The Best Home Insurance in North Carolina for 2024
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The average cost of homeowners insurance in North Carolina is $1,975 per year, or about $165 per month, according to a NerdWallet analysis. In comparison, the national average is $1,915 per year.
NerdWallet analyzed data from numerous insurance companies to help you find the best home insurance in North Carolina in the following categories:
Best for affordability: Travelers.
Best for coverage: Erie.
Best for consumer experience: Nationwide.
The rates in our analysis are estimates based on many factors, so your rate may differ.
Note: Some insurance companies included in this article may have made changes in their underwriting practices and no longer issue new policies in your state.
Best affordable homeowners insurance in North Carolina: Travelers
Travelers
Coverage options
Discounts
NAIC complaints
Travelers
Coverage options
Discounts
NAIC complaints
The average cost of Travelers homeowners insurance in North Carolina is $1,540 a year, lower than the state average of $1,975.
Travelers offers a robust online experience. You can use the website to get a homeowners insurance quote, file and track claims, make payments and learn about insurance basics.
Its coverage offerings are similarly strong. For example, you may be able to add extra coverage in case the dwelling limit on your home isn’t enough to rebuild your house after a disaster. One unique option is Travelers’ green home coverage, which pays extra if you want to use eco-friendly materials when repairing or rebuilding your home after a covered claim.
Learn more in our Travelers homeowners insurance review.
Best homeowners insurance in North Carolina for coverage: Erie
Coverage options
Discounts
NAIC complaints
Erie
Coverage options
Discounts
NAIC complaints
Pennsylvania-based Erie offers guaranteed replacement cost for the structure of your home. With this coverage, the company will pay to rebuild your home completely after a disaster, even if the amount exceeds your dwelling limit. Erie also offers comprehensive coverage for your belongings.
Got a car to insure, too? If you bundle your home and auto insurance with Erie, you could get a discount of upwards of 16%. You may also be able to save if your home has certain safety and security features such as smoke alarms or sprinkler systems.
For more details, read our Erie home insurance review.
Best homeowners insurance in North Carolina for consumer experience: Nationwide
Nationwide
Coverage options
Discounts
NAIC complaints
Nationwide
Coverage options
Discounts
NAIC complaints
The Nationwide website offers plenty of ways to manage your policy, including filing and tracking claims, paying bills and getting quotes. The company also has a comprehensive and highly rated mobile app.
Nationwide’s standard homeowners policies include ordinance or law coverage, which pays to bring your home up to the latest building codes after a covered claim. They also include coverage for unauthorized credit or debit transactions. For an extra cost, you may be able to add coverage for things like water backup, identity theft and stronger materials to replace your roof.
Learn more with our Nationwide homeowners insurance review.
Full list of the best homeowners insurance in North Carolina
NerdWallet analyzed home insurance companies across the state to find the best home insurance in North Carolina. Here are all of the insurers that received a NerdWallet star rating of 4.5 or higher:
How much does homeowners insurance cost in North Carolina?
The average annual cost of home insurance in North Carolina is $1,975. That’s close to the national average of $1,915.
In most U.S. states, including North Carolina, many insurers use your credit-based insurance score to help set rates. Your insurance score is similar but not identical to your traditional credit score.
In North Carolina, those with poor credit pay an average of $4,195 per year for homeowners insurance, according to NerdWallet’s rate analysis. That’s 80% more than those with good credit.
Average cost of homeowners insurance in North Carolina by city
How much you pay for home insurance in North Carolina depends on where you live within the state. For example, the average cost of homeowners insurance in Charlotte is $1,950 per year, on average, but homeowners in the coastal city of Wilmington pay an average of $6,700 per year.
City | Average annual rate | Average monthly rate |
|---|---|---|
Apex | $2,025 | $169 |
Asheville | $1,615 | $135 |
Burlington | $1,835 | $153 |
Cary | $2,025 | $169 |
Chapel Hill | $1,980 | $165 |
Charlotte | $1,950 | $163 |
Clayton | $2,380 | $198 |
Concord | $1,845 | $154 |
Durham | $2,025 | $169 |
Fayetteville | $2,660 | $222 |
Gastonia | $1,875 | $156 |
Greensboro | $1,835 | $153 |
Greenville | $3,170 | $264 |
Hickory | $1,530 | $128 |
High Point | $1,900 | $158 |
Jacksonville | $3,545 | $295 |
Lexington | $1,935 | $161 |
Matthews | $1,960 | $163 |
Monroe | $1,905 | $159 |
Mooresville | $1,910 | $159 |
Raleigh | $2,025 | $169 |
Salisbury | $1,830 | $153 |
Wake Forest | $2,035 | $170 |
Wilmington | $6,700 | $558 |
Winston Salem | $1,785 | $149 |
The cheapest homeowners insurance in North Carolina
The companies above aren’t your only options. Below are the insurers we found with average annual rates below the North Carolina average of $1,975.
Company | NerdWallet star rating | Average annual rate |
|---|---|---|
Lititz Mutual | Not rated | $1,195 |
North Carolina Farm Bureau | Not rated | $1,275 |
$1,540 | ||
$1,670 | ||
USAA* | $1,950 | |
*USAA homeowners policies are available only to active military, veterans and their families. | ||
What to know about North Carolina homeowners insurance
North Carolina is vulnerable to several types of natural disasters. Here’s what you should know to make sure your home is covered.
Hurricanes and tropical storms
Hurricanes can cause wind and flood damage, and a standard homeowners policy may not cover you completely — or at all.
Homeowners insurance doesn’t typically cover flood damage, so you'll likely need a separate flood insurance policy. This is an especially good idea if you live along the coast or in an area prone to flooding. To find your home’s flood risk, check the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s flood maps or visit RiskFactor.com, a tool from the nonprofit First Street Foundation.
Homeowners insurance usually does cover damage caused by wind, but in North Carolina, you may pay a separate insurance deductible for wind or hail damage. Depending on where you live, your insurer may decline to provide wind and hail coverage as part of your homeowners insurance policy. Should that happen, you can purchase separate windstorm insurance from a private insurer or the North Carolina Insurance Underwriting Association.
Tornadoes
In most parts of North Carolina, your homeowners insurance policy will likely cover your home for the wind damage that tornadoes can cause. But if you live near the coast, your homeowners insurer may not cover wind damage due to hurricane risk — and that means you won’t be covered for tornado damage, either.
As noted above, separate windstorm insurance is available through private insurers or the North Carolina Insurance Underwriting Association.
Winter storms
A standard homeowners policy covers many types of winter storm damage. For example, if a pipe freezes and bursts or a heavy snowfall knocks a tree onto your roof, your insurer will usually pay for the damage.
North Carolina Department of Insurance
Confused about your coverage, or have a complaint about your insurance company? The North Carolina Department of Insurance may be able to help. The agency oversees the insurance industry in North Carolina and provides information and resources to consumers. You can get assistance online or by calling 855-408-1212.
Looking for more insurance in North Carolina?
NerdWallet calculated median rates for 40-year-old homeowners from various insurance companies in every ZIP code across the state. All rates are rounded to the nearest $5.
Sample homeowners were nonsmokers with good credit living in a single-family, two-story home built in 1984. They had a $1,000 deductible and the following coverage limits:
$300,000 in dwelling coverage.
$30,000 in other structures coverage.
$150,000 in personal property coverage.
$60,000 in loss of use coverage.
$300,000 in liability coverage.
$1,000 in medical payments coverage.
We made minor changes to the sample policy in cases where rates for the above coverage limits or deductibles weren’t available.
We changed the credit tier from “good” to “poor,” as reported to the insurer, to see rates for homeowners with poor credit.
These are sample rates generated through Quadrant Information Services. Your own rates will be different.
Star rating methodology
NerdWallet’s homeowners insurance ratings reward companies for customer-first features and practices. Ratings are based on weighted averages of scores in several categories, including financial strength, consumer complaints, coverages, discounts and online experience. These ratings are a guide, but we encourage you to shop around and compare several insurance quotes to find the best rate for you. NerdWallet does not receive compensation for any reviews. Read our full homeowners insurance rating methodology.
Complaint methodology
NerdWallet examined complaints received by state insurance regulators and reported to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners in 2020-2022. To assess how insurers compare with one another, the NAIC calculates a complaint index each year for each subsidiary, measuring its share of total complaints relative to its size, or share of total premiums in the industry. To evaluate a company’s complaint history, NerdWallet calculated a similar index for each insurer, weighted by market shares of each subsidiary, over the three-year period. NerdWallet conducts its data analysis and reaches conclusions independently and without the endorsement of the NAIC. Ratios are determined separately for auto, home (including renters and condo) and life insurance.
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