As climate risks mount, homeowners far beyond California face soaring insurance bills

“The average homeowners insurance premium jumped 33% from 2020 to 2023, rising from $1,902 per year to $2,530, according to 2024 research from economists at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and the University of Wisconsin. By comparison, inflation rose about 18% during that same time period.

Such costs have surged even more in parts of the U.S. prone to the kind of natural disasters that experts link to climate change. Homeowners in these states have seen their insurance premiums soar by about 50% over that three-year period, according to Benjamin Keys, a professor real estate and finance at Wharton and a co-author of the 2024 study.“