Home & earthquake insurance

Insurance: the bill where shopping around pays most

For the same house and coverage, California's own premium survey shows insurers here charging anywhere from $1,282 to $5,226 a year. Most owners renew without checking.

Last checked Oct 20, 2026 · Premiums from the California Department of Insurance survey effective May 1, 2026

What a typical policy costs

Cheapest of 34 insurers$1,282

Median$2,489

Most expensive$5,226

State survey for Sunnyvale: a 70-year-old house, $1 million dwelling coverage, $2,500 deductible, per year. It excludes wildfire surcharges. State Farm isn't listed because it isn't selling new policies.

Ways to pay less

Compare quotes every year

about $1,200 a year

That's the gap between the median and the cheapest insurer for the same coverage. Use the state's free comparison tool, then call an independent agent.

How: California Department of Insurance premium survey: interactive.web.insurance.ca.gov

Insure the cost to rebuild, not the sale price

~$380 a year per $250,000 less

Land is most of a house's price here, and you don't insure land. Ask your insurer for a rebuild-cost estimate and set dwelling coverage to that, not below it.

Raise the deductible from $2,500 to $5,000

~$270–310 a year

The median saving in the state survey. Worth it if you could cover a $5,000 repair yourself.

Ask for every discount

Bundling home and auto, a monitored alarm (often 5–15%), a newer roof, and the state-mandated "Safer from Wildfires" discounts for hardening your home (up to 20%, though some insurers give much less).

The California insurance crisis, here

State Farm raised home premiums 17% in June 2025 and stopped selling new policies. It filed in September 2026 to resume, but only for homes certified as wildfire-prepared. Allstate has also filed to reopen.
The FAIR Plan, the state's insurer of last resort, has about 684,000 policies and raises rates 29.1% on renewals from Oct 15, 2026.
Santa Clara County is one of the calmer markets: in 2023 only about 0.7% of homes were on the FAIR Plan, and non-renewals were below the state average.
Sunnyvale has no state fire hazard severity zones, which keeps more insurers willing to write policies here.

Earthquake insurance

Regular home insurance doesn't cover earthquakes. Only about 12% of California homeowners buy earthquake cover, mostly through the California Earthquake Authority. Deductibles run 5% to 25% of the dwelling coverage, so a $1 million policy with a 15% deductible pays only after the first $150,000 of damage.

Price: private insurers' rates in the state survey for Cupertino run $1.15 to $15 per $1,000 of coverage (median about $3.10), so roughly $1,150 to $15,000 a year for $1 million. All three cities are in the same CEA rating territory.
Retrofit discount: a bolted and braced raised-foundation house gets 20% off CEA premiums if built 1940–79, 25% if older. Earthquake Brace + Bolt grants pay up to $3,000 toward the work (the 2025 round closed; watch for the next one).
Your ground: No mapped fault-rupture zone. North Sunnyvale (Lakewood Village and north of Central Expressway) is in a state liquefaction zone, where shaking can turn wet soil soft. Mid-Sunnyvale is outside it.

Sources

Facts are checked against the public sources listed on each page. Rates change every year; each page shows when it was last checked. Individual bills are confidential in California, so personal numbers are estimates from public rates. Nothing here is legal, tax or insurance advice.