Homeowners insurance nonrenewals have jumped so sharply since 2018 that the increase is now measured in triple digits in some parts of the country, and the states seeing the steepest jumps are not limited to the coastline, according to a first-of-its-kind national analysis released by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).
The Southeast saw nonrenewal rates climb 216% between 2018 and 2024, the largest jump of any U.S. region, according to the NAIC data as reported by Newsweek. The Northeast followed at a 147% increase and the Midwest at 96%. The West saw its nonrenewal rate more than triple in just two years, from 8 policies per 1,000 in 2022 to 25.1 per 1,000 in 2024.
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Premiums rising everywhere, fastest out West
Premiums climbed alongside the nonrenewals. Inflation-adjusted homeowners insurance costs rose 43% in the West from 2018 to 2024, compared with 27% in the Southeast, 25% in the Midwest, and 18% in the Northeast, per the NAIC analysis. Nationally, premiums are still climbing, up another 7% since the start of 2025.
Florida, California, and Louisiana remain the states most associated with the crisis, as insurers pull back from wildfire and hurricane-exposed markets. But the data undercuts the idea that this is purely a coastal problem.
The surprise is inland
West Virginia, a landlocked Appalachian state with no coastline and no wildfire risk comparable to California’s, has the highest rate of uninsured homeowners in the country at 23.9%, according to a separate Newsweek analysis drawing on Census Bureau and industry data. Nearly a quarter of homeowners there are going without coverage entirely, whether by choice, unaffordability, or a nonrenewal they could not replace.
That single figure reframes the national story. States dealing with flooding, severe storms, and aging housing stock, not just hurricanes and wildfires, are increasingly part of the nonrenewal picture. The NAIC’s own analysis notes that prior to the recent run of rate hikes, only about 6% of U.S. homeowners nationally lacked property insurance between 2007 and 2017, a baseline that makes West Virginia’s current figure especially stark.
Why a nonrenewal matters more than a rate hike
Industry observers have pointed out that losing coverage entirely is a bigger problem than paying more for it. A higher premium is a budget hit, but a homeowner can still make a claim if disaster strikes. A nonrenewal notice means starting over in a shrinking pool of insurers willing to write a new policy, often at a higher price if one will write it at all.
For homeowners in states that have never thought of themselves as high-risk, that distinction is becoming a lot less theoretical. The NAIC says it plans to continue tracking nonrenewal and premium data at the state level as the market keeps shifting.
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