Arkansas Landlord Insurance Cost (2026): Dwelling Fire Benchmarks, NAIC Data and What Drives Your Quote
What landlord insurance costs in Arkansas: why no official landlord average exists, NAIC 2023 dwelling fire benchmarks by coverage amount, 2025 homeowners loss ratios, storm and earthquake context and how to compare rental quotes.
Last verified October 15, 2026 · Insurance 8020 is not a licensed insurance producer, broker or agent and does not sell policies.
Neither the Arkansas Insurance Department nor the NAIC publishes an average landlord insurance premium for Arkansas rentals. What they do publish are useful benchmarks: the NAIC’s 2023 Arkansas dwelling fire form average of $571 for one-family owner-occupied buildings, the NAIC HO-3 average of $1,870, and a 2025 statewide homeowners loss ratio of 63.77% that sits well above the national figure. This guide explains those numbers, what they leave out, and what moves an Arkansas rental quote.
Key Takeaways
- There is no official Arkansas landlord average. The Arkansas Insurance Department and the NAIC do not publish a statewide premium average for landlord or DP-3 policies.
- The dwelling fire form averaged $571 in Arkansas in 2023. That NAIC figure, collected for one-family owner-occupied homes, was 44.0% below the $1,019 countrywide dwelling fire average, mostly because about 74% of Arkansas dwelling fire coverage was written under $150,000.
- Coverage amount changes the picture. Arkansas dwelling fire policies averaged $408 under $150,000 of coverage but $1,031 at $250,000 to $274,999 and $1,352 at $300,000 to $324,999.
- Owner HO-3 averaged $1,870. That is 7.7% above the $1,737 countrywide HO-3 average, and it is for owner-occupied homes, not rentals.
- Losses are running high. Arkansas homeowners posted a 63.77% loss ratio in 2025 against 55.14% countrywide, and the state had seven federal disaster declarations from 2021 through 2025.
- Premium has nearly doubled since 2016. NAIC data show Arkansas homeowners premium rising from $879 million in 2016 to $1,658 million in 2024.
How much does landlord insurance cost in Arkansas?
There is no Arkansas Insurance Department or NAIC table titled “Arkansas landlord insurance premium.” Landlord policies are priced address by address on rebuild cost, roof age and condition, wind and hail deductible, liability limit and claim history. The closest official benchmarks are below. Treat them as context for your quote, not as a quote.
| Official benchmark | Figure | Source and notes |
|---|---|---|
| Arkansas dwelling fire average premium | $571 | NAIC, 2023 data, one-family owner-occupied dwelling fire policies |
| Countrywide dwelling fire average premium | $1,019 | NAIC, 2023 data |
| Arkansas HO-3 (owner-occupied) average | $1,870 | NAIC, 2023 data, for comparison |
| Arkansas renters (HO-4) average, paid by tenants | $208 | NAIC, 2023 data |
| Arkansas homeowners written premium (2025, statewide) | $1.820 billion | NAIC group total, not a per-policy landlord average |
| Arkansas homeowners loss ratio (2025) | 63.77% | NAIC; countrywide 55.14% |
Two cautions. First, the NAIC collects its dwelling fire series for one-family, owner-occupied, non-seasonal buildings and says those figures are not directly comparable with its homeowners data. It shows what the dwelling fire form costs in Arkansas, not what landlords pay. Second, the statewide $571 is pulled down by a large share of low-limit policies, so it understates what a typical rental house with a modern rebuild cost will be quoted.
Arkansas dwelling fire cost by coverage amount
How much dwelling coverage you carry is the single biggest driver of a dwelling premium. NAIC’s 2023 Arkansas table for the dwelling fire form (owner-occupied homes) shows:
| Dwelling coverage amount | Arkansas dwelling fire average premium (2023) | House-years |
|---|---|---|
| Under $150,000 | $408 | 10,078.3 |
| $150,000 to $199,999 | $899 | 1,186.5 |
| $200,000 to $224,999 | $913 | 546.0 |
| $225,000 to $249,999 | $969 | 375.9 |
| $250,000 to $274,999 | $1,031 | 338.6 |
| $275,000 to $299,999 | $1,118 | 206.8 |
| $300,000 to $324,999 | $1,352 | 198.8 |
| $350,000 to $399,999 | $1,330 | 174.1 |
| $400,000 to $449,999 | $1,299 | 101.3 |
| $500,000 to $599,999 | $1,564 | 62.3 |
| All coverage amounts | $571 | 13,628.5 |
Source: NAIC Dwelling Fire, Homeowners Owner-Occupied, and Homeowners Tenant and Condominium/Cooperative Unit Owner’s Insurance Report, Table 4, Arkansas, 2023 data. Selected bands shown.
Above $150,000, the bands run from roughly $900 to $1,350 a year for most mid-range rebuild amounts, well above the statewide mean. Band averages above $300,000 rest on a few hundred house-years or fewer, so they can move with a small number of policies. If your rental needs $250,000 of rebuild coverage, the $1,031 band is a more useful yardstick than $571. Set the dwelling limit to the cost to rebuild, not the market value of the property; land is not insured.
Why Arkansas property premiums keep climbing
The NAIC data point to three pressures that also reach landlord pricing:
- High loss ratios. Arkansas homeowners posted a 63.77% loss ratio in 2025, and several large writers ran higher: Shelter at 81.17%, Southern Farm Bureau at 74.50% and USAA at 73.73%.
- Storm activity. The NAIC’s disaster table counts seven federal disaster declarations in Arkansas from 2021 through 2025, including three in 2023 and two in 2025.
- Fast premium growth. Arkansas homeowners premium rose from $1,395 million in 2023 to $1,658 million in 2024, about 18.9% in one year, and the NAIC 2025 group report shows $1.820 billion for 2025.
Those figures describe the owner homeowners market, but the same claims costs feed into rental underwriting. For the full owner market picture, see our Arkansas homeowners insurance statistics.
Wind, hail, earthquake and rural properties
Wind and hail. The Farm Bureau, Allstate, Shelter and Liberty Mutual pages we reviewed for our best landlord insurance companies in Arkansas ranking name wind and hail among covered perils, but deductibles and roof settlement terms differ by carrier. Ask whether wind and hail carry a separate deductible and whether an older roof is settled at actual cash value.
Earthquake. Standard rental forms typically exclude earthquake; Allstate’s landlord page lists it among typical exclusions, while Shelter’s rental dwelling form lists earthquake as an optional loss where available. Arkansas insurers wrote $58.2 million of earthquake premium in 2024, 17th among states, so price the endorsement if your rental is in a seismic area.
Rural risks. Arkansas law makes every licensed property insurer a member of the Arkansas Rural Risk Underwriting Association, which provides a plan of property insurance to insurable rural risk applicants in areas its board designates as rural. If a rural rental is hard to place, ask an agent whether that plan applies.
Flood. Flood is excluded from landlord forms and needs a separate policy; see our flood insurance hub.
What usually moves an Arkansas landlord quote
Even without an official landlord average, carriers still price the same levers:
- Rebuild cost and Coverage A limit - match the dwelling limit to reconstruction cost, not market value.
- Roof age, material and settlement basis - replacement cost or actual cash value on wind and hail claims.
- Liability limit - many landlords start at $300,000 to $1 million and then add an umbrella for higher limits.
- Loss of rents / fair rental value - months of lost rent after a covered loss.
- Optional perils - some basic rental dwelling forms make vandalism, theft damage and water escape optional.
- Claims and occupancy - prior claims, vacancy periods and short-term rental use.
How to get a usable Arkansas landlord quote
- Pull a rebuild-cost estimate for the rental, not a market-value estimate.
- Decide liability limit, loss-of-rent months and wind/hail deductible before you shop.
- Confirm which perils are standard and which are optional on each form.
- Compare State Farm, Farm Bureau, Allstate, Shelter, Travelers, Liberty Mutual and Auto-Owners using our landlord quote form.
- Check city pages such as Little Rock, Fayetteville, Fort Smith, Springdale and Jonesboro for local context. Little Rock previously converted a landlord lead on this site.
For national context, see landlord insurance cost. Sibling state cost guides include Washington, Colorado, South Carolina, Texas, North Carolina and California landlord insurance cost.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does landlord insurance cost in Arkansas?
There is no official statewide landlord average from the Arkansas Insurance Department or the NAIC. The closest owner-occupied benchmark is the NAIC’s 2023 Arkansas dwelling fire average of $571, which is pulled down by low-limit policies; at $250,000 to $274,999 of coverage the band average was $1,031. Your rental quote will differ based on rebuild cost, roof and liability limits.
Is the NAIC dwelling fire average a landlord rate?
No. The NAIC collects that series for one-family, owner-occupied, non-seasonal buildings. We cite it only as a labeled owner-occupied benchmark, not as what Arkansas landlords pay.
Why are Arkansas property premiums rising?
The NAIC data show a 63.77% Arkansas homeowners loss ratio in 2025, against 55.14% countrywide, seven federal disaster declarations from 2021 through 2025, and homeowners premium up about 89% from 2016 to 2024.
Does Arkansas landlord insurance cover earthquakes?
Usually not by default. Some carriers offer earthquake as an optional coverage where available, so ask for it as a separate line item on each quote.
How should I compare Arkansas landlord quotes?
Hold dwelling limit, liability limit, wind/hail deductible, roof settlement basis and loss-of-rent months constant, then request quotes for the same specifications.
How we verified this page
NAIC dwelling fire and HO-3 averages come from the NAIC Homeowners Report (2023 data). Statewide premium, group shares and loss ratios come from the NAIC 2025 P&C market share report. Premium history and earthquake premium come from the NAIC’s 2025 Key Facts and Market Trends report for Arkansas (2024 data). The rural risk plan comes from Ark. Code § 23-88-303. Carrier coverage notes come from public product pages fetched October 15, 2026. Percent changes are our calculations. We did not invent a landlord premium average. See our methodology.
Important disclosures
Averages are not quotes. Official averages blend many policies, coverage amounts and locations. Your premium depends on your property and the insurer’s underwriting.
About Insurance 8020. Insurance 8020 is an independent insurance comparison and education resource. We are not a licensed insurance producer, broker or agent, and nothing on this page is a recommendation to buy any specific policy. We may earn a referral fee when you request a quote through our partners, at no cost to you.