Fire Insurance Exchange, IMT and Allstate are the best homeowners insurance companies in Iowa for cheap coverage, based on QuoteWizard's extensive survey of the state's home insurers.
Fire Insurance Exchange, a subsidiary of Farmers Insurance, offers an average premium of $94 a month for home insurance in Iowa, which is well below the state average. IMT and Allstate also offer cheap home insurance to Iowans at $116 and $149 a month, respectively.
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How much is home insurance in Iowa?
Home insurance in Iowa costs $1,909 a year or $159 a month, on average. This is $155 a year, or $13 a month, higher than the national average cost of home insurance.
| Premium | Iowa | U.S. |
|---|---|---|
| Annual premium | $1,909 | $1,754 |
| Monthly premium | $159 | $146 |
| Average rates are based on non-binding estimates provided by Quadrant Information Services. Your rates may vary. | ||
What you pay for homeowners insurance in Iowa (or any other state) depends on several factors, including the location of your home and the materials used to build it. The deductible you choose for your policy also impacts its cost.
| Deductible amount | Annual premium | Monthly premium |
|---|---|---|
| $500 | $2,107 | $176 |
| $1,000 | $1,909 | $159 |
| $1,500 | $1,804 | $150 |
| $2,000 | $1,713 | $143 |
| Average rates are based on non-binding estimates provided by Quadrant Information Services. Your rates may vary. | ||
Compare quotes from top home insurance companies
What are the best home insurance companies in Iowa?
Fire Insurance Exchange is the best home insurance company in Iowa if you're looking for cheap premiums. IMT and Allstate are the state's best home insurance companies if you're looking for a local or national provider. If you're in the military, or a close relative is, USAA is likely to be the best homeowners insurance company for you.
Cheapest rates: Fire Insurance Exchange
Fire Insurance Exchange offers an average yearly premium of $1,125 for home insurance in Iowa. That's the cheapest average premium we found in our survey of the state's insurers. For some context, this is $784 a year cheaper than the state average home insurance rate.
Best local company: IMT
IMT is a great home insurance company for Iowa homeowners looking to buy coverage from a local or regional provider. It is based in West Des Moines and serves only six states: Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Along with its local focus, IMT offers home insurance rates that are nearly as cheap as those offered by Fire Insurance Exchange, at $1,386 a year.
Best national company: Allstate
If you want to buy homeowners insurance from a well-known company with a national reach, make sure you get a quote from Allstate while shopping for coverage. Allstate has an average premium of $1,791 a year, according to our research. This is $118 cheaper than the Iowa state average for home insurance.
Best for military: USAA
USAA has long been known for providing great home insurance coverage at a great price. Our assessment of Iowa home insurance companies supports that reputation, as USAA's average annual premium is $1,583 — or $326 a year cheaper than the state average. Also, USAA received the highest score of any provider included in J.D. Power's 2021 U.S. Home Insurance Study, which measures customer satisfaction.
Keep in mind, though, that only current and former members of the military, as well as some family members, can buy home insurance from USAA.
Where can I get the cheapest home insurance in Iowa?
Fire Insurance Exchange has the cheapest home insurance in Iowa, with an average premium of $1,125 a year.
IMT, USAA and Allstate also offer cheap home insurance rates that are below the state average of $1,909 a year. In particular, IMT's average premium of $1,385 a year is just $260 a year, or $22 a month, more than Fire Insurance Exchange's average premium.
| Company | Average annual premium |
|---|---|
| Fire Insurance Exchange | $1,125 |
| IMT | $1,386 |
| USAA | $1,583 |
| Allstate | $1,791 |
| Iowa state average | $1,909 |
| Nationwide | $1,923 |
| State Farm | $2,201 |
| Farm Bureau | $2,349 |
| American Family | $2,404 |
| Travelers | $2,420 |
| Average rates are based on non-binding estimates provided by Quadrant Information Services. Your rates may vary. | |
Find cheap homeowners insurance in Iowa
Cheapest home insurance in Iowa by city
Residents of Davenport pay the lowest home insurance rates of Iowa’s 10 largest cities, with an average premium of $1,678 a year. The highest home insurance rates of Iowa’s top cities are offered to homeowners in Council Bluffs, which has an average annual premium of $2,448.
| City | Average annual premium |
|---|---|
| Des Moines | $,1849 |
| Cedar Rapids | $1,751 |
| Davenport | $1,678 |
| Sioux City | $1,997 |
| Iowa City | $1,745 |
| Waterloo | $1,796 |
| West Des Moines | $1,767 |
| Ames | $1,779 |
| Ankeny | $1,681 |
| Council Bluffs | $2,448 |
| Average rates are based on non-binding estimates provided by Quadrant Information Services. Your rates may vary. | |
Cheapest home insurance in Iowa by county
If cheap home insurance is your priority, make sure you live in Scott County, Iowa. It has the state’s lowest average premium for homeowners coverage at $1,683 a year. The Iowa county with the most expensive homeowners insurance is Pottawattamie, with an average premium of $2,395 a year.
| County | Average annual premium |
|---|---|
| Polk | $1,813 |
| Linn | $1,736 |
| Scott | $1,683 |
| Johnson | $1,749 |
| Black Hawk | $1,798 |
| Woodbury | $2,011 |
| Story | $1,824 |
| Dubuque | $1,769 |
| Pottawattamie | $2,395 |
| Dallas | $1,844 |
| Average rates are based on non-binding estimates provided by Quadrant Information Services. Your rates may vary. | |
How does Iowa home insurance cover tornadoes and floods?
Tornadoes and floods are common natural disasters in Iowa that can damage or destroy your home. Here's how homeowners insurance helps protect you from both weather events.
Tornadoes
Iowa averages about 40 tornadoes a year. Thankfully, standard homeowners insurance policies usually cover tornado damage. Still, it's important to make sure your policy does not exclude or limit coverage for damage caused by extreme wind.
You can expedite the process for potential home insurance claims related to tornado damage by keeping an updated inventory of your personal belongings. If disaster strikes, it's much easier to provide an itemized list of your possessions to a claims representative than it is to try to describe them from memory.
Floods
Snowmelt brings the possibility of spring flooding to Iowa each year, and two of the state's largest floods followed heavy rains in the summer of 1993 and late spring of 2008. If you finance a home in a federally designated flood zone, your lender may require you to obtain flood insurance. You can also consider flood insurance for a home located outside one of these areas.
Most flood insurance is purchased through the government-backed National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). However, private insurance companies also offer it either as an alternative to NFIP coverage or as an enhancement to federal flood coverage.
In a separate analysis, QuoteWizard discovered that the average cost of NFIP flood insurance in Iowa is $1,207 a year, or $101 a month.
How to save on homeowners insurance in Iowa
Home insurance can be expensive, but there are steps you can take to save money on premiums, including comparing quotes from several companies, looking for discounts and changing your deductible.
Compare quotes from multiple carriers
One of the best ways to save money on home insurance is to compare rate quotes from several different companies.
Each insurance company uses a slightly different formula for setting rates, so you are likely to qualify for a better rate with one company than you do with others. Companies frequently adjust their ratings systems, too, so you might qualify for a better rate today than you did a few years ago with the same company.
Ask about discounts
Insurance companies often reward responsible homeowners with discounts to attract or retain their business. Some examples:
- Allstate, Farm Bureau, IMT, Nationwide and USAA are among the carriers that offer discounts to homeowners with safety and security features, such as water-leak detectors and monitored home security.
- IMT offers a discount for hail-resistant roofs.
- Nationwide offers a home renovation credit for upgrading your home's plumbing, heating, cooling or electrical systems.
- Many companies also offer home insurance discounts to those in certain occupations or groups, such as teachers, health care workers and current or former members of the military. USAA is only available to current and former members of the military and their families.
Increase your deductible
For a typical Iowa home, the average cost of home insurance drops by $196 a year if you increase your deductible from $1,000 to $2,000. That's a savings of $16 a month.
Methodology
We collected quotes from every ZIP code in Iowa for a standard HO-3 homeowners insurance policy using the following coverages:
- $275,000 dwelling coverage (unless otherwise noted)
- $27,500 other structures
- $137,500 personal property
- $55,000 loss of use coverage
- $100,000 liability
- $5,000 medical payments
- $1,000 deductible (unless otherwise noted)
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