COMPARISON · MONEY · INSURANCE
The national averages say it plainly: renters insurance (HO-4) runs about $179/yr while homeowners insurance (HO-3) runs about $1,915/yr — roughly 10.7× more (NAIC 2022, the latest published data). But the price gap is the wrong question. Homeowners insures the walls; renters insures what’s inside them. The decision is “do you own the walls?” — enter your numbers and see both sides.
Enter the home’s value, the value of your belongings, and a deductible. The calculator scales the NAIC 2022 national averages — $1,915/yr for HO-3 homeowners, $179/yr for HO-4 renters — to your inputs and shows the annual, monthly, and daily cost of each side.
Renters (HO-4) ≈ $179/yr; homeowners (HO-3) ≈ $1,915/yr — national averages from the NAIC’s 2022 dwelling-fire and homeowners report, the latest published. Ratio: 10.7×. At the defaults: homeowners $1,915/yr ($159.58/mo, $5.25/day) vs renters $179/yr ($14.92/mo, $0.49/day). The verdict: homeowners costs ~10.7× more but insures the dwelling structure — the decision is “do you own the walls?”, not price.
Setup: $350,000 home, $30,000 of belongings, $1,000 deductible.
Line 1 — the homeowners side. $1,915 × ($350,000 ÷ $350,000) × 1.00 = $1,915/yr. The NAIC anchor, unscaled — this is the national average premium for an HO-3 owner-occupied policy in 2022.
Line 2 — the renters side. $179 × (1 + max(0, $30,000 − $30,000) ÷ $30,000 × 10%) × 1.00 = $179/yr. The NAIC anchor for an HO-4 tenant policy — about $14.92 a month, less than a streaming bundle.
Line 3 — the ratio. $1,915 ÷ $179 = 10.7×. Shocking until you remember what the money buys: the homeowners side rebuilds an entire house; the renters side replaces a couch collection.
The verdict. If you own the walls, you need the $1,915 side — no contest. If you rent the walls, the $179 side covers your belongings and your liability. Comparing them on price is like comparing a car to a bicycle by weight.
| Form | Who it’s for | NAIC 2022 avg | Dwelling covered? | Belongings covered? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HO-3 | Homeowners (owner-occupied) | $1,915/yr | Yes — the structure | Yes — typically 50–70% of dwelling coverage |
| HO-4 | Renters (tenants) | $179/yr | No — landlord’s policy | Yes — the whole point of the policy |
| HO-6 | Condo/co-op owners | $506/yr | Walls-in — interior + master-policy gap | Yes |
Here’s the branch the calculator can’t price: NEITHER policy covers flood. Not the $1,915 homeowners side, not the $179 renters side. Flood is a separate NFIP (National Flood Insurance Program) policy, and one inch of water in a home can cost $25,000 — paid $0 by a standard policy. If you’re in or near a floodplain, price the NFIP policy as a third line item, not an afterthought.
Both HO-3 and HO-4 typically include about $100,000 in personal liability — the part that pays when your dog bites the neighbor, your kid breaks a window, or a guest slips on your stairs. This is the most undervalued line on either policy: renters skip the $179/yr policy and walk around with zero liability shield, one lawsuit away from a very bad year.
At the defaults, the $500 deductible prices at $2,145 homeowners / $200 renters — about 12% more than the $1,000 default. The $2,500 deductible prices at $1,762 / $165 — about 8% less. The rule: pick the highest deductible you could pay tomorrow without borrowing. If $2,500 would go on a credit card, you didn’t save 8% — you bought a payment plan.
| Output | Formula | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Homeowners annual | $1,915 × (home value ÷ $350,000) × deductible factor | $1,915/yr at the defaults — scales with dwelling value: a $750,000 home prices at $4,104/yr. |
| Renters annual | $179 × (1 + max(0, belongings − $30,000) ÷ $30,000 × 10%) × deductible factor | $179/yr at the defaults — $14.92/mo. Doubling belongings to $60,000 lifts it only to $197/yr. |
| Cost ratio | homeowners annual ÷ renters annual | 10.7× at the defaults — the structure is what costs, not the stuff. |
| Condo anchor (HO-6) | $506 × deductible factor | $506/yr — the in-between: you own the interior, the HOA master policy owns the shell. |
| The verdict | own the walls? → HO-3 : rent the walls? → HO-4 | The decision is tenure, not price — $1,915 of structure cover vs $179 of belongings cover. |
Anchors are the NAIC 2022 national averages — the latest the NAIC has published — for HO-3 owner-occupied ($1,915), HO-4 tenant ($179), and HO-6 condo ($506) policies. Real premiums vary widely by state, ZIP code, carrier, credit-based insurance score, claims history, and coverage limits: coastal states can run multiples of the average, and the scaling here is linear by design — a simplification, not a quote. These are educational estimates, not insurance quotes; only a licensed agent or carrier can price your actual policy. Not financial advice.
Bright Side Kit. "Renters vs Homeowners Insurance: Cost & Coverage 2026." https://brightoolbox.com/renters-vs-homeowners-insurance/ Accessed October 24, 2026.Data sourcesYes — the landlord’s policy covers $0 of your stuff. Their HO policy insures the building: the walls, the roof, the plumbing. Your furniture, laptop, clothes, and bike are invisible to it. The NAIC average renters policy costs $179/yr (about $14.92/mo) and also buys you roughly $100,000 of personal liability — the part that matters if your dog bites someone or your bathtub floods the unit below.
On average, yes — $179 ÷ 12 = $14.92/mo (NAIC 2022). Your price moves with your ZIP code, your belongings’ value, and your deductible: the calculator shows that doubling insured belongings to $60,000 lifts the average only to $197/yr. It’s routinely the cheapest insurance anyone buys, and the most skipped.
HO-3 is the standard homeowners policy — covers the dwelling structure plus belongings, averaging $1,915/yr. HO-4 is renters insurance — belongings and liability only, no structure, averaging $179/yr. HO-6 is condo/co-op insurance — covers your unit’s interior and the gap the HOA master policy leaves, averaging $506/yr. The form follows who owns the walls.
Neither. Flood is excluded from standard HO-3, HO-4, and HO-6 policies alike — it takes a separate NFIP (National Flood Insurance Program) policy. One inch of water can cause $25,000 in damage that your standard policy pays $0 toward. Check your flood zone even if you’ve “never flooded before.”
$1,000 is the sane default. Dropping to $500 costs about 12% more per year ($2,145 vs $1,915 homeowners); raising to $2,500 saves about 8% ($1,762). The test: could you pay the deductible tomorrow without borrowing? If yes, take the higher one and bank the savings. If $2,500 would land on a credit card, the “savings” are an illusion.
Yes — an HO-3 policy typically covers personal property at 50–70% of the dwelling limit, so a $350,000 dwelling carries roughly $175,000–$245,000 of belongings coverage. That’s why the homeowners side costs 10.7× the renters side: it’s insuring the structure and everything inside it. High-value items (jewelry, art, collectibles) often need scheduled riders on either policy.
Both policies typically include about $100,000 in personal liability: it pays when you’re legally responsible for someone else’s injury or property damage — a dog bite, a guest’s fall, your kid’s baseball through a window. For renters especially, this is the hidden value of the $179/yr policy: without it you’re one accident away from paying out of pocket.