carriers, but homeowners in the state are still paying the highest premiums in the nation, according to the latest data.
The average home insurance premium in the Sunshine State is $8,471 per year for a policy with $300,000 in dwelling coverage, $300,000 in liability, a $1,000 deductible and a 2 percent hurricane deductible, Insurance.com reported.
That is $5,599 above the nationwide average of $2,872, showing that Floridians are still taking the brunt of the several pressure factors driving up property insurance costs across the country, including more severe and more frequent natural disasters.
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But while in a league of their own, Floridians are not the only ones facing hefty property insurance premiums. In five other states, including Nebraska, Colorado, Oklahoma, Kansas and Louisiana, average property insurance premiums are now above the $5,000 a-year mark.
The Most Expensive States for Home Insurance
While Florida has the highest average property insurance premium this year, the state faced a relatively small increase compared to the double-digits hikes experienced during the pandemic. Between 2025 and 2026, the average premiums went from $7,928 to $8,471, up by 6.8 percent.
In Nebraska, where homeowners pay the second-most expensive home coverage in the nation, average premiums went from $4,553 last year to $5,513 in 2026, an increase of 21.1 percent.
Colorado had the third-highest average premiums in the nation at $5,511, up 11 percent from last year. It was followed by Oklahoma ($5,378, up 7.3 percent year-over-year), Kansas ($5,289, up 0.6 percent), and Louisiana ($5,185, up 4.2 percent).
Among the ten most expensive states for home insurance are also four where premiums are below $5,000 per year, including Texas ($4,582, up 8.7 percent from 2025), Kentucky ($4,471, up 10.6 percent), North Carolina ($3,799, down 6.3 percent) and Missouri ($3,783, down 4.9 percent).
Where Have Home Insurance Premiums Risen the Most?
Over the past year, Massachusetts saw the biggest jump in home insurance premiums in the nation, a 42.9 percent increase. Average premiums in the state rose from $1,478 in 2025 to $2,112 this year, below the national average and one of the lowest averages in the country.
Minnesota had the second-biggest increase at 22.1 percent, a jump which brought rates up to $3,333 a year, still $461 above the national average. New Mexico came third with an increase of 21.9 percent year-over-year, which pushed premiums to an average of $3,497 per year.
Next came Nebraska (up 21.1 percent to $5,513), Maryland (up 17.6 percent to $2,242), Hawaii (up 12 percent to $738), Colorado (up 11 percent to $5,511), Connecticut (up 11 percent to $2,132), Kentucky (up 10.6 percent to $4,471) and Texas (up 8.7 percent to $4,582).
What Is Driving Up Home Insurance Premiums?
The property insurance industry in the U.S. is adjusting its pricing for the growing likelihood of destructive extreme weather events across the country and inflation is driving up costs, including that of rebuilding damaged or destroyed homes.
Many of the states with the highest property insurance premiums in the country are particularly vulnerable to natural disasters such as hurricanes, storms, flooding and wildfires.
In Massachusetts, still one of the cheapest states for home insurance, premiums have gone up due to its exposure to hurricanes as a coastal state: a problem that is well-known in Florida. But another factor is the quality of housing in the state, experts say.
“Massachusetts has a relatively older housing stock, and the Coverage A amounts are adjusted each year by carriers, usually based on third-party indexes (following CPI),” Michele J. Campbell, director of communications for the Massachusetts Division of Insurance, told Insurance.com.
“Houses in Massachusetts also have size and construction characteristics that differ from those in other states, leading to differences in replacement/reconstruction cost, driving differences in premium.”
Nebraska, which is situated in the so-called “Tornado Alley” of the country, severe storms and damaging winter weather are keeping premiums high.
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How Are Higher Premiums Affecting Affordability
In the midst of the ongoing housing affordability crisis, higher property insurance premiums are squeezing U.S. households even tighter. In states such as Florida, where the average mortgage payment is $1,957, the average monthly home insurance cost of $706 brings the homeowner’s total monthly cost to $2,663, according to data compiled by Rocket Mortgage.
Considering that many in the state are already struggling with higher property taxes and homeowners association (HOA) fees in the wake of the building safety legislation passed after the Surfside collapse, higher premiums can push homeownership out of reach for many Floridians, especially those already on a tight budget, like seniors on fixed incomes.
With affordability shaping up to be the most important issue in the upcoming midterms, and potentially in 2028, the U.S. government is looking into solutions that would keep homeowners covered while avoiding unbearable increases in their premiums.
Federal solutions include the establishment of a federal reinsurance backstop, a public option that would help private insurers absorb catastrophic tail risks; the federal funding of large-scale residential retrofits to harden homes against natural disasters and make them more resilient; and expanding the U.S. Treasury’s role to catalog risk and identify coverage gaps through the National Catastrophe Risk Consortium.
Contact Newsweek editor on this story: Edward Pearcey.
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