Home insurance
Rebuild coverage for your house, your belongings, and your liability — priced off what your home would cost to reconstruct, not what it would sell for.
What home insurance covers
A homeowners policy bundles four protections: dwelling coverage (rebuild the structure at today’s construction costs), other structures (garage, fences), personal property (your belongings, usually 50–70% of the dwelling limit), and liability (injuries and damage you cause, plus legal defense), with loss-of-use coverage paying for temporary housing after a covered event. Standard policies exclude flood and earthquake — those are separate policies or endorsements, and the exclusion surprises someone in every disaster.
Who needs it
- Anyone with a mortgage — your lender requires it.
- Anyone who could not rebuild from savings after a fire (nearly everyone).
- Condo owners need a different form (HO-6) and townhome owners should check what their HOA’s master policy covers — the walls-in gap is yours.
What it typically costs
The Insurance Information Institute’s NAIC-based series put the average U.S. homeowners premium at $1,569 per year (2022), and more recent quote-based trackers run above $2,000 as rebuild costs climb. The dwelling limit drives most of the price: insurers rate the cost to reconstruct your home, which follows construction costs (a NerdWallet analysis of First Street data puts the U.S. median rebuild cost at about $280 per square foot), not your home’s market price.
What moves your price
- Rebuild (replacement) cost of the home — size, materials, local labor
- Roof age and material
- Deductible — including separate hurricane/wind deductibles in some coastal states
- Claims history (yours and the property’s)
- Distance to fire station and hydrant; local fire protection class
- Credit-based insurance score, where allowed
- Discounts: bundling with auto, alarms, new roof, claims-free years
How to shop it
- Get your dwelling limit right first: estimate rebuild cost per square foot for your area, not the purchase price.
- Decide replacement cost vs. extended/guaranteed replacement endorsements knowingly.
- Choose a deductible you could actually pay during a disaster, and ask about separate wind/hurricane deductibles.
- Cover flood separately if your risk is real — a standard policy will not pay it.
- Bundle with auto only after pricing both ways; bundles usually win but not always.
Start here
Home insurance premium estimator
Enter size and rebuild cost per square foot; get a labelled premium range from a published model — no fake precision.
Best home insurance
The largest writers, the satisfaction leader, and the military-only option, compared by fit.
Company research
State Farm is also the largest U.S. homeowners insurer. Our evidence-checked profile: State Farm profile.
Sources: Insurance Information Institute / NAIC average homeowners premium ($1,569, 2022 series); NerdWallet analysis of First Street rebuild-cost data (U.S. median ≈ $280/sq ft); NAIC homeowners market share via S&P Global / III (State Farm largest, ~18%).