Title Insurance Cost by State

Title insurance is priced from a rate schedule that each state regulates: some states set one rate, most let underwriters file their own. The table shows the owner's policy premium on a median-priced home in each state; open a state for every purchase price, the lender's policy, who pays and a calculator.

StateMedian home priceOwner's policyHow rates are set
Alabama$299,000$723Filed rates
Alaska$399,900$1,482Filed rates
Arizona$452,300$1,855Filed rates
Arkansas$270,300$750Filed rates
California$854,000$2,159Filed rates
Colorado$604,600$2,200Filed rates
Connecticut$445,100$1,595Filed rates
Delaware$366,200$1,498Filed rates
District of Columbia$676,500$3,497Filed rates
Florida$416,800$2,159State-set rate
Georgia$373,700$1,920Filed rates
Hawaii$773,400$3,413Filed rates
Idaho$476,300$1,820Filed rates
Illinois$314,200$2,235Filed rates
Iowa$250,700$175State program
Kansas$302,300$823Filed rates
Kentucky$277,200$1,141Filed rates
Louisiana$260,300$1,270Filed rates
Maine$390,400$1,173Filed rates
Maryland$446,900$2,263Filed rates
Massachusetts$645,400$2,358Filed rates
Michigan$269,700$1,550Filed rates
Minnesota$354,500$1,164Filed rates
Mississippi$265,200$898Filed rates
Missouri$281,400$651Filed rates
Montana$505,600$1,482Filed rates
Nebraska$306,700$819Filed rates
Nevada$468,900$1,874Filed rates
New Hampshire$500,200$1,377Filed rates
New Jersey$545,300$2,350Filed rates
New Mexico$378,300$1,879State-set rate
New York$595,900$2,754State-set rate
North Carolina$381,700$890State-set rate
North Dakota$310,500$878Filed rates
Ohio$262,900$1,503Filed rates
Oklahoma$256,700$1,029Filed rates
Oregon$508,100$1,365Filed rates
Pennsylvania$308,500$2,216Filed rates
Rhode Island$535,100$1,876Filed rates
South Carolina$397,600$956Filed rates
South Dakota$318,500$763Filed rates
Tennessee$392,100$2,250Filed rates
Texas$341,800$2,015State-set rate
Utah$575,300$2,457Filed rates
Vermont$438,400$1,524Filed rates
Virginia$462,400$1,831Filed rates
Washington$644,300$1,012Filed rates
West Virginia$253,300$911Filed rates
Wisconsin$338,200$1,595Filed rates

Why the same home costs more to insure in one state than another

Three things move the premium: the state's rate schedule (Texas, Florida and New Mexico promulgate one rate; most other states let underwriters file competing rate manuals), the purchase price the rate is applied to, and whether the lender's policy is issued at the reduced simultaneous-issue charge. Custom decides who pays for the owner's policy: the seller in much of the South and West, the buyer in the Northeast, negotiable in between.

Premiums are computed from each state's cited rate schedule and rounded to the dollar. This is general information, not financial advice.