The Best Home Insurance in South Carolina for 2024
Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us. This influences which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a page. However, this does not influence our evaluations. Our opinions are our own. Here is a list of our partners and here's how we make money.
The average cost of homeowners insurance in South Carolina is $2,250 per year. That’s compared to the national average of $1,915.
NerdWallet analyzed data from numerous insurance companies to help you find the best home insurance in South Carolina in the following categories:
Best for affordability: Cincinnati Insurance.
Best for coverage: Openly.
Best for consumer experience: Nationwide.
The rates in our analysis are estimates based on many factors, so your rate may differ.
Note: Due to underwriting practices and market volatility, some companies in this article may no longer write new policies in your area.
Best affordable homeowners insurance in South Carolina: Cincinnati Insurance
Cincinnati Insurance
Coverage options
Discounts
NAIC complaints
Cincinnati Insurance
Coverage options
Discounts
NAIC complaints
Cincinnati Insurance’s average rate for South Carolina homeowners is $1,495 per year. That’s lower than the state average of $2,250.
Cincinnati Insurance sells homeowners policies through independent agents, with various options for standard and high-value homes. You may be able to add coverage for things like identity theft, personal cyber attacks or certain types of water damage.
Cincinnati may offer you a discount for bundling home and auto insurance, having a newer home or installing a centrally monitored alarm system.
Learn more with our Cincinnati Insurance homeowners insurance review.
Best homeowners insurance in South Carolina for coverage: Openly
Coverage options
Discounts
NAIC complaints
Openly
Coverage options
Discounts
NAIC complaints
Openly’s default homeowners policy goes significantly beyond those of many other insurers. Most notably, it offers guaranteed replacement cost coverage for the structure of your home. That means if your house is destroyed by a covered disaster, Openly will pay whatever it takes to rebuild it the way it was before, up to $5 million.
Plus, if your things are stolen or destroyed, Openly will pay enough for you to buy brand-new replacements, rather than paying less for older items that have lost value over time. It also covers your belongings on an “open perils” basis, paying for damage from anything except scenarios your policy excludes. Most home insurance policies cover damage only from causes specifically named in your policy.
Learn more with our Openly home insurance review.
Best homeowners insurance in South Carolina for consumer experience: Nationwide
Nationwide
Coverage options
Discounts
NAIC complaints
Nationwide
Coverage options
Discounts
NAIC complaints
Nationwide offers a robust digital experience for its customers, including a website that makes it easy to manage policies, file and track claims, and set up automatic billing. It also has a highly rated app for Android and iOS that allows customers to file and track claims, review policy documents and set up autopay.
In addition, Nationwide’s customers have several ways to get assistance, such as reaching out to their agent or calling the company’s customer service hotline. Outside of business hours, they can use the Nationwide website to get proof of insurance, pay bills and schedule callbacks. A chatbot is also available to answer basic questions.
Learn more with our Nationwide homeowners insurance review.
Full list of the best homeowners insurance in South Carolina
NerdWallet analyzed home insurance companies across the state to find the best home insurance in South 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 South Carolina?
The average annual cost of home insurance in South Carolina is $2,250. That’s 17% more than the national average of $1,915.
In most U.S. states, including South 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 South Carolina, those with poor credit pay an average of $4,010 per year for homeowners insurance, according to NerdWallet’s rate analysis. That’s 78% more than those with good credit.
Average cost of homeowners insurance in South Carolina by city
How much you pay for home insurance in South Carolina depends on where you live. For example, the average cost of homeowners insurance in Charleston is $4,080 per year. Meanwhile, in Columbia, homeowners insurance costs about $2,060 per year, on average.
City | Average annual rate | Average monthly rate |
|---|---|---|
Aiken | $2,350 | $196 |
Anderson | $2,085 | $174 |
Beaufort | $3,530 | $294 |
Charleston | $4,080 | $340 |
Columbia | $2,060 | $172 |
Conway | $3,780 | $315 |
Easley | $1,925 | $160 |
Florence | $2,565 | $214 |
Fort Mill | $2,005 | $167 |
Goose Creek | $3,425 | $285 |
Greenville | $1,970 | $164 |
Greenwood | $2,020 | $168 |
Greer | $1,775 | $148 |
Lancaster | $2,135 | $178 |
Lexington | $2,105 | $175 |
Mount Pleasant | $4,380 | $365 |
Myrtle Beach | $4,820 | $402 |
North Augusta | $2,190 | $183 |
North Charleston | $3,710 | $309 |
Rock Hill | $1,965 | $164 |
Simpsonville | $1,970 | $164 |
Spartanburg | $1,905 | $159 |
Summerville | $3,215 | $268 |
Sumter | $2,360 | $197 |
West Columbia | $2,185 | $182 |
The cheapest home insurance in South Carolina
Here are the insurers we found with average annual rates below the South Carolina average of $2,250.
Company | NerdWallet star rating | Average annual rate |
|---|---|---|
$1,495 | ||
$1,880 | ||
Heritage | Not rated | $1,880 |
$1,905 | ||
$2,060 | ||
$2,230 | ||
USAA* | $1,560 | |
*USAA homeowners policies are available only to active military, veterans and their families. | ||
What to know about South Carolina homeowners insurance
South Carolina has seen many natural disasters, including hurricanes. Below are a few problems you might encounter, plus how to make sure your home is covered.
Hurricanes and tropical storms
Hurricanes and other tropical storms can cause massive damage with their potent combination of wind and water. Unfortunately, standard homeowners insurance policies may not cover all damage from hurricanes.
Most homeowners insurance policies pay for damage from wind but not flooding. However, a separate deductible may apply to wind or hurricane claims. (A deductible is the amount of a claim you’re responsible for.) For example, your policy may have a $1,000 deductible for most claims and a 1% deductible for wind or hail claims. So if your house has $250,000 worth of dwelling coverage, you’d have to pay for the first $2,500 of wind or hail damage yourself.
If your house is in a high-risk coastal location, your insurance carrier may not include wind coverage in your homeowners policy. You can buy separate wind coverage through private insurance companies or the South Carolina Wind Pool.
Flooding
Standard homeowners insurance generally won’t cover flood damage.
If you’re at risk, consider buying separate flood insurance. (Your lender may even require you to do so if you live in a flood plain.)
To find out your home’s risk of flooding, put your address into the Federal Emergency Management Agency's flood maps or visit RiskFactor.com, a website from the nonprofit First Street Foundation.
South Carolina insurance department
In South Carolina, the Department of Insurance oversees the insurance industry. Its website is a valuable resource for shopping for home insurance or filing complaints against your insurance company. You can reach the agency by emailing [email protected] or calling 800-768-3467.
Looking for more insurance in South Carolina? Check out the cheapest car insurance in South Carolina.
Amanda Shapland contributed to this story.
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.
On a similar note...
