More than 43.5 million US properties are at moderate or greater risk from damaging hail, representing about $17.84 trillion in reconstruction cost value (RCV), according to a new report from Cotality.
The analysis warns that hailstorms can now produce insured losses comparable to a Category 4 hurricane. The findings, published in Cotality’s 2026 Severe Convective Storm Risk Report, underline how hail is shifting from a “secondary” peril to a major driver of catastrophe losses, with implications for homeowners, carriers and reinsurers across the property market.
“Hail doesn’t command the same headlines as hurricanes, floods or wildfires, but the data shows it has become one of the most financially destructive natural hazards facing the property market,” said Jon Schneyer, Cotality’s director of research and content. “Once considered ‘secondary’ with relatively modest losses, this ‘death-by-a-thousand-papercuts’ peril is now one of the biggest drivers of property insurance claims. That shift is placing growing pressure on insurers and recovery teams in what has become a high-stakes relay to restore damaged communities.”
In 2025, the US recorded 142 days with damaging hail – seven more than in 2024 and well above the 20‑year average of 122 days, according to Cotality. During those events, hailstones two inches or larger struck more than 600,000 homes, representing roughly $177 billion in RCV.
Cotality’s modeling indicates that across the spectrum of severe convective storm (SCS) scenarios – from rarer 1‑in‑500‑year events to more frequent 1‑in‑50‑year episodes – hail is the primary driver of loss, ahead of tornadoes and straight‑line winds. At the 1‑in‑500‑year level, hail alone could generate about 80%, or $58 billion, of an estimated $71 billion in insured losses from all SCS perils combined.
Even less extreme events can be significant. A hailstorm expected to occur roughly once every few decades could produce nearly $30 billion in insured losses, putting it in the same range as a major landfalling hurricane.
The report also reinforces a trend already reflected in recent results. For several years, US SCS losses, heavily driven by hail, have rivaled or exceeded aggregate hurricane losses, turning hail into a core capital and pricing consideration rather than a peripheral diversification peril.
Cotality said hail is becoming both more frequent and more financially destructive as housing growth and rising property values concentrate assets in storm-prone regions. Inflation in labor and materials is amplifying severity, even when footprints look typical from a meteorological standpoint.
In 2025, more than 235,000 homes in Texas experienced damaging hail, far exceeding any other state. Risk is particularly concentrated in the Texas Triangle – Dallas–Fort Worth, Houston, Austin and San Antonio – which together account for more than $2.2 trillion in exposed RCV with moderate or greater hail damage risk.
Wyoming also ranked highly, with more than 41,000 impacted homes, followed by Oklahoma, Wisconsin and Kansas. These concentrations are consistent with the broader US “hail belt”, stretching from the central and southern Plains into parts of the Midwest.
The Cotality figures highlight the need for closer management of location‑level aggregates, refined rating plans around roof age and construction, and a clearer view of how hail‑driven loss costs interact with reinsurance price increases and higher retentions.
Beyond hail, Cotality estimates that more than 76 million homes face moderate or greater tornado risk, representing more than $27 trillion in RCV. Another 64 million homes are exposed to damaging winds of 65 mph or stronger, with more than $23 trillion in associated RCV.
These exposures reinforce the central role of SCS in US catastrophe experience. Multi‑billion‑dollar convective storm seasons have become frequent rather than exceptional, making SCS volatility as important to manage as individual named storms for many personal property and small commercial portfolios.
Schneyer said storm losses continues to grow in both scale and complexity as expanded urbanization development puts larger and costlier to repair property in harm's way.
"For insurers and reinsurers, accurately capturing not just the volatility but also the aggregated magnitude of these events is critical. When underwriters are able to accurately price knowing the unique vulnerabilities of each individual property and modelers can map extreme risks with confidence, capital and resources are secured before a storm strikes," Schneyer said.
In practice, insurers and claims organizations are relying more on radar‑based footprints, aerial imagery, building‑level analytics and triage tools to distinguish recent hail damage from pre‑existing wear and tear, prioritize inspections and manage severity leakage.
The findings also point to closer collaboration between underwriting, claims and catastrophe modeling teams to align assumptions about roof performance, policy terms and repair costs.
