Homeowners Insurance Calculator
Coverage, rate & riders
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Fill in the fields on the left and this updates as you type.
Know what this estimate is based on
- Jurisdiction
- United States — state-regulated insurance
- Scope and limitations
- Educational estimate only. Insurance in the U.S. is regulated state by state, so rates, required coverages and available discounts differ by where you live. Your premium is set by an insurer's own underwriting — driving record, claims history, credit-based insurance score where permitted, the property itself — and only a quote is binding. What a policy pays depends on its exclusions and limits, not on this estimate.
- Source links checked
- Jul 30, 2026
Built and regression-tested by Smart Tools Lab. It has not been individually reviewed by a licensed financial, tax, or legal professional.
How to use
- 01
Enter your dwelling coverage — what it would cost to rebuild the house, not what you paid or what it would sell for. Land does not burn down.
- 02
Leave the rate per $1,000 alone unless you are tuning toward a quote you already have. It is a market average and varies enormously by state.
- 03
Enter what you pay to schedule high-value items: jewelry, art, instruments, collections. Standard policies cap these at a few thousand dollars.
- 04
Open Advanced options to apply a higher-deductible credit and see what it saves.
- 05
Read the premium and the coverage table, which shows the other limits an HO-3 policy sets as percentages of your dwelling amount.
Formula
Annual premium = (dwelling coverage / 1,000) x the annual rate per $1,000, less any higher-deductible credit, plus what you pay for scheduled riders. Rating a home in practice depends far more on where it is than on what it is worth: hail frequency, hurricane exposure, wildfire risk, distance to a fire hydrant, the age of the roof and the claims history of the property itself all move the rate, and the spread between states is several times over. The coverage table applies the standard HO-3 percentages to your dwelling amount — other structures at 10%, personal property at 50%, loss of use at 20% — which is how the rest of your limits are actually set.
Example
A house with $350,000 of dwelling coverage and $150 a year of scheduled riders. Step 1 — Dwelling premium: ($350,000 / 1,000) x $5 = $1,750 a year. Step 2 — Add the riders: $1,750 + $150 = $1,900 a year, or about $158 a month. Step 3 — Read what else that dwelling figure sets. Other structures: $35,000. Personal property: $175,000. Loss of use: $70,000. Those are the HO-3 defaults, and most people never check whether 50% actually covers their belongings. Step 4 — Test a higher deductible under Advanced options. Moving from $500 to $2,500 commonly trims 15% to 25%, which on this policy is $260 to $440 a year — a strong trade if the cash is available, because home claims are rare. One thing this figure cannot show: if the house is in a hail, hurricane or wildfire region, the real premium can be double this, and it may carry a separate wind deductible of 2% of dwelling coverage — $7,000 here, not $500.
Definitions
- Dwelling coverage (Coverage A)
- The limit for rebuilding the structure. Based on construction cost, not market value, because land is not at risk.
- HO-3
- The standard U.S. homeowners policy: open perils on the structure, named perils on your belongings.
- HO-5
- The broader form, covering belongings on an open-perils basis too. Costs more and settles claims more easily.
- Other structures (Coverage B)
- Detached garage, fence, shed. Usually set at 10% of dwelling coverage.
- Personal property (Coverage C)
- Your belongings. Usually 50% of dwelling coverage by default, with sub-limits on jewelry, cash and electronics.
- Loss of use (Coverage D)
- Pays living costs while the home is uninhabitable. Usually 20% of dwelling coverage.
- Replacement cost
- Settlement that pays for a new equivalent without deducting depreciation. Worth confirming applies to the roof.
- Actual cash value
- Settlement that subtracts depreciation. On an older roof it can pay a fraction of the replacement bill.
- Scheduled rider
- A listed item with its own limit and usually no deductible — the way to actually insure jewelry, art or instruments.
- Wind or hurricane deductible
- A separate percentage-of-dwelling deductible for named storms, common in coastal states and far larger than the standard one.
- CLUE report
- The seven-year claims database carriers check. Claims follow the property as well as the person.
- Extended replacement cost
- An endorsement paying a set percentage above the dwelling limit if rebuild costs spike — useful after a regional disaster drives labor and materials up.
Good to know
Rebuild cost, not market value
The single most common error in home insurance is insuring the house for what it would sell for. Dwelling coverage is meant to rebuild the structure at today's construction prices — labor, materials, permits, debris removal — and the land underneath is not at risk from fire. In expensive metros, that makes the right figure well below the sale price; in areas where construction is dear relative to property values, it can be above it. Both directions cost you. Insuring above rebuild cost means paying premium on coverage that can never pay out, since the policy will not hand you more than the rebuild. Insuring below it risks a coinsurance penalty, where the carrier reduces even a partial claim because the home was underinsured. Ask the carrier for a replacement-cost estimate rather than guessing from the appraisal.
How the rest of your limits are set
Almost everything else on an HO-3 policy is a percentage of the dwelling amount, and most people never look. Other structures — the detached garage, the fence, the shed — is usually 10%. Personal property, meaning everything you own, is usually 50%. Loss of use, which pays for somewhere to live while the house is repaired, is usually 20%. On $350,000 of dwelling coverage that is $35,000, $175,000 and $70,000. Those are defaults, not laws, and two of them are worth checking. Fifty percent of dwelling coverage may or may not replace your belongings — walk the house and add it up. And loss of use matters more than its size suggests: after a regional disaster, rebuilding takes a year or more and rents in the area rise sharply.
The deductible lever, and the one you did not choose
Raising the standard deductible from $500 to $2,500 commonly trims 15% to 25% of the premium, which is a strong trade because homeowners claims are far rarer than auto claims — and because small claims are usually not worth filing anyway. But there is a second deductible many people do not know they have. In coastal and storm-prone states, wind or hurricane damage carries its own deductible expressed as a percentage of dwelling coverage. Two percent of $350,000 is $7,000, not $500, and it applies to exactly the event most likely to damage the house. Find that number on your declarations page before a storm rather than after, and make sure the reserve you keep for the house is sized to the wind deductible, not the standard one.
Replacement cost, and the roof exception
Replacement cost settlement pays to replace what you lost with a new equivalent. Actual cash value subtracts depreciation first, which on a ten-year-old roof can mean receiving a third of the replacement bill. Most policies write the dwelling on a replacement-cost basis, but many carriers have quietly moved roofs onto a depreciated schedule, especially in hail states. This is the clause most worth checking, because a roof is the most likely large claim on a typical house. Check the same question for your belongings: a personal property endorsement upgrading contents from actual cash value to replacement cost costs a little and changes what a total loss actually pays you. And consider extended replacement cost, which pays a set percentage above the dwelling limit when regional rebuild costs spike after a disaster.
What is never covered, and why it matters
Flood and earthquake are excluded from essentially every standard U.S. homeowners policy. Flood is bought separately through the National Flood Insurance Program or a private carrier; earthquake is a separate policy or endorsement. This trips people up because the exclusion is not about how the water arrived at their house but about what kind of water it was: a burst pipe is covered, a river is not, and a storm surge is flood. Sewer or drain backup is also excluded by default and is an inexpensive endorsement to add. Beyond that, normal wear, neglect and maintenance are excluded — including damage from a slow leak the policy expects you to have noticed. Insurance covers sudden and accidental, not gradual and ignored.
Frequently asked questions
How much dwelling coverage do I need?
Enough to rebuild at today's construction costs — labor and materials — which is usually different from both your purchase price and your market value. It excludes the land, so in expensive metros the right figure is often well below what the house would sell for.
What is an HO-3 policy?
The standard U.S. homeowners form, and what most people have. It covers the structure against everything except named exclusions, and your belongings against a listed set of perils. HO-5 is the broader version that covers belongings on the same open-perils basis.
What is never covered?
Flood and earthquake, in essentially every standard policy. Flood is bought separately through the National Flood Insurance Program or a private carrier; earthquake is a separate policy or endorsement. Normal wear, neglect and maintenance are also excluded, as is most damage from a slow leak you should have noticed.
Replacement cost or actual cash value?
Replacement cost pays to replace an item with a new equivalent; actual cash value subtracts depreciation first. On a ten-year-old roof the difference is enormous. Check which basis applies to your roof specifically — many policies have quietly moved roofs to actual cash value.
Why are my belongings only covered to 50%?
That is the standard HO-3 default: personal property is set at 50% of dwelling coverage, other structures at 10%, loss of use at 20%. They are defaults, not rules, and can be raised if your situation warrants it.
What is a scheduled rider?
Coverage for a specific high-value item listed on the policy with its own limit and usually no deductible. Standard policies cap jewelry theft at around $1,500 to $2,500 in total, so an engagement ring is materially uninsured without one.
What does a higher deductible save?
Typically 10% to 25% of the premium moving from $500 to $1,000 or $2,500. Because homeowners claims are far rarer than auto claims, the trade usually favors the higher deductible — provided the cash is there when it is needed.
What is a separate wind or hurricane deductible?
In coastal and storm-prone states, wind damage often carries its own deductible expressed as a percentage of dwelling coverage — 2% of $350,000 is $7,000, not $1,000. It applies only to named storms or wind events, and it surprises people at the worst moment.
Does filing a claim raise my rate?
Usually, and it also enters the CLUE database that other carriers check for seven years. Two claims in a short period can make a home hard to insure at all. For small losses, paying out of pocket is often the cheaper decision.
Is home insurance required?
Not by law, but by every mortgage lender, and they will buy it for you at a punitive price if you let it lapse. Once the mortgage is paid off it becomes optional, which does not make it a good idea to drop.
How do I lower the premium?
Bundle with auto, raise the deductible, ask about discounts for a monitored alarm, a new roof, impact-resistant shingles or a water shutoff device — and shop carriers every year or two. Rebuild-cost inflation has pushed premiums up sharply, so an old policy is often badly priced.
How accurate is this estimate?
It is a rough scale. Homeowners rating varies more by geography than almost any other line — hail in the plains, hurricanes on the coast, wildfire in the west — and two houses on the same street can differ by roof age alone. Treat it as a check on a quote, not a substitute.