The Worst States for Home Insurance Bills, Ranked. See Where South Carolina Ended Up

A few states now charge homeowners more than double the national average for a basic home insurance policy.

South Carolina isn’t one of them.

But South Carolina’s home insurance bill isn’t cheap, either.

A 2026 ranking of every state’s average premium shows exactly where South Carolina sits, and the answer comes with a catch.

Note: This is general information, not insurance advice. Coverage and terms are subject to change, so check the specifics with your insurer or agent.

How This Ranking Works

This ranking comes from a 2026 study of home insurance, and MoneyGeek measured every state the exact same way.

The company pulled premium prices from Quadrant Information Services, a firm that tracks what insurers charge nationwide.

They held the size and age of the house constant for every state.

These are the states with the highest home insurance bills and where South Carolina falls among them.

1. Florida

Florida holds the single worst spot in the country for home insurance bills.

The average policy runs $10,240 a year, nearly triple the national average.

Insurers have pulled back from the state for years, and the companies that stayed passed along steep reinsurance costs.

Add in the “hurricane tax,” roughly $4,500 a year extra tied to named-storm coverage, and Florida’s number stops looking like an outlier.

2. Louisiana

Louisiana sits right behind Florida, with home insurance averaging $8,497 a year.

The same insurer exodus that hit Florida hit Louisiana too.

Fewer companies writing policies means less competition to keep prices down.

Flood risk adds to the hurricane risk along the Gulf Coast.

A standard policy skips flood damage entirely.

Many Louisiana homeowners end up paying for a second policy just to cover that gap.

3. Oklahoma

Oklahoma ranks third worst for home insurance, averaging $7,683 a year, and hail is the reason why.

The state led the nation with 151 tornadoes in 2024, but it’s the hailstorms that rack up the biggest bills.

Oklahoma saw 767 hailstorms that same year, the third-most of any state.

A single storm can crack roofs across an entire metro area at once.

Insurers call that “correlated risk.”

Thousands of claims land on the very same day.

4. Texas

Texas homeowners pay $6,854 a year on average for home insurance, the fourth-highest bill in the country.

Hail does more damage inland, while hurricanes and tropical storms threaten the Gulf Coast.

Coastal Texas got its own state-run insurer decades ago, the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA).

Private companies wouldn’t cover the wind and hail risk on their own.

That workaround still exists, decades after private insurers first walked away from the coast.

5. Nebraska

Nebraska surprises people who assume the worst home insurance bills only happen near a coastline.

The state ranks fifth-worst in the country, averaging $6,269 a year, and hail is almost entirely to blame.

That’s a losing bet.

Nearly 70,000 Nebraska homes got hit by damaging hail in 2024 alone, second only to Texas.

One storm near Cozad dropped hailstones the size of softballs.

Insurers there paid out $1.36 for every dollar they collected in premiums, a payout ratio that pushes prices even higher at renewal.

6. Mississippi

Mississippi ranks sixth-worst nationally, paying $5,166 a year for home insurance on average, and the Gulf Coast carries the heaviest share of that weight.

State lawmakers just passed a law creating a $10,000 grant per home for storm-proofing upgrades like reinforced roofs.

The framework for that program sat untouched since 2007.

Nineteen years, finally.

Neighboring Louisiana homeowners with a reinforced roof save about 22% a year, roughly $1,250, so Mississippi is betting the same fix works at home.

7. Arkansas

Home insurance costs Arkansas homeowners $5,045 a year on average, ranking seventh-worst nationally, and tornadoes only tell half of that story.

The state averages 40 tornadoes a year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), mostly between March and June.

Hail does more damage.

A single hailstorm cracks roofs across whole neighborhoods at once, while a tornado’s path stays narrow.

Rising labor and repair costs add to both totals.

8. Montana

Montana rounds out the worst eight for home insurance, averaging $4,913 a year, and wildfire is the leading driver.

Nearly 29% of homes in the state face high wildfire danger, the largest share of any state in the country.

Hail adds to the bill.

Some 2025 storms dropped hailstones up to four inches wide.

Fewer insurers are left competing for Montana’s business, so there’s less pressure pushing prices back down.

South Carolina

South Carolina lands at #16 out of 51 on this list, cheaper than the national average on paper but pricier than most of the other states.

The average policy runs $3,103 a year, about 13% under the $3,548 national number.

That sounds like decent news.

A 2026 report from the Coalition for an Insurable Future, an independent group of insurance and climate experts, found South Carolina headed toward the second-highest projected home insurance increases of any state over the next decade.

Hurricanes and flooding along the coast are driving that forecast.

Horry County carries the brunt of it.

Why Your South Carolina Bill Might Not Match $3,103

South Carolina’s $3,103 average hides a massive gap between the coast and the rest of the state.

A homeowner in Myrtle Beach pays about $5,341 a year, more than double what a homeowner in Columbia pays for a similar house.

Coastal distance explains almost all of that $2,238 gap.

Gap Between Best and Worst

South Carolina’s $3,103 bill sits below the $3,548 national average, yet it’s still pricier than 35 other states on the list.

A handful of expensive states at the top pull that national number upward.

More than half the states on this list, 32 of 51, pay under $2,700 a year for home insurance.

Home insurance in Florida costs $9,639 more a year than it does in Hawaii, the cheapest state on this list at $601 a year.

That’s the extreme end.

Georgia, just one state over and 12 spots lower on this list, averages $2,261 a year, almost $850 less than South Carolina pays for a similar policy.

North Carolina, five spots higher at #11, averages $3,756 a year.

Psst! Want to see exactly how every state compares? This table breaks out all 50 states and Washington, D.C., so you can look up your own.

Home Insurance Rates by State, Ranked Worst to Best

Tap a column heading to sort, or type in the box to filter (try your state).

Figures are 2026 average annual premiums for a standard homeowner policy on a 2,500-square-foot home, from MoneyGeek’s state-by-state analysis. Your own bill depends on your home’s age, location, and coverage, so confirm current rates with your insurer or agent.