Estimate homeowners Coverage A from your home's rebuild cost
| Region | Typical Rebuild $/sq ft | 2,000 sq ft Dwelling Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| South (TX, GA, TN, FL inland) | $120 – $170 | $240,000 – $340,000 |
| Midwest (OH, IL, MI, MO) | $135 – $180 | $270,000 – $360,000 |
| Mountain West (CO, AZ, UT, ID) | $145 – $195 | $290,000 – $390,000 |
| Northeast & Mid-Atlantic (NY, NJ, MA, PA) | $170 – $240 | $340,000 – $480,000 |
| West Coast (CA, WA, OR metros) | $200 – $290 | $400,000 – $580,000 |
Planning bands consistent with published 2025 construction-cost data — the national average to build runs about $162 per square foot per NAHB, before regional labor differences and finish level. Insurers price from commercial datasets (Verisk/Marshall & Swift) with city-level precision, so treat these as a sanity check on your policy, not a replacement for your carrier's estimate. Hurricane and wildfire zones add cost for wind- and fire-rated construction.
| Covered by Coverage A | Not Covered by Coverage A |
|---|---|
| Walls, roof, foundation | Land and site excavation |
| Built-in appliances and cabinetry | Detached garage, shed, fence (Coverage B) |
| Plumbing, electrical, HVAC | Your belongings (Coverage C) |
| Attached garage and decks | Living expenses during rebuild (Coverage D) |
| Attached structures and fixtures | Code-upgrade costs beyond ordinance limits |
Debris removal is typically included within the dwelling limit. Building-code upgrades often need a separate ordinance-or-law endorsement — after a loss, rebuilding to current code can cost 10%+ more than a like-for-like rebuild, especially for older homes.
Dwelling coverage — Coverage A on a homeowners policy — pays to rebuild the structure itself if it's destroyed. The number has nothing to do with what you paid for the house or what it would sell for; it's a construction budget. This calculator builds that budget from the three factors that drive rebuild cost most: size, location, and finish level.
Dwelling coverage = square feet × regional rebuild rate × finish adjustment. Other Structures (Coverage B) is usually 10% of the dwelling amount. Extended replacement cost adds 25% or 50% on top of the dwelling limit as a cushion against post-disaster construction-cost spikes. The region rates are midpoints of the typical 2025 bands in the table above — slide up or down within your region's band if you know local construction is pricier or cheaper than average.
Use above-grade (above-ground) square footage — the number on your listing or appraisal, not including a basement. Pick your region and the closest finish level: production builder homes are usually economy, typical suburban builds standard, and custom homes with high-end finishes premium. If your policy shows an extended replacement endorsement, select the same percentage here to see the total rebuild ceiling it creates.
A 2,000-square-foot standard-build home in suburban Atlanta. The South midpoint rate is $145 per square foot: $290,000 of dwelling coverage, with about $29,000 for other structures like the fence and shed. Adding a 25% extended replacement endorsement raises the rebuild ceiling to $362,500 — worth roughly a few dollars a month in premium and designed to cover exactly the lumber-and-labor spikes that follow regional disasters.
Now a coastal case: 1,600 square feet, custom finishes, in a California metro. The West Coast midpoint of $245 times the 1.25 custom adjustment is $306.25 per square foot, or $490,000 of dwelling coverage. With a 50% extended endorsement, the policy would pay up to $735,000 to rebuild — a real consideration in wildfire country where whole-neighborhood losses can inflate construction costs well past anyone's planning number.
Enough to fully rebuild your home at today's construction costs — not what you paid for it and not its market value. A quick estimate is square footage times your local rebuild rate: at the national average of roughly $150 to $300 per square foot, a 2,000-square-foot home needs somewhere between $300,000 and $600,000 in Coverage A, depending heavily on region and finish level.
No. Market value includes the land, the neighborhood, and market conditions; replacement cost covers only the cost to rebuild the structure. In expensive housing markets the rebuild cost is often far below market value, while in areas with cheap housing but costly construction labor it can exceed it. Insurers set Coverage A from construction costs, not sale prices.
An endorsement that adds a cushion — typically 25% or 50% — above your dwelling limit to cover construction-cost spikes after widespread disasters, when lumber and labor get scarce. If your Coverage A is $300,000 with 25% extended replacement, the insurer will pay up to $375,000 to rebuild. After recent years of material-cost inflation, many agents recommend it.
No. Coverage A covers the structure attached to your home — walls, roof, foundation, attached garage, built-in systems. Detached structures like garages, sheds, and fences fall under Other Structures (Coverage B), usually capped at 10% of your dwelling amount. You can raise that 10% if your detached structures are worth more.
Most policies carry an inflation guard endorsement that nudges Coverage A up each renewal to track construction costs — and construction costs have risen sharply in recent years. It's usually a good thing: being underinsured is the worst outcome after a total loss. But if the increases keep landing, it's worth redoing the estimate here or asking your agent which cost data they're using.
Insurers use commercial cost data (Verisk, Marshall & Swift) updated to local labor and material rates. For a planning estimate, typical 2025 residential rebuild rates run about $120 to $170 per square foot in the South and Midwest, $145 to $195 in the Mountain West, $170 to $240 in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, and $200 to $290 on the West Coast. Apply an adjustment for finish level: roughly 15% down for economy builds, 25% up for custom homes.