The factors stirring up a home insurance storm

Why car insurance rates are skyrocketing

The average annual premium for auto insurance coverage in the US rose 26% in 2024, and rates are only expected to increase. The rate hikes aren’t simply a result of more people getting into crashes. This video explores how a lack of trained auto mechanics, a tighter supply of used vehicles, record healthcare bills, and litigation are contributing to higher monthly insurance bills.

Visualizing the multibillion dollar cost of US weather disasters

The US has sustained 332 weather and climate disasters since 1980 where overall damages/costs reached or exceeded $1B (including CPI adjustment to 2022). The total cost of these 332 events exceeds $2.275T.

Flood insurance policies from the National Flood Insurance Program cost just over $1,100 per year on average

Private residential policies range from $600 to $2,800 per year. Taking steps to lower flood risk in your home, such as installing flood vents or elevating home utilities, can make premiums cheaper.

Homes in areas increasingly prone to natural disasters often aren't covered by private insurance

Instead, they're often covered under insurance plans of last resort, known as FAIR (Fair Access to Insurance Requirements) plans. However, as more and more homes become covered by FAIR, the program is facing strain. This interactive visual helps explain the new problems FAIR is facing.

Should you get earthquake insurance?

Standard home insurance doesn’t typically cover earthquakes. Even if you don't live in a state that's known for its earthquakes like California, it might be worth considering—although it's worth noting that only 13% of California residents have earthquake insurance. Learn more about earthquake insurance in this article.

A third of Americans now live in wildfire risk zones

Climate change and human development into fire-prone regions have extended the wildfire season, with some areas experiencing fire conditions year-round. Extreme conditions, poor compensation, and exposure to carcinogens have complicated firefighter recruitment, further exacerbating wildfire risks.

Charting the rise of the American McMansion

US homes are growing larger and more luxurious, with Census Bureau data revealing a rise in four-bedroom houses equipped with air conditioning. Experts say the trend of elevated home prices is expected to continue.

The cost of covering family health insurance has tripled in 20 years

The Milliman Medical Index tracks the real cost of health insurance for people covered through employer-sponsored plans. In 2025, healthcare for a family of four cost an average of $35K, including employer contributions, out-of-pocket expenses, premiums, and offset wages.

US housing costs have risen by roughly 175% between 1991 and 2026—but a growing number of Gen Zers are becoming homeowners anyway. In 2025, 4% of homebuyers were Gen Z, up from 3% the year before.

US cities where inflation is rising the most

WalletHub compared 22 major metropolitan areas to see how inflation has risen in the last year using the Consumer Price Index, which describes the average cost of a basket of goods. As of April 2024, Honolulu, Hawaii, clocked in with the greatest year-over-year change in prices, with inflation close to 5%. See the full list here.

Average hurricane intensity, not frequency, has increased over the past century

While the total number of tropical cyclones globally each year has not significantly shifted since 1920, a greater proportion of them are major, defined as category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson scale. The increased energy present in a warmer climate may be contributing to higher intensification rates.

Housing prices have skyrocketed over the last 50 years

After adjusting for inflation, housing costs have more than doubled since 1965. And based on average incomes, buyers are spending more than five times their income for a home versus buyers in 1965, who typically spent less than three times their income.

What an average-sized home in each state looks like

Over the last century, the average home size in the U.S. has skyrocketed. Here’s a look at which states have the biggest and smallest homes.

Surprising costs associated with homeownership include taxes and roof maintenance

Owning a home includes not just expected costs such as a mortgage, homeowners insurance, and landscaping, but also less-obvious expenses like property taxes, repairing and maintaining one’s roof and HVAC system, and HOA fees.

Storm surges, not winds, are the leading cause of hurricane-related fatalities

A storm surge is an abnormal rise in water levels generated by a storm that exceeds predicted tides. It is particularly dangerous in coastal regions, where it can generate extreme flooding well before the hurricane makes landfall.

Mortgage insurance offers help to buyers who can’t afford to put down 20% up front

Buyers who need mortgage insurance end up paying more per month on top of their loan to cover the added insurance. At its core, mortgage insurance helps buyers purchase a home they can’t afford, letting them put down 20%, while protecting lenders offering potentially risky loans.

Cities bore the brunt of the migrant surge in the 2020s

During the 2022-24 migration surge, cities such as New York, Chicago, and Denver faced shelter overcrowding, strained public services, and housing shortages—while the upfront costs fell almost entirely to states and cities.

Data center companies are worsening housing undersupply in some regional markets

With large capital to spend, technology giants have disrupted the real estate market, driving up prices by outbidding commercial and residential developers and intensifying competition for available land. A property purchased over several years for $50M in Prince William County, Virginia, was sold to Amazon for $700M in 2025.

Beyond oil, the Iran war is pushing up costs on fertilizer, prescriptions, and mortgages, too

Gas is up 27% since fighting began, but the Strait of Hormuz also carries a third of the world's fertilizer, petrochemicals used in generic drugs, and helium for semiconductor manufacturing. Mortgage rates have climbed back above 6.4%, and economists warn $130 oil could tip the U.S. into recession.

Disney World tickets cost 56% more now than in 2014

The prototypical middle-class American family vacation has been a staple for decades. But in the last 10 years, the cost—over $5K for a 5-night stay for a family of four—has placed the trip out of reach for many.

Paperwork errors cost families millions in life-insurance payouts

This podcast episode reveals how human missteps by employers and insurance providers caused hundreds of families who paid life-insurance premiums to be denied millions of dollars in death benefits. A Wall Street Journal reporter breaks down how flaws in the system made this happen.

Between 2007 and 2009, the housing market saw its most significant downturn since the Great Depression: the Great Recession

The early 2000s were a prosperous period for the housing market, until some lending practices eventually destabilized it, leading to banks collapsing and people losing their homes.

Homeschooling doubled during the Coronavirus pandemic

After explosive growth, the trend continued. During the 2024-2025 school year, it increased at an average rate of 4.9%, nearly three times the pre-pandemic rate of around 2%.

Two invasive termite species are threatening Florida homes

Asian subterranean and Formosan subterranean termites have been found in northern and coastal counties, respectively. About half of all structures in the urban South Florida metropolitan area could be at risk of infestation by one or both species by 2040.

US consumers collectively owe more than $1T to credit card companies—almost as much as they owe in auto loans.

From 2023 to 2025, coral reefs experienced their fourth global bleaching event

Heat stress from the 33-month-long event impacted about 84.4% of the world's coral reef area across waters in at least 83 countries and territories, making it the largest such event to date. Due to climate change, about 90% of coral reefs are expected to undergo bleaching annually by 2050, leaving insufficient time for recovery during the winter months between bleaching events.

Annuity sales have climbed, topping $430B in 2024, as retirees look to pad their income

Retirees are seeking guaranteed income that will last for as long as they live, weather market downturns, and preserve wealth.

View the ten deadliest tornadoes in US history.

Hurricanes, which rely on air consistently spinning in the same direction, cannot cross the equator because air curves in opposite directions north and south of it.

The price of gas is a composite made up of several different factors, with the federal gas tax making up less than 20% of what drivers pay at the pump.

Poison ivy will likely become both larger and more resilient due to climate change.

Discover the catastrophic consequences of a failure of the US electrical grid—something that is more likely than many Americans think.

Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley' is infamous for having some of the highest industrial pollution, toxic air emissions, and cancer risks in the US.

Massive 3D printers have been used to build homes by stacking layers of 'concrete toothpaste,' a fire-resistant material that effectively insulates against outside noise.

Frank Lloyd Wright's houses are historically hard to sell because they're old, subject to local landmark commissions, and often unfashionable

See this overview of the firework rules across all 50 states, ranging from a complete ban on non-professional fireworks in Massachusetts to states with more lax rules like Indiana.

44% of Americans say they pray at least once a day—discover how your state's religiosity stacks up against the rest of the country.

The American Society of Civil Engineers' infrastructure report card gave the US a C in 2025, its highest grade since the project launched in 1998.

The United States has had a tumultuous relationship with Cuba since its 1959 revolution, highlighted by a nuclear crisis and a decades-long trade embargo.

Telehealth demand for GLP-1s for weight loss is booming as consumers seek easier access.

Mark Twain spent decades feuding with the US Postal Service, convinced its costs and regulations were bureaucratic overreach.

Hedge funds, the private investment firms that trade a wide swath of financial assets, make money by imposing steep fees on investors and from the fund's investment performance.

Shooting stars, or meteors, are fragments of asteroids and comets that burn up as they enter Earth's atmosphere, creating streaks in the sky called meteor showers.

Dozens of S&P 500 stocks, including Coca-Cola and Walmart—known as the dividend aristocrats—have increased dividends every year for 25 years

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

A 2019 Facebook event called on attendees to "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," resulting in countless memes, the creation of a music festival, and eventually the arrests of those who did try to approach the area.

Human-to-human transmission of hantavirus remains extremely rare, so the 2026 hantavirus cruise ship outbreak doesn't mean we're facing a COVID-style pandemic risk.

20,000 letters to the advice columnist 'Dear Abby' provide insight into prevailing sex, religion, and LGBTQ fears, anxieties, and concerns from the 1950s onward.

In 2009, the nation was gripped by the story of a missing young boy who was believed to be floating over Colorado in a homemade balloon, until it was revealed that he was at home the whole time.

Hotels in Cannes, the glamorous city on the French Riviera, hire hawks to ward off seagulls during the city's famous film festival.