While wildfires and hurricanes grab headlines, another type of severe weather may present unappreciated risks for homeowners and insurers.
More than 43.5 million U.S. properties are at moderate or greater risk from damaging hail, according to a new report from Cotality, a real estate data provider. Hailstorms can now cause financial losses comparable to a Category 4 hurricane, the report concludes, and damage that may cost up to $17.84 trillion to reconstruct.
In 2025, Cotality notes, the U.S. recorded 142 days with damaging hail — seven more than in 2024 and well above the 20-year average of 122 days. During those events, more than 600,000 homes were hit with hailstones two inches or larger.
Beyond changing weather patterns, homes are more at risk because housing stock is aging, the report says. Older roofs are more brittle and likely to fail when hail strikes a home than those that are newer.
Rising risk also comes from the choices Americans make about where to live.
Texas leads the nation with nearly eight million properties at risk, and $3.09 trillion in potential reconstruction costs, the report says.
A massive storm cluster in Texas in June 2023 demonstrated the potentially steep costs of hail damage. “From June 11 to June 15, hail greater than one inch affected more than 680,000 residential homes. Cotality estimated these storms caused between $7 to $10 billion in insured losses, 95% of which were due to hail.”
Cotality data also highlights heavier risks in other parts of the Midwest. “Secondary markets like Minneapolis, St. Louis, Kansas City, and Denver sit dangerously close to major weather collision zones, making them frequent targets for severe spring and summer storms,” the report says.
Critically, earlier Cotality research showed that hail hits hardest in many of the more affordable areas, such as the Midwest, that are home to some of the youngest buyers.
Those trade-offs carry risk, Cotality analysts wrote in May 2025.
“What began as a search for affordability may end in loss. Not from bad decisions, but from a system that has not kept up with the environment. Resilience is no longer an ideal. It is a requirement,” the report said.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Risks from hail damage surge, putting 43.5M homes in peril
Reporting by Andrea Riquier, USA TODAY / USA TODAY
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
