Homeowners insurance in Texas: premium by ZIP code

Houston against Dallas: two different markets

Harris County, with 128 ZIP codes in the file, had a median premium of $2,702 in 2022, up +4.7% after inflation since 2018. Dallas County was at $2,771 and Tarrant at $2,604, after rises of +14.0% and +14.6%. North Texas has no hurricane season, but it has hail, and hail claims on roofs are what moved its premiums. Bexar County, around San Antonio, paid far less, $1,771.

The freeze year in the claims

Paid claims per 100 policies ran between 4.5 and 5 in the other years, then jumped to 8.3 in 2021. Frozen and burst pipes in February 2021 produced claims across the whole state at once. Insurers paid out 56% of the premium they wrote that year in losses, against 34% the year before. Over the five years, the average paid claim in Texas was $17,005, ranked 13 of 51.

What the data cannot show for Texas

The Treasury report notes that Texas insurers did not provide nonrenewal data. The workbook's Texas nonrenewal and cancellation rates read zero, which we treat as not reported rather than as no nonrenewals. The nonrenewal calculator therefore shows "not reported" for Texas rather than a zero. Two other parts of the Texas market are outside the file entirely. The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association writes wind and hail coverage on the coast where private policies exclude it, and the Texas FAIR Plan Association writes homes that cannot find an admitted insurer. A Galveston or Corpus Christi owner who pays a TWIA premium on top of a private policy will see a total far above the ZIP code figure.

Highest and lowest ZIP codes

ZIP 75205 in Dallas County had the highest premium per policy, $8,194, followed by 77024 in Harris County at $7,568: neighborhoods of large houses, where the dwelling limit, not the weather, explains the price. The lowest was 77650 in Galveston County, $909, a coastal ZIP code where wind is often insured by TWIA rather than by the private policy. The cheapest tenth of Texas ZIP codes paid under $1,714; the dearest tenth over $3,006.

The Texas Department of Insurance publishes its own market overview with later years, built from rate filings of the largest insurers; it is the place to look for 2023 and after. The hurricane deductible calculator shows what a percentage wind deductible costs on a coastal claim.