Home Insurance Coverage Estimator
Estimate dwelling, personal property, other structures and liability coverage from your home's rebuild cost — a planning tool, not a quote.
Construction cost to rebuild, not market value or purchase price — ask your insurer or a local builder.
Typically 50-70% of dwelling coverage in a standard policy.
Detached garage, shed, fence — typically ~10% of dwelling coverage.
Insuring the building, not the price you paid for it
The most common home insurance mistake is setting dwelling coverage to a home’s purchase price or current market value, when the number that actually matters is rebuild cost — what it would cost to reconstruct the home at current local construction prices if it were destroyed. Those numbers routinely diverge, sometimes substantially: market value includes land, which doesn’t burn down and plays no role in a rebuild, while construction costs (materials, labor, permitting) move somewhat independently of the broader real estate market. This calculator starts from square footage and a local rebuild rate specifically to avoid this mistake, rather than working backward from a market value figure that can meaningfully over- or under-insure the home.
Why “over-insuring” and “under-insuring” are both real risks
Insuring above actual rebuild cost wastes money on premiums for coverage you’d never actually use, since a policy pays to rebuild the home, not the full face value regardless of actual rebuild cost. Insuring below rebuild cost is the more dangerous direction — a genuine total loss (fire, major disaster) leaves a real gap between what the policy pays and what reconstruction actually costs at the time of loss, potentially years after the policy was originally written, during which construction costs may have risen. Getting the dwelling coverage number right, and revisiting it periodically as construction costs change, matters more than most homeowners realize until they’re filing a claim.
Replacement cost versus actual cash value: read the policy carefully
These two coverage types sound similar and produce meaningfully different payouts after a loss. Replacement cost coverage pays what it actually costs to rebuild or repair with new materials, without deducting for the age or wear of what was damaged. Actual cash value coverage pays replacement cost minus depreciation — meaning a 15-year-old roof gets reimbursed at its depreciated value, not the cost of a brand-new one, which can leave a homeowner covering a substantial gap out of pocket after a major loss. Confirm explicitly which type of coverage a policy provides, since “replacement cost” is sometimes only offered for the dwelling itself while personal property defaults to actual cash value unless specifically upgraded.
Personal property and other structures: percentages of dwelling, with real exceptions
Standard homeowners policies commonly set personal property coverage as a percentage of dwelling coverage — often in the 50-70% range — and other structures (a detached garage, shed, or fence) around 10%. These percentage defaults work reasonably for a typical household, but they can meaningfully understate real need for a household with substantial high-value personal property (jewelry, art, high-end electronics or collectibles), which often require a separate rider or scheduled endorsement beyond the standard percentage-based limit — a detail worth flagging to an agent directly rather than assuming the default percentage covers everything.
Liability: sized to what you have to lose, not to the house
Unlike dwelling coverage, liability coverage isn’t really a function of the home’s value — it’s a function of what a lawsuit judgment could take from you personally if someone is injured on your property or you’re found liable for damage elsewhere the policy covers. A common guideline is carrying liability coverage at least equal to your net worth, since assets above the policy’s liability limit are directly exposed in a judgment exceeding it; households with meaningful assets often layer an umbrella policy on top of standard homeowners liability for substantial additional protection at a relatively modest added premium.
What this calculator is, and isn’t
This is a planning estimate to help you have an informed conversation with a licensed insurance agent — it isn’t a quote, and it doesn’t account for your specific policy’s exclusions, endorsements, or state-specific regulatory requirements. See the home affordability calculator for budgeting a home purchase overall, and the life insurance needs calculator for the other major insurance planning conversation most homeowning households eventually have.
How this is calculated
Dwelling coverage = square footage × local rebuild cost per sq ft Personal property = dwelling × ~50-70% Other structures = dwelling × ~10%
Frequently asked questions
- How much home insurance coverage do I need?
- Dwelling coverage should reflect what it would actually cost to rebuild your home at current local construction prices, not its market value or what you paid for it — those can diverge substantially, especially in areas where land value is a large share of the purchase price or where construction costs have risen faster than home prices.
- Why is rebuild cost different from market value?
- Market value includes land, which doesn't burn down and isn't part of what insurance needs to cover, while rebuild cost is purely the construction cost of replacing the structure itself at current material and labor prices. A home in an expensive land market can have a market value well above its rebuild cost, or the reverse in a market where construction costs have outpaced home prices — insuring to market value can genuinely over- or under-insure a home.
- What's the difference between actual cash value and replacement cost coverage?
- Replacement cost coverage pays to rebuild or repair with new materials at current prices, with no deduction for depreciation. Actual cash value coverage pays replacement cost minus depreciation, meaning an older roof or aging systems get reimbursed at their depreciated value, not full replacement cost — a meaningful difference after a major loss, and worth confirming which type a policy actually provides.
- How much liability coverage should I carry?
- Many advisors suggest liability coverage that at least matches your net worth, since a liability judgment beyond your policy's limit exposes personal assets directly — households with meaningful assets often add an umbrella policy on top of standard homeowners liability limits for additional protection at a relatively low incremental cost.