Texas homeowners insurance premiums rose 74% after inflation between 2009 and 2024, while household incomes grew just 11%, according to a Rice University Kinder Institute report published Aug. 10.
The gap between what families earn and what it costs to own a home is especially relevant in Fulshear, the second-fastest-growing U.S. city among those with at least 20,000 residents. The city's population grew 21% from mid-2024 to mid-2025, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates reported by Houston Public Media in May.
The Kinder Institute's report, "The Insurance Squeeze," found that the average Houston-metro homeowners insurance premium reached $3,556 in 2024. Statewide, the average hit nearly $3,000. Insurance consumed about 4.65% of median household income in the typical Texas county in 2024, up from 2.93% in 2009.
For the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro area, researchers calculated a homeownership affordability gap of roughly $86,065. That figure represents the difference between what a median-income household can afford and what it actually costs to own a median-priced home when insurance, taxes and other expenses are included.
Fulshear's housing market sits well above those metro-wide numbers. The city's median home listing price was approximately $551,000 as of April 2026, according to Realtor.com. The Houston-metro median home value used in the Kinder analysis was $298,000. No Fulshear-specific affordability gap was calculated, but the higher home values suggest the local squeeze could be steeper.
What's driving premiums up
The report points to catastrophic weather, litigation patterns and broader structural cost pressures. Wind and hail have accounted for an average 62% of Texas homeowners insurance losses since 2019, according to the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI). TDI reported that Texas insurers paid $8.74 billion in homeowners insurance losses during 2025.
Two recent disasters illustrate the pattern. Winter Storm Uri in 2021 forced insurers to pay $1.41 in claims for every dollar they collected in premiums. Hurricane Beryl in 2024 generated more than $2.5 billion in estimated insured losses.
Premiums in the median Texas county jumped 31% between 2012 and 2016, a period that coincided with a 15-fold increase in weather-related lawsuits against property insurers, according to the advocacy group Texans for Lawsuit Reform, as cited in the Kinder report.
Who gets squeezed hardest
About 7.04 million Texas households, roughly 64% statewide, could not afford the median-valued home in their county in 2024 when insurance and other housing costs were factored in, the report found. That calculation uses the standard threshold of spending no more than 30% of gross income on housing.
For households earning 80% of their county's median income, insurance premiums alone ate up about 5.81% of income in 2024.
"In the U.S., wealth growth still comes largely from homeownership in many cases, so that opportunity just goes away for them," Aram Yang, a research analyst and co-author of the report, said in the Kinder Institute's summary.
Researchers modeled that a 4% premium increase could make a median-valued home unaffordable for an additional 20,077 Texas households. A 10% increase could add nearly 49,900 households to that total. The report describes those as estimates, not predictions.
State action and what comes next
Gov. Greg Abbott on Aug. 24 directed TDI to pursue actions aimed at making property and casualty insurance more affordable. As we reported Aug. 24, TDI must provide recommendations on additional administrative actions and needed legislative changes by Sept. 14.
Two insurance-related bills passed one chamber of the Texas Legislature in 2025 but died in the other. The Senate approved a bill requiring state regulators to approve rate increases above 10% before they took effect. The House passed bipartisan legislation to fund grants for storm-resistant roofs.
Neither became law.
Jeremy Mazur, director of infrastructure and natural resources policy at Texas 2036, the statewide policy group that sponsored the Kinder analysis, said the trend works against state goals of expanding homeownership opportunities for Texas families.
Shopping for lower rates
TDI recommends homeowners shop around rather than automatically renewing each year. Consumers can compare companies, sample rates, complaint histories and financial information through HelpInsure.com, a resource operated by TDI and the Office of Public Insurance Counsel.
Before switching, TDI advises confirming the new company is licensed, reviewing its complaint record and making sure the replacement policy is active before canceling existing coverage. Standard homeowners policies do not cover flooding. Homeowners in flood-prone areas need separate flood insurance.
Homeowners with questions can contact the TDI Help Line at 800-252-3439.
