FACT SHEET: North Carolina’s Home Insurance Crisis
Last Updated: 9/17/26
Climate change is pushing property insurance companies to raise rates and cancel policies in North Carolina. Between 2020 and 2025, home insurance rates in North Carolina increased by 46.9%, and the non-renewal rate increased by 129% between 2021 and 2023. Insurers canceled at least 10,525 policies in North Carolina between 2021 and 2025. Predominantly Black cities in North Carolina paid some of the highest insurance premiums out of all the state’s largest cities. The growing risk of hurricanes and severe storms in the state is a major driver of North Carolina’s home insurance crisis. Trump’s cuts to emergency preparedness and response, alongside his far-reaching tariffs, will make North Carolina’s home insurance crisis even worse.
- NORTH CAROLINA’S HOME INSURANCE RATES HAVE SOARED IN RECENT YEARS, AND COSTS CONTINUE TO GROW
- INSURERS ARE REFUSING TO RENEW HOMEOWNERS’ POLICIES OR ARE PULLING OUT OF NORTH CAROLINA’S INSURANCE MARKET ALTOGETHER
- CLIMATE CHANGE AND EXTREME WEATHER ARE DRIVING NORTH CAROLINA’S INSURANCE CRISIS
- TRUMP WILL MAKE NORTH CAROLINA’S INSURANCE CRISIS EVEN WORSE
NORTH CAROLINA’S HOME INSURANCE RATES HAVE SOARED IN RECENT YEARS, AND COSTS CONTINUE TO GROW
- Between 2020 and 2025, home insurance rates in North Carolina increased by 46.9%, and in 2025 alone, rates increased by 6.2%.
- Between 2021 and 2026, North Carolina policyholders experienced at least eight rate hikes, with the largest being 15%.
- A 2026 study found North Carolina homeowners were paying an average home insurance premium of $3,555, up more than $400 from $3,103 in 2025 and almost $600 higher than the national average.
- North Carolina’s average statewide base homeowners insurance rate increased another 7.5% in June 2026, after increasing by 7.5% in June 2025.
- The state’s insurance commission approved premium increases in some Eastern Carolina counties of nearly 32% between May 2025 and June 2026.
- A report found that, as of June 2026, North Carolina homeowners were paying an average of $2,951 to insure a $300k home, more than $500 higher than the national average.
- As of May 2026, North Carolina homeowners were paying an average of $3,025 annually, or about $252 per month, to insure a home for $400k – more than $460 higher than the national average for comparable policies.
- Home insurance costs in North Carolina averaged 10.3% of monthly housing costs for homeowners, and 17.4% of owner-occupied households were cost-burdened, spending at least 30% of their income on housing costs.
- In November 2025, the North Carolina Rate Bureau requested a nearly 70% statewide average rate increase for dwelling insurance policies.
- In April 2026, the state Department of Insurance announced it had negotiated the dwelling insurance increase down to 10%.
- A 2025 report found home insurance premiums in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, were above $13,000 due to high flood and hurricane risks, nearly five times the national average.
- The average home insurance premium in New Hanover County, along North Carolina’s coast, was more than $6,600 in 2025.
- The predominantly Black cities of Fayetteville and Rocky Mount paid some of the highest home insurance premiums among large municipalities in North Carolina.
- As of September 2026, the average annual cost of home insurance in Fayetteville was $2,930, more than 36% higher than the median cost among North Carolina’s 25 largest municipalities. More than 42% of Fayetteville’s population was Black.
- As of September 2026, the average annual cost of home insurance in Rocky Mount was $2,447, almost 14% higher than the median cost among North Carolina’s 25 largest municipalities. More than 62% of Rocky Mount’s population was Black.
INSURERS ARE REFUSING TO RENEW HOMEOWNERS’ POLICIES OR ARE PULLING OUT OF NORTH CAROLINA’S INSURANCE MARKET ALTOGETHER
- Between 2021 and 2026, insurers canceled at least 10,525 policies in North Carolina.
- From 2021 to 2023, the home insurance nonrenewal rate in North Carolina increased by 129%.
- From 2021 to 2023, the number of nonrenewals in North Carolina more than doubled from 8,952 to 20,792.
- Latino and Black homeowners nationwide were disproportionately at risk of having no homeowners’ insurance, with respective uninsured rates of 14% and 11% nationally, compared to 6% of white homeowners.
- In September 2023, Nationwide announced it would not renew policies for 10,525 North Carolina homeowners, with more than 1,000 of those nonrenewals being in the Outer Banks.
- In 2023, insurers along North Carolina’s coast decided not to renew 1 in 25 home insurance policies.
- In the wake of Hurricane Helene, North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey cautioned victims not to file small claims to avoid nonrenewals, warning that even minor claims significantly increase the risk of nonrenewal.
CLIMATE CHANGE AND EXTREME WEATHER ARE DRIVING NORTH CAROLINA’S INSURANCE CRISIS
- Between 2010 and 2026, North Carolina saw 83 billion-dollar extreme disasters, totaling $100 to 200 billion in damages.
- Only 1 in 200 homes in the area hardest hit by Hurricane Helene, which caused nearly $79 billion in damages, had flood insurance.
- Insurers requested a 42% home insurance rate hike shortly after Hurricane Helene hit North Carolina in 2024. Insurers requested rate increases of up to 99% in coastal areas.
- In 2025, North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey approved rate hikes to ensure insurers had adequate funds to pay claims following climate disasters.
- In 2023, North Carolina’s home insurers proposed a 50% insurance rate hike, citing increasingly frequent severe weather events.
- In 2024, an attorney with the North Carolina Rate Bureau, which represents insurers, said the state’s home insurance rates were “severely inadequate” given the increased likelihood of storm-related loss and damage.
- In 2025, insurance analyst Rob Bhatt said disasters and strong storms in places like North Carolina were driving up recovery needs and home insurance costs.
- A 2025 study projected a 40% spike in insured losses in the Carolinas from severe weather events due to climate change.
- North Carolina’s coast, where thousands of homes sit on narrow barrier islands, face an above-average and accelerating rate of sea-level rise, with NPR calling Dare County the “current epicenter of erosion-related home collapses.”
TRUMP WILL MAKE NORTH CAROLINA’S INSURANCE CRISIS EVEN WORSE
- Trump’s tariffs were expected to increase annual home insurance costs in North Carolina by an average of $103.
- Tariffs were expected to make rebuilding after disaster more expensive. The National Association of Home Builders estimates a building cost increase of $10,900 per home due to tariffs on construction materials.
- Trump’s attempts to gut FEMA programs, undermine NOAA research and forecasting, and cut disaster relief at the Department of Housing and Urban Development would all contribute to higher home insurance costs.