Home Insurance Calculator
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Home Insurance Calculator
Estimate your homeowners insurance coverage needs and annual premium.
Quick Tips
- Insure your rebuild cost, not your market value — land isn't insurable and often makes up a large share of your home's sale price.
- Standard homeowners policies exclude flood and earthquake damage — these need separate coverage.
- Bundling home and auto insurance with the same company often saves 15-25% combined.
Estimated Annual Premium
$1,386
Monthly: $116
Dwelling Coverage (A)
$300,000
Personal Property (C)
$210,000
Last updated: August 10, 2026
Home Insurance: Insure the Rebuild, Not the Sale Price
The #1 mistake: insuring market value instead of rebuild cost. A $500,000 home in an expensive city might only cost $280,000 to physically rebuild — the rest is land value, which doesn't burn down and isn't insurable. Insure too little and you're underwater after a total loss; insure too much and you overpay every year for coverage you'll never use.
A standard homeowners policy bundles four coverages: Dwelling (A) for the structure, Personal Property (C) for your belongings, Loss of Use (D) for temporary housing if you're displaced, and Liability (E) if someone is injured on your property. The national average premium is around $1,700/year for $300,000 in dwelling coverage, but location, construction, and claims history swing that number dramatically.
The Coverage Letters Explained
| Coverage | What It Protects | Typical Amount |
|---|---|---|
| A - Dwelling | The structure itself, rebuild cost | 100% of rebuild cost |
| B - Other Structures | Detached garage, fence, shed | 10% of Coverage A |
| C - Personal Property | Furniture, electronics, clothing | 50-70% of Coverage A |
| D - Loss of Use | Hotel, temporary rent while displaced | 20-30% of Coverage A |
| E - Liability | Injuries/damage you're responsible for | $100K-$500K |
| F - Medical Payments | Minor guest injuries, no-fault | $1K-$5K |
Factors That Affect Your Rate
Increases Rates
- High-risk location: Coastal, wildfire, tornado zones (+40% or more)
- Older home: Aging electrical/plumbing systems
- Old roof: 20+ years raises risk of leaks/failure
- Wood-frame construction: More fire risk than masonry
- Prior claims: Each claim signals higher future risk
- Poor credit: +35% or more in most states
Decreases Rates
- Bundle with auto: Often 15-25% combined savings
- Monitored security system: Discourages theft/fire damage
- Newer roof: Under 10 years often qualifies for discounts
- Masonry/brick construction: Better fire resistance
- Higher deductible: $2,500+ meaningfully lowers premium
- Claims-free history: Rewards long-term low-risk customers
What Standard Home Insurance Does NOT Cover
Excluded by Default
- Flooding: Requires separate flood insurance (often via NFIP)
- Earthquakes: Requires a separate endorsement or policy
- Regular wear and tear: Maintenance issues aren't "sudden and accidental"
- High-value items above sub-limits: Jewelry, art often need a rider/floater
Tip: If you live near a river, coast, or in a designated flood zone, budget separately for flood insurance — it's not optional protection in high-risk areas, and mortgage lenders often require it.
How to Lower Your Premium
Immediate Savings
- Raise your deductible from $500 to $1,000+
- Bundle with your auto policy
- Ask about a monitored security/fire alarm discount
- Pay annually instead of monthly if possible
Long-Term Strategies
- Replace an aging roof before it becomes a liability
- Improve your credit score over time
- Shop around every 1-2 years for competing quotes
- Avoid small claims that don't exceed your deductible by much
Frequently Asked Questions
Your dwelling coverage (Coverage A) should equal your home's rebuild cost — what it would cost to reconstruct it at current labor and material prices — not its market value or purchase price, since land value isn't insurable. Personal property coverage is typically set at 50-70% of your dwelling coverage, and this calculator defaults to 70% as a reasonable starting point.
Market value reflects what your home would sell for, including land value and local real estate demand. Rebuild cost only covers the structure itself — materials and labor to reconstruct it — which is often quite different from market value, especially in expensive real estate markets where land accounts for a large share of the price.
A standard homeowners policy bundles four core coverages: dwelling (the structure itself), personal property (your belongings), loss of use (temporary living expenses if you're displaced), and liability (protection if someone is injured on your property or you damage someone else's property). Most policies also include some coverage for other structures like detached garages or fences.
Location risk is one of the biggest factors in home insurance pricing — homes in areas prone to hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes, or flooding carry substantially higher premiums, sometimes 40% or more above a low-risk area. Some high-risk perils like flooding and earthquakes typically require separate policies entirely, since standard homeowners insurance excludes them.
Yes — older homes generally cost more to insure since aging electrical, plumbing, and roofing systems raise the risk of claims. Construction type matters too: masonry and brick homes typically get better rates than wood-frame construction because they're more fire-resistant.
A roof older than 20 years is a significant risk factor for insurers since it's more likely to leak or fail during a storm, and some insurers will decline to write a policy at all past a certain roof age. Replacing an aging roof can meaningfully lower your premium and keep your policy renewable.
A $1,000 deductible is a common middle ground for most homeowners. Raising it to $2,500 or $5,000 can meaningfully lower your annual premium, but only choose a higher deductible if you have the savings on hand to comfortably cover it out of pocket in the event of a claim.
In most states, yes — insurers use credit-based insurance scores as a statistical predictor of claim likelihood, and poor credit can raise premiums by 35% or more compared to excellent credit. A handful of states restrict or ban this practice, so check your local regulations.
Most experts recommend at least $300,000 in liability coverage, and $500,000 if you have significant assets to protect or a higher risk of lawsuits (a pool, trampoline, or dog, for example). Liability coverage protects you if someone is injured on your property or you're found responsible for damage to someone else's property.
Common discounts include bundling your home and auto policies with the same insurer (often 15-25% combined savings), installing a monitored security system or smoke detectors, having a claims-free history, and paying your premium annually rather than monthly. Ask your insurer directly, since available discounts vary by company and state.
No — standard homeowners policies specifically exclude flood and earthquake damage. If you live in a flood zone or earthquake-prone region, you'll need to purchase separate flood insurance (often through the National Flood Insurance Program) or an earthquake endorsement/policy.
This calculator models the same core factors insurers use — dwelling value, construction, location risk, claims history, and discounts — to give you a realistic ballpark. Actual quotes also weigh factors like your specific ZIP code, insurer-specific underwriting rules, and prior claims data that aren't practical to model generically, so treat this as a planning estimate before getting real quotes.
Estimated Annual Premium
$1,386