Best homeowners insurance in California for 2026

Compare the best homeowners insurance companies in California

California home insurance costs an average of $1,641 per year for a home with $300K in dwelling coverage. According to our research on average rates, coverage options and customer service, Amica, USAA, Chubb, Nationwide and Travelers are some of the best California homeowners insurance companies. 

It’s important to note that the market for homeowners insurance in California has been extremely volatile over the last several years, with many insurers scaling back their number of available policies. When you combine an extreme risk of wildfires with historically restrictive pricing regulations, many insurers simply don’t see the state as a profitable business venture. That said, the recently initiated Sustainable Insurance Strategy (SIS) has been slowly enticing private insurers back to the market.

While the carriers below are generally considered strong options, there’s no guarantee these companies will agree to insure your home given its specific risk assessment. The fluctuating regulatory environment may reduce or increase your choices at any given time, so it’s important to stay up to date and compare options frequently.

Top 5 home insurance companies in California

Common California home insurance problems

While California’s cultural cachet and natural beauty make it a desirable place to put down roots, finding a policy for your forever home can be a challenge. Here are a few hurdles homeowners may encounter, and some of the driving factors behind them:

• Dwindling coverage options: In the past two years, seven of California’s largest home insurance providers by market share — State Farm, Allstate, Farmers, USAA, Travelers, Nationwide and Chubb — have either stopped accepting new home insurance policies or limited the number of new policies they’re willing to write. However, new regulations and pricing models introduced through the Sustainable Insurance Strategy (SIS) have motivated insurers to reconsider their full or partial exit. Staying informed is essential to knowing your coverage options in this evolving situation.
• High insured losses: Insurance companies are for-profit businesses, and if they lose too much money, they can exit the market. California home insurance companies have been paying wildfire-related losses for years, most recently with the January 2025 firestorms. One estimate suggests the total insured losses from the Palisades and Eaton fires are around $33.9 billion, making it the most expensive natural disaster in both California and national history.
• Rising rebuilding costs: The cost of a home insurance policy is tied to the cost of rebuilding; when a home becomes more expensive to rebuild, it also becomes more expensive to insure. Rebuilding costs in the Palisades fire region alone increased by nearly 57 percent from 2017 to 2025, according to Versik, a data analytics company.
• Strained FAIR Plan: The FAIR Plan is financially supported by California’s private home insurers, and if too many homes on the plan file claims at one time, it may run out of money. This happened in early 2025 for the first time since 1994, following the destructive January 2025 wildfires in Los Angeles. The FAIR Plan will now recoup money from both its private insurance supporters and California homeowners insured in the private market.
• Keeping a policy: Finding an insurance policy in California is one thing, but hanging onto it is another — California has one of the highest nonrenewal rates in the country. In 2023, homeowners had a greater than one in 100 chance of being dropped by their home insurance company.

Cheapest home insurance companies in California

Not every California homeowner will be able to secure a cheap policy, particularly those in a high-risk wildfire area. In fact, homeowners with homes at elevated risk for wildfire damage may struggle to secure any insurance policy, let alone a cheap one. That said, getting familiar with the cheapest home insurance companies in California can be a good starting point if you’re looking for coverage on a budget.

How much is home insurance in California?

California heavily regulates home insurance pricing, which helps keep premiums low. The average cost of a $300K dwelling policy in California is $1,641 per year, 32 percent less than the national average. Strict pricing regulations and widespread, catastrophic losses are part of have driven insurers out of the state; they claim that they cannot price policies that accurately reflect the risk. However, the new wildfire catastrophe model should help this situation by allowing insurers to predict future risk, rather than forcing them to rely solely on historical data.

What your home insurance policy costs also depends on how much coverage you buy. The table below compares average premiums for different dwelling coverage limits.

California homeowners insurance rates by city

When hearing that location can influence home insurance costs, many people’s minds jump to state-by-state cost considerations. While the state you live in plays a role in the cost of your insurance, so does your city.

*Rates are for $300,000 in dwelling coverage.

Frequently asked questions

Bankrate Scores 

Our Bankrate Score considers variables our insurance editorial team determined impact policyholders’ experiences with an insurance company. These rating factors include a robust assessment of each company’s cost of coverage, product availability, financial strength ratings, online capabilities and customer and claims support accessibility. We grouped these factors into three essential categories — cost and ratings, coverage and savings, and support — which we then weighted in a tiered approach. 

Each category was assigned a metric to determine performance, and the weighted sum adds up to a company’s total Bankrate Score — out of 5 points. Our scoring model provides a comprehensive view, indicating when companies excel across several key areas and highlighting where they fall short.