New York
Annual home insurance cost: $1,256 (16% above the national average)
More than 40% of New York’s population lives in New York City. While New York City is not the most dangerous city in the United States, nor the most expensive, the combination of relatively high crime rates and cost-of-living makes New York City a difficult place to own a home.
With a large part of the state on the Atlantic Coast, New York is subject to hurricanes and other ocean storms. Upstate New York is also prone to tornadoes, ice storms, and blizzards.
This reality, plus the understanding that much of Upstate New York—for example, Syracuse, which is one of the most poverty-stricken big cities in the nation—is in economic decline due to the de-industrialization of the nation, paints a picture of a state in which home ownership is a challenge.
