Study: Solano County has area's lowest threat risk, home insurance costs

Jul. 6—Solano County homeowners are in a relatively good position with regard to home insurance despite the state's ongoing insurance crisis, according to a study from personal finance website Insurify.

The Los Angeles wildfires caused billions of dollars in new insurance claims, exacerbating problems in the state's already-faltering home insurance market and hitting homeowners all over the state in the pocketbook.

Though policies have become more expensive statewide and many homeowners have had policies canceled, Solano is faring relatively well, based on the study released in June.

The study found that Solano County homeowners have the Bay Area's lowest average annual home insurance premiums, at $1,824. Next lowest is Napa County, at $1,936, while Sonoma is at $1,960. Contra Costa is at $2,141, Santa Clara $2,915, San Mateo $2,966 and Alameda $2,978, Marin $3,090.

Not surprisingly, the City and County of San Francisco clocks in highest, with an average annual home insurance premium of $3,509.

A Solano County insurance broker elaborated on the reasons residents have what she described as "decent" insurance rates.

"We are not prone to catastrophic losses here," said Jeanne Kilkenny-Turk, who owns and runs Vallejo Insurance Associates along with Tom Atwood. https://vallejoinsurance.com/ "We don't have a lot of flooding. Our biggest risk is homes that are backed up to open space because they have a higher fire score."

Solano County also had the Bay Area's lowest score on Insurify's risk index.

The risk index gauges the extent of weather-related threats facing a specific region and assigns a number. Homes in counties scoring on the higher end face severe weather threats, are expensive to replace, are older, have high insurance premiums or have some combination of these factors.

"Solano County scored a 79.2 on Insurify's risk index," said Matt Brannon, senior economic analyst with Insurify. "It ranks 23rd of all 58 California counties."

Napa County had an 81.6 risk index score, Sonoma an 81.8 score, Contra Costa an 82.9, Santa Clara 88.3, Alameda 89.0, San Mateo 88.8, Marin 90.4.

San Francisco's home insurance risk index is a staggering 93.7. It ranks in the country's top ten major housing markets with the highest risk index.

Overall, California is the least insurable state on the West Coast, according to Insurify's study.

In addition to wildfire and earthquake risk, Brannon named an additional factor.

"Flooding is a big risk," Brannon said. "Just generally, 40 percent of flood plains happen outside of high-risk areas. Even if your house isn't in a flood risk zone, you should be aware of it."

That's because standard policies don't insure against flooding, Brannon said.

"It's excluded from home insurance, so you would need flood insurance. And the same goes for earthquakes. You would think your home insurance covers it, but it doesn't," the analyst said.

Despite California's reputation for earthquakes and fires, of the 20 least insurable counties, 19 are along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, where homes are prone to high wind damage from hurricanes.

Monroe County, in the Florida Keys, has a risk index of 99.5 percent and homeowners pay an unimaginable $22,436 for home insurance annually, which is 661 percent above the national average.

The county sits between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, a hotspot for hurricanes. Federal data shows that Monroe County has witnessed more hurricanes and tropical storms than any other on record.

© 2026 Times-Herald (Vallejo, Calif.). Visit www.timesheraldonline.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.