(NewsNation) — American homeowners are paying nearly 38% more for insurance than they were in 2019, but those rates are significantly higher in three states, including Arizona, where residents are forking over even more money, a new study shows.
The report, released this week by LendingTree, shows that home insurance rates have increased by 37.8% since before the COVID-10 pandemic. The data, which runs through March, shows that while homeowners across the country have seen their rates jump, those living in Arizona, Illinois, and Nebraska have seen their insurance bills jump by more than 55% since 2019.
The average homeowner pays $2,478 per year for insurance. But residents in Oklahoma and Nebraska pay double that amount annually, according to the report, with homeowners seeing annual premiums of $5,478 and $5,363, respectively.
Arizona homeowners saw the biggest jump in rates in the Grand Canyon State, where the increase represented a 62% hike, while Nebraska insurance prices jumped by 59.9% compared to 56.9%, the report shows.
Comparatively, homeowners in Alaska saw the smallest increase over the past five years with rates increasing by just 6.8%, followed by Vermont (7.4%) and West Virginia (9.9%).
In 2024, only one state, Colorado, saw insurance rates remain the same while homeowners in Florida (0.1%) and Maryland (0.2%) experienced minimal increases. Nationally, home insurance premiums have already jumped 5.8% since January across the country with the biggest increases being seen in Nebraska, where homeowners have seen their bills jump by 13.3%
Experts say that a significant portion of the jump in insurance premiums can be tied to rising home costs. Inflation and the cost of building materials also factor into the increases, the report states. While inflation has started to cool, experts say building costs have continued to rise since 2019, impacting the cost of home repairs.
“Insurance companies have to repair more homes, and it’s more expensive to rebuild each one than it might have been just five years ago,” LendingTree home insurance expert Rob Bhatt said. “When their costs of paying claims go up, they turn around and raise our rates. This is affecting prices for just about everyone, including people who haven’t been directly impacted by a natural disaster, or at least not yet.”
At the same time, more homes risk sustaining significant damage from storms and other weather-related events. The report says climate change has factored into inclement weather occurrences.
Wind and hail insurance claims account for more than 42% of all insurance claims filed since 2019, the Lending Tree report showed. Fire and lightning claims represented the highest-priced claims and were tied to 24% of claims.
The average claim filed because of damage caused by fire and lightning came in at $83,519, the report said.
