Best and Cheapest Home Insurance Pennsylvania (2023)

Home insurance in Pennsylvania costs an average of $736 per year, but cost is only one of the several factors that help you find the best home insurance for you. We collected thousands of quotes across hundreds of ZIP codes from the top home insurance companies in Pennsylvania to compare cost, customer satisfaction and coverage.

Best cheap home insurance in Pennsylvania

Cheapest home insurance rates in Pennsylvania

The average rate for home insurance in Pennsylvania is $736 per year. Rates in Pennsylvania are less than half the national average of $1,516.

Best home insurance for most people: Penn National

Penn National has the best cheap home insurance in Pennsylvania. With an average rate of $438 per year, it's 40% cheaper than the state average.

Penn National offers a range of discounts, and while most are similar to what other companies are offering, a few are less common, such as discounts for being retired, not smoking or having smart home devices.

Penn National has good general coverage, protecting your home along with any other structures on the property like a shed or garage. It also has a good list of add-ons for you to get extra protection, including:

While you can pay online, the mobile app has a 2-star rating out of 5, with many customers saying the app does not work at all.

Best online home insurance in Pennsylvania: Nationwide

Nationwide offers the best online experience for Pennsylvania homeowners. Home insurance policies average $703 per year. It's slightly cheaper than the state average but hundreds of dollars more per year than the cheapest companies in the state.

Nationwide offers excellent online tools for homeowners, letting you file an online claim, manage your policy and even pay your bills online. The highly rated mobile application, with over 4 out of 5 stars on both Google and Apple, lets you log into your account, manage and change your policies and view your policy details quickly.

Nationwide has strong customer service, with around two-thirds of the complaints of an average company its size.

Best local customer support: Erie

Erie has strong customer service for Pennsylvania homeowners and has just around half of the customer complaints as an average company its size.

They also have rates that at $559 per year are around one-fourth less than the state average. To lower your rate even further, Erie provides some discounts, such as bundling discounts or for equipping your home with safety features.

Erie offers a number of policy add-ons, including coverage for natural disasters, service line and sewer protections and valuables coverage.

Unfortunately, Erie does not offer any online quotes, so you will need to fill out their online form and get a call from an agent or call an agent yourself. However, their agents can provide personalized guidance for your questions or concerns and allow you to make more informed decisions about your policies.

Best home insurance in Pennsylvania for high-value homes: Chubb

Chubb is the best choice for homeowners with high-value properties with its highly customizable coverage and top-tier customer service. You also might have to pay for extra coverage, as Chubb often has high minimum limits.

However, Chubb's rates are the most expensive among top home insurance companies in Pennsylvania, with an average annual cost of $1,001. That's 36% higher than the state average.

While quotes are pricey, Chub does have a number of discounts to lower your rates. For example, Chubb offers a discount for homes that have extra security features like security alarms or lightning protection.

Chubb offers a number of policy add-ons, and standard home insurance coverage includes:

Best home insurance in Pennsylvania for military families: USAA

USAA is well known to military personnel and their families as one of the best insurance companies available, with military-specific benefits and top-notch customer service. Home insurance coverage averages $811 per year with USAA, slightly higher than Pennsylvania's average.

Despite having slightly higher average rates, USAA offers notable military benefits like coverage for belongings worldwide, even in war zones. Also, USAA covers military uniforms and equipment, not requiring you to pay a deductible if you damage your items on duty. It even offers full replacement cost, paying for the cost of any damaged property without depreciation.

USAA is also known for exceptional customer service, having less than one-sixth of the customer complaints of similar companies.

But the insurer does not offer many discounts, other than a few standard ones like 10% off for bundling and 10% off if you remain claim-free for five years.

Pennsylvania home insurance rates by city

In Philadelphia, the state's biggest city, home insurance costs an average of $1,121, over 50% higher than the state average. The second-largest city, Pittsburgh, has an average rate of $722 per year, slightly lower than the average.

Best home insurance companies in Pennsylvania

All three have strong customer support ratings in the state, due to having low rates of complaints and ranking highly in J.D. Power's customer satisfaction survey. USAA rated as the best but is also only available to members of the military and some of their family.

Common home insurance perils in Pennsylvania: hurricanes, flooding and snow

Due to its location on the Atlantic coast, Pennsylvania experiences seasonal oceanic storms, including hurricanes and nor'easters, that blow in during much of the year. The most common causes of damage during these storms are wind, rain and snow. While some damage from the storms is covered by standard home insurance, not all damages are.

Hurricanes

Hurricanes can damage homes in a number of ways, but most is caused by wind, either directly or indirectly. Luckily, wind damage is covered by almost all home insurance policies, which typically cover both direct and indirect damage.

However, if the damage caused is only considered cosmetic, it may not be covered by your policy. If you want to make sure that your home is covered from all damage, you may want to review your policy or ask your agent to make sure that even cosmetic damage will be covered.

Flooding

Flooding is one of the most common and expensive causes of home damage in Pennsylvania. Flash floods caused over $350 million in damage to Pennsylvania property in 2021, and unfortunately, the damage is almost never covered by regular home insurance.

Homeowners looking to protect their homes from flood damage should consider getting a separate flood insurance policy. You can buy flood insurance through private insurance companies or through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

Snow

Snowstorms happen often in Pennsylvania, and particularly heavy snow and sleet can cause damage to roofs and other structures.

Damage from the weight of snow or freezing rain is almost always covered by home insurance, along with damage that was caused through freezing pipes, as long as you tried to heat the area that had busted.

Snow that melts and causes water damage to your home is also covered by your insurance, so long as the flood was not caused by negligence. For example, if you left your window open and snow melts to cause damage to your home, you may not be covered for the damage.

Frequently asked questions

Methodology

To find the best homeowners insurance in Pennsylvania, we collected quotes from the top home insurance companies in the state.

We compared quotes for a typical home built in 1963 with a value of $180,200 — the median home age and value of owner-occupied homes in Pennsylvania according to the latest U.S. Census data.

ValuePenguin's analysis used insurance rate data from Quadrant Information Services. Quadrant's rates were publicly sourced from insurer filings and should only be used for comparative purposes.

Home insurance ratings are based on a combination of complaint data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), the J.D. Power customer satisfaction survey and ValuePenguin's own editorial ratings.