Natural disasters - from hurricanes to storms to wildfires - are prompting insurers to rethink pricing as risks evolve

Home-insurance costs are up nearly 80% since the start of 2020.

Home-insurance premiums hit a record high in June, dialing up the heat on homeowners' budgets across America.

In June 2026, the average single-family homeowner with a mortgage paid a record high of $209 per month for insurance, or about $2,500 a year. That's up from $204 a month in 2025, according to a new report from Intercontinental Exchange (ICE).

Property-insurance costs are up nearly 80% since the start of 2020. ICE began tracking the data in December 2013.

Across America, many homeowners are struggling to keep up with insurance premiums. Homeowners who cannot afford higher premiums might be forced to sell their home or risk defaulting on their mortgage, according to a report by the Consumer Federation of America.

"Rising home-insurance costs are an immediate affordability concern for families across the country," TJ Helmstetter, a spokesperson for advocacy group Insurance Fairness Project, said in a statement.

"People are worried about their future, families are being forced to make difficult financial trade-offs because of rising premiums, and voters want lawmakers to address the crisis," he added.

Homeowners in Greenville, S.C., saw the biggest increase in property-insurance premiums, followed by their counterparts in Honolulu and Columbia, S.C., per ICE.

The average single-family homeowner with a mortgage in Greenville saw property-insurance costs increase by nearly 16% over the last 12 months, ICE said, while Honolulu homeowners saw a 15% jump.

One key reason for the rise in insurance costs is that carriers are factoring in recent disasters.

In the Carolinas, insurers are pricing the impacts of Hurricane Helene, which made landfall in September 2024, ICE said.

In places like Minneapolis and Des Moines, Iowa, insurers are factoring in hail and severe convective storms, ICE added, which is a "a peril that is frequently overlooked but is now driving double-digit increases." Severe convective storms are damaging storms that can include thunderstorms with lightning, tornadoes or destructive winds, according to the Insurance Information Institute.

Home-insurance premiums now account for a tenth of the typical homeowner's housing costs. In 2026, property insurance accounted for 9.6% of the average homeowner's monthly housing payment, ICE noted, up from a low of 7.2% in 2018.

In some regions, insurance costs eat up even more of homeowners' budgets. New Orleans homeowners allocated 24.3% of their monthly housing payment toward property insurance, ICE said, followed by homeowners in Baton Rouge, La. (17.9%), and Oklahoma City (17.5%).

On the flip side, Florida homeowners are feeling some relief as premiums cool off. Miami homeowners are putting less money toward insurance costs; the share of their monthly payment going to insurance fell to 16.2%, from 17.4% last year. Premiums were up just 1.5% year over year.

Frustrated homeowners are responding in two major ways: forgoing insurance, or opting for higher deductibles.

Some are choosing to go "bare," or underinsuring their homes. Homeowners can skip insurance only if they don't have a mortgage on the house. But either route can potentially result in the loss of their possessions and even their home if disaster strikes, the Consumer Federation of America said.

Going bare or being underinsured can have a broader economic impact, the group: "Neighborhoods with many uninsured homes will see more damaged and vacant homes, which can lead to a downward spiral in the surrounding property values and tax base."

Other homeowners are opting for higher deductibles. A deductible determines how much the homeowner needs to pay out of pocket before their insurance coverage starts paying for claims.

Higher deductibles typically mean lower monthly premiums, so "often, homeowners deliberately make this trade-off to keep monthly premiums manageable as coverage gets more expensive," according to the Urban Institute. But that also means that homeowners are on the hook for the out-of-pocket amount.

Homeowners should switch carriers to reduce insurance costs, ICE's research suggested. Homeowners who switched carriers cut their home-insurance premiums by an average of 6.6% over the last year, ICE noted. Those who stayed loyal paid a penalty: Homeowners who remained with their existing insurance carrier saw a 10.4% increase in premiums.

Shopping around pays off the most in places where premiums are high. In Miami, homeowners who switched their insurance carrier saw the biggest drop in premiums, at 18.5%.

-Aarthi Swaminathan