Home Insurance Rates Climb 2.2% in 2026, Jefferson Parish Up 33%

Small national increase, very large local ones

The national average for U.S. home insurance rose only modestly in the first six months of 2026. Behind that average, though, some places saw sharp increases. Insurify's midyear analysis found home insurance costs rose 2.2% in the first half of the year, after a 12% jump in 2025. The company says prices are on track for its full-year forecast of a 4% increase.32 Nearly 1,900 counties saw higher premiums, and more than 130 of them saw double-digit increases.32

Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, had the largest increase. Its average premium rose 33%, or $2,135, to $8,615 a year.31 Collier County, Florida, came second with a 25.3% rise, to an average of $10,052.32 Southern Minnesota accounts for much of the rest of the top ten. Le Sueur, Watonwan, Martin, Hennepin and Steele counties all made the list, and each rose about 20% or more.35 Two counties on Colorado's Eastern Plains, Kit Carson and Prowers, also ranked near the top. Kit Carson rose 22% after an April 2026 wildfire caused about $20 million in property damage.32

The main point of the report is that the slowdown in the national number hides large regional differences. In much of the country, the cost of insuring a home is still being reset upward, and the pressure has moved inland from the hurricane coast.

Minnesota is the clearest example

Minnesota led all states. Its average premium rose 12.9%, or $457, to $3,987.32 That is about three times Insurify's full-year national forecast, reached in half a year.35 Local coverage notes that Minnesota's rates were below the national average in 2023. They now exceed it by more than 30%, and every county in the state is above the national average.35

The main cause is weather. Hail and severe thunderstorms, not hurricanes, are pushing costs up.35 But the Insurify report makes clear that state rules also matter. Minnesota generally allows insurers to use new rates as soon as they file them, before regulators finish reviewing them. As a result, changes in risk reach homeowners' bills faster than in states that require approval first.32 Three other changes add to the effect[32]:

• A 2024 law lets insurers non-renew policies after three or more large weather-related losses of more than $10,000 each.
• A separate 2024 amendment allows insurers to set different prices for different ZIP codes within towns of fewer than 60,000 people.
• Regionally, the NAIC reports that Midwest policy non-renewals rose 125% between 2018 and 2024.

Louisiana follows a similar pattern. It was second among states with an 8.6% increase.32 The state has adopted a filing system like Minnesota's and repealed a protection that kept long-held policies from being non-renewed.32 One effect is easy to miss. When a homeowner loses an older, cheaper policy and has to buy a new, more expensive one, rate data records it as a price increase. Some of the steepest county numbers may therefore reflect people being forced to switch policies, not just insurers repricing existing ones.32

Florida: different data, different answers

Florida is where reports disagree most. Insurify says Florida is still the most expensive state, at $8,486 a year on average, and that rates rose 2.3% in the first half.31 The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation describes a market moving the other way. It says rates fell in 51 of the state's 67 counties in 2026, and that since 2024, 44 insurers have filed for decreases and 48 have filed for no change.36 A county-level guide published in the spring went further. It reported double-digit cuts in Broward and Miami-Dade and a 7.2% decline in Collier County. Insurify, by contrast, ranks Collier second nationally for increases.32

The two sets of numbers measure different things, so both can be correct. Insurify prices a standard HO-3 policy with a 5% wind or hurricane deductible and the state's average dwelling coverage.31 The county guide priced a $300,000 policy with a $2,500 hurricane deductible. Florida's reported average may be stable while some coastal counties are being repriced sharply. Also, the shift of customers out of the state-backed Citizens insurer into private companies can raise individual bills even as overall filings show cuts.31

Florida's improvement also had a cost. Regulators credit legal reforms, including the end of one-way attorney fees.17 Under the new rules, a homeowner who wins a lawsuit against an insurer may still have to pay their own legal fees, which makes it harder to challenge a claim decision.17

Higher prices despite lower losses

The least comfortable part of this story for insurers is the timing. Premiums kept rising during an unusually quiet period for disasters. Swiss Re Institute estimates global insured natural catastrophe losses at $42 billion for the first half of 2026. That is the lowest first-half total since 2020 and well below the $66 billion trend.20 Severe convective storms caused $28 billion of that. This ended a four-year run of first-half storm losses above $30 billion.20 Matic gave a somewhat higher estimate of more than $22 billion in U.S. convective-storm losses by mid-June. It noted this was the eleventh straight year above $20 billion.15

The industry is also coming off a profitable 2025. Trade coverage reports that U.S. homeowners insurers earned $16.5 billion that year.16 Insurers point to long-term trends to explain why they are not cutting prices. Swiss Re expects insured losses to keep growing about 5% to 7% a year because of more exposure, higher property values and changing hazards.20 Verisk has raised its estimate of average annual insured catastrophe losses to about $171 billion.16 Rebuilding costs are also rising. Insurify cites construction inflation as a reason claim payouts are climbing.17 Triple-I figures show the average homeowners claim rose to about $17,059, from $15,749 in the previous five-year period.11

In this reading, insurers are pricing for the risks they expect over the next decade, not for a quiet six months. That is a defensible actuarial position. But it is harder to defend when California insurers paid out $1.69 for every $1 of premium in 2025 while results elsewhere improved.13 It is harder still alongside the next finding.

Homeowners are getting fewer claims paid

The Wall Street Journal analyzed the five largest home insurers: State Farm, Allstate, Liberty Mutual, USAA and Farmers. Together, they paid nothing on more than 44% of claims resolved last year, up from 36% a decade earlier.12 Industry analysts quoted in that coverage said insurers have become stricter on claims after several years of losses following the pandemic.14 Higher deductibles, such as the percentage-based wind and hail deductibles built into Insurify's standard policy, mean more damage falls below the point where coverage begins.31

Put together, homeowners are paying more and getting less. Insurify's money-saving advice, to raise deductibles or lower coverage limits, would make that trade-off worse. Insurify itself warns that both steps leave households more exposed to losses.17

There are some signs of relief. Matic reports that 11.7% of homeowners who renewed in the first half of 2026 saw their premium go down. That is the highest share it has recorded, up from 7.4% in 2025 and 4.9% in 2024.15 Competition is returning. So far, it is not enough to stop the overall increase.

Auto insurance is rising again

Car insurance has followed a related pattern, though with smaller numbers. After falling 6% in 2025, the average full-coverage premium rose 1% in the first half of 2026, to $2,237. Twenty-seven states saw increases, compared with nine in the second half of 2025.21 Insurify expects 32 states to end the year higher. Connecticut is projected to rise about 15%, Kentucky and West Virginia 8%, and Illinois and Nevada 6%.25

As with home insurance, the increases are concentrated in states that have been cheap. Seven of the ten states with the largest increases started the year below the national average. Meanwhile, Washington, D.C., New Jersey and New York, three of the most expensive markets, saw rates fall at least 5%.21 Forecasts vary on the size of the increase. ValuePenguin projected 0.67% for the year.27 Another consumer site says rates are up about 3% from 2025.22 Explanations include tariffs on imported parts, more expensive vehicle technology and rising claim costs.2225

Health insurance: the biggest increases

Health insurance is rising much faster than either home or auto. KFF found that ACA marketplace insurers raised what they charge by an average of 26% for 2026.8 Enhanced premium tax credits expired in January.4 As a result, what enrollees actually paid rose an average of 58%, to $178 a month. Average deductibles hit a record $3,786.3

Next year may bring more of the same. ACA insurers have proposed a median 15% increase for 2027.3 WTW expects employer health costs to rise 11.1%, the largest jump in more than 20 years.3 Aon measured workers' total health costs rising 7.9% in 2026, the fastest pace in a decade.3

The bottom line

Across home, auto and health coverage, the pattern is the same. Insurers are setting prices based on expected future costs, and regulators control how quickly those prices take effect. For homeowners in Jefferson Parish or southern Minnesota, rising prices are not a local quirk. They show how insurers are now pricing weather risk across the country, and how rules that let new rates take effect immediately pass that risk to households faster.