Rising homeowners insurance premiums are making it harder for people to stay in disaster-prone areas, and new research shows this is influencing migration patterns across the United States. Data from both AccuWeather and Realtor.com highlight how natural disaster risk and escalating insurance costs are reshaping where people live.
Climate Risk and Insurance Costs
A Realtor.com report notes that about 18.3% of U.S. homes face a high probability of hurricane wind damage. In states like Florida and Texas, nearly all homes are considered exposed. Wildfire danger is also significant, with 5.6% of homes nationwide at severe risk — especially in California.
Meanwhile, an AccuWeather analysis of premium-to-market value ratios shows just how steep costs have become. Miami homeowners pay close to $23,000 per year to insure a house valued at $614,000, or 3.7% of its value. New Orleans follows with insurance costs equaling 3.6 percent of home values, while Cape Coral homeowners pay about 2.2%. By comparison, the national average ratio is just 0.8 percent.
Migration in Response to Rising Premiums
High insurance costs are not just straining budgets — they are prompting moves. Realtor.com highlights that homeowners are leaving high-risk regions not only because of hurricanes, floods, or wildfires, but also because keeping homes insured has become unaffordable.
A related study from First Street suggests that premiums could rise another 29.4% over the next 30 years. As a result, more than 55 million Americans may relocate to areas deemed more climate-resilient by 2055, with an estimated 5.2 million expected to move this year alone.
Market and Industry Shifts
Between 2020 and 2023, annual homeowners insurance costs increased by 33% nationwide, from about $1,902 to $2,530. In high-risk zones, premiums rose about $500 more per year than in low-risk areas — a gap of only $300 in 2018.
Insurance companies are also retreating from vulnerable markets. In California, for example, reliance on state-run “last resort” programs has grown, particularly in places like Pacific Palisades, where private insurers have scaled back coverage.
Affordability at the Center
Twenty years after Hurricane Katrina and following recent disasters in California, Texas, and Florida, the rising insurance costs have become a crisis in their own right. For cities like Miami, New Orleans, and Cape Coral, the risk to homeownership now comes not only from natural disasters, but from the cost of protecting against them. And as Realtor.com notes, homeowners are increasingly responding by moving to regions where insurance is more affordable — even if those areas are not immune to future climate threats.
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