The patterns revealed by that data, which my colleague Mira Rojanasakul and I examine in detail in our article, are striking. I traveled to Enid, Okla., where insurance costs more, as a share of home value, than in New Orleans, much of which is below sea level. Homes in Enid also cost more to insure, as a share of home value, than those in extremely fire-prone areas of California or in the Outer Banks in North Carolina, where houses have begun slipping into the sea.
There can be a stark discrepancy in rates even between states that are next to each other. In McCurtain County, Okla., for example, the typical homeowner paid an average of $2,837 for insurance last year. But in Little River County, Ark., in the same area with the same weather just across the state line, the average homeowner paid $1,673.
“Families with the same level of risk exposure pay wildly different amounts to protect themselves from harm,” Dr. Keys told us. “Different prices for the same risk feels unfair.”
It’s worth noting the importance of home insurance. Without it, a bank won’t issue a mortgage; without a mortgage, most people can’t buy a home. And as climate change worsens, more homes are being damaged or destroyed by disasters. Without adequate home insurance, most people have no way to pay for rebuilding. So the cost of home insurance is a climate story — and an economic story, and a social justice story.
As Mira and I found out, the cost of home insurance is also a story about politics.
Much of the difference in insurance costs around the country reflects decisions made by state officials. They have the power to approve or block increases in insurance rates. But not all states use that power equally. Some, like California, make it harder for insurers to raise costs; others, like Oklahoma, prefer not to get in the way of the free market.
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