Atlanta is a major metropolis and home to the third biggest concentration of Fortune-500 companies in the country; media conglomerate Turner Broadcasting; and they hosted this thing called the Olympics in 1996. Atlanta is also becoming a popular place to move, as city population has increased almost 16% since 2010. It’s a popular place to rent, too; 57% of the city’s occupied housing is rented rather than owned† and if you’re in this group, you should consider purchasing renters insurance.
Renters insurance ensures that your personal belongings are protected. There are countless reasons you should consider renters insurance if you live in Atlanta, from rate affordability to the high risk of weather-related damage to break-ins. Read on to learn more about why renters insurance makes sense for Atlanta residents.
Best renters insurance in Atlanta
Insurance Company | Monthly Cost - $500 Deductible | Monthly Cost - $1,000 Deductible |
|---|---|---|
State Farm | N/A ⤈ | $20.25 |
Allstate | $29.00 | $26.00 |
Travelers | $77.00 | $69.00 |
Stillwater † | N/A | N/A |
Lemonade | $14.84 | $13.17 |
† Stillwater not available in Atlanta
⤈ $500 deductible option not available in Atlanta
Methodology: We pulled renters insurance quotes online from five of the most popular insurance companies: State Farm, Lemonade, Allstate, Travelers and Stillwater. Quotes were for policies with $500 and $1,000 deductibles for a 30-year-old male apartment renter. We deferred to the most comparable coverage amounts when identical policies were unavailable.
Understanding renters insurance quotes
Renters insurance is about far more than just protecting your personal property. Here’s a rundown of the components you should look for in a policy when comparing renters insurance rates.
Property coverage: reimbursement for lost, stolen, or damaged property.
Personal liability coverage: covers legal expenses in the event someone is injured in your residence and they sue you.
Loss of use: covers temporary living expenses if your residence becomes uninhabitable.
Medical payments to others: covers medical costs in the event someone is injured in your residence and requires medical treatment.
We’ve got a full explainer of what renters insurance covers here.
Is renters insurance legally required in Atlanta?
No, renters insurance isn’t a legal requirement in Atlanta or the state of Georgia, but landlords and management companies may include a provision in the lease that requires renters insurance as a condition for signing, and this is completely legal.
Reasons to buy renters insurance in Atlanta
You might think purchasing insurance for something that you don’t own is silly. But just because you don’t own the house or apartment, doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t protect everything that's inside. Renters insurance is among some of the most affordable insurance types to buy, and should be a no-brainer in any city.
Although property crime rates don’t exactly jump off the charts in Atlanta‡, renters insurance is still a nice safeguard to have, given the high probability of crime in urban areas.
-- | Atlanta incidents | Atlanta rate* | Nationwide incidents | Nationwide rate* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Larceny | 16,400 | 1,920.12 | 5,638,455 | 1744.96 |
Burglary | 4,411 | 516.44 | 1,515,096 | 468.88 |
Arson | 50 | 5.85 | 43,119 | 13.34 |
-- | *per 100,000 people |
As for weather, Atlanta is quite a distance from the Georgia coast, but still manages to catch some of the extreme tropical weather during hurricane season, as Hurricane Irma basically shut the city down in 2017. Renters insurance won’t cover certain hurricane-related perils like water damage from flooding and storm surge, but will cover other hurricane perils like windstorms.
Be sure to check to check the fine print on your insurance policy or check with your agent to see what is and isn’t covered during these extreme storms.
Helpful resources
Atlanta residents looking for more information on renters rights and resources should check out the following:
Atlanta BeltLine: City-initiated program that creates affordable housing opportunities for working-class Atlanta residents.
Atlanta Housing Authority: Non-profit that drives affordable housing programs for low-income families in ATL. AHA also promotes self-sufficient and energy-efficient housing that promotes the vitality of surrounding communities.
AID Atlanta: Provides financial assistance to Atlanta tenants.
‡ FBI CDE
