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If you lease a space, you’ve got fewer home-maintenance things to worry about than homeowners do. But renters and their personal property can be just as vulnerable to theft, damage and visitor injury. That’s why it’s smart to purchase renters insurance.

The problem is, these days renters insurance premiums are on the rise. TheZebra explores the reasons why, areas where renters insurance is the least affordable, additional coverage to consider and helpful strategies to keep those premiums affordable.

Why Renters Insurance Costs Are Rising

The average cost of renters insurance nationally is around $171 annually, based on the latest data from the Insurance Information Institute. While that’s a slight increase from the previous year, renters insurance rates have actually come down 9% since 2013.

According to Gitnux, the average monthly premium is $15, with Mississippi being the state with the highest average renters insurance rates at approximately $252 per year.

A 2024 report by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia found that more rental insurance policyholders (by 23.5 percentage points) experienced year-over-year premium increases than those who reported premium decreases.

Among the culprits? Inflation, increased crime rates, higher coverage limits and severe weather claims (more on this next). Consider that the average property damage loss per renters insurance claim is estimated at $10,000. Lightning and fire claims are the most costly associated loss, averaging more than $11,000 per claim, while theft comprises almost 1 in 5 renters insurance claims, per Gitnux.

“Higher local crime rates, liability claims and medical expenses all contribute to higher rates, as does inflation and personal property values. The cost of household goods, ranging from electronics to furniture, has increased — leading insurers to adjust the contents coverage and raise overall premiums,” says Maya-Rae Woods, an account manager with All Solutions Insurance Agency LLC.

Dennis Shirshikov, a professor of finance and economics at City University of New York/Queens College, also points to higher construction labor costs, steeper replacement material prices, increases in theft claims in dense urban areas and elevated liability payouts.

“Insurers have also adjusted premiums to reflect reinsurance costs that climbed during recent years of heightened catastrophic events, and this cost is passed through to policyholders,” he adds.

Truth is, renters insurance prices are going up for many of the same reasons why everything else in the economy feels more expensive, according to Beth Sw

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Last year, Americans spent $228 billion on alcoholic beverages for private consumption, with the average adult spending $898 each, according to data from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis. But cultural, social, geographic, demographic, and economic differences all contribute to the divergence of popularity of alcohol in each state. This may have resounding impacts on local communities, ranging all the way from contributions to their tax base — as most alcohol is specifically taxed — to the risk of drunk drivers.

With this in mind, SmartAsset ranked the 50 states based on the one-year change in per capita expenditure on alcohol across adults between 2023 and 2024.

• Alaskans spend the most annually on alcohol. Each adult spent an average of $1,250 on alcohol last year, after a modest growth in spending at 0.56%. Wyoming had the second-highest annual spend at $1,238, followed by Colorado at $1,216.
• In four states, spending on alcohol decreased year over year. While its annual spend remains relatively high at $1,216, Colorado saw the biggest drop in alcohol spending per capita at -1.2%. Indiana ($751); Massachusetts ($1,186); and Utah ($607) also saw slight declines in alcohol spending per capita.
• Montana alcohol consumption grew most in Montana. The average adult in Montana spent $1,051 on alcohol in 2024, up 4.2% from a year earlier. Maryland had the second-highest growth in alcohol consumption at 3.2%, with the average adult spending $826 per year. Third-highest growth was in New Hampshire at 3.0%, where adults spend $1,120 each.
• Alcohol is least popular in these states. In 2024, adults spent the least on alcohol in Utah ($607); West Virginia ($617); Mississippi ($641); Oklahoma ($691); and Tennessee ($694). In 2023, West Virginia had the lowest alcohol preference with a per capita expenditure of $605.

SmartAsset

Average Alcohol Expenditure per Adult by State

States are ranked based on the average dollars spent by adults aged 21 and over on alcohol for private consumption in 2024.

1. Alaska

• Alcohol spending per capita, 2024: $1,249.76
• Alcohol spending per capita, 2023: $1,242.87
• One year change in per-capita spending on alcohol: 0.56%
• Total expenditure on alcohol in 2024 (millions): $674.7
• Total expenditure on alcohol in 2023 (millions): $662.6

2. Wyoming
Read more

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“People live in homes, not corporations,” perfectly summed up the tone for President Donald Trump’s attention-grabbing Truth Social post on Jan. 7. In a short, blunt message, Trump took aim at large investors buying up single-family homes at scale, framing the practice as a threat to affordability for everyday Americans and to homeownership itself.

“For a very long time, buying and owning a home was considered the pinnacle of the American Dream. It was the reward for working hard and doing the right thing.” Trump said. He then followed that statement with a crystal-clear declaration. “I am immediately taking steps to ban large institutional investors from buying more single-family homes, and I will be calling on Congress to codify it.”

At its core, Trump’s post positions him as a staunch defender against rising housing costs while also allowing him to control the hot-button affordability narrative. While taking over the conversation is a smart move on Trump’s part, TurboTenant looks at what a ban like this would actually mean, and how realistic it is that his proposal will actually come to fruition.

First, what is an institutional investor?

Before exploring why Trump wants to ban institutional investors, let’s clarify exactly who they are and their influence on the housing market.

Institutional investors are large organizations that invest in rental property using pooled capital from investors or shareholders. They operate at scale, deploy large-scale property management systems, and follow formal investment strategies. Individual buyers (the majority of single-family homeowners that Trump says he wants to protect) typically purchase homes to live in or manage rental properties on a far smaller scale.

Private equity firms, real estate investment trusts, and asset managers (all types of institutional investors) can purchase dozens or even hundreds of homes in a single transaction, often with cash, allowing them to outbid individual buyers regularly, move faster than traditional landlords, and push home prices higher to stave off competition. The fear is that these large corporations make it very difficult for first-time homebuyers to live the “American Dream” and purchase their first properties.

Blackstone, one of the most widely known institutional investors, built one of the largest single-family rental portfolios in the country in the years following the 2008 housing crash. From 2012 to 2016, the firm strategically acquired 50,000 single-family homes across several fast-growing metro areas, thereby concentrating ownership and blindsiding mom-and-pop landlords looking to expand their portfol

Photo by Victoria Sirakova // Getty Images

For decades, pop culture had clear scorecards. Billboard charts tracked which songs Americans were listening to. Box office numbers measured which movies captured the national imagination. Nielsen ratings revealed which TV moments brought the country together. These metrics revealed what mattered, what was breaking through the noise and earning mass attention in a given week, month, or year.

In 2025, Instagram follower gains functioned as a real-time measure of cultural relevance. Unlike total follower counts, which reflect accumulated influence over years, follower growth reveals who is winning the attention economy right now. It captures momentum, the voices, personalities, and movements that are breaking through at scale and commanding fresh interest from millions of people.

Data from Hypeauditor reveals the 10 fastest-growing U.S. Instagram accounts of 2025 gained a combined 105 million followers. That number alone signals how much cultural weight the platform carries. But the composition of the list tells a more specific story about where American attention actually went this year.

MrBeast led all U.S. accounts with 18.7 million new followers, driven by Beast Games 2 and his continued dominance in large-scale viral content. His presence at the top is unsurprising; he’s built an entertainment empire on spectacle and generosity, and the formula keeps working.

The political entries reveal how charged 2025 was, with President Donald Trump adding 11.5 million followers during his return to office. New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani built his entire 11.3 million following from zero during his campaign, riding progressive messaging and historic candidacy.

But the year’s most striking pattern was the rise of transformation content. Fitness creator Ashton Hall went from relative obscurity to 18.3 million followers — a 292% increase — preaching discipline and self-reinvention with the mantra “You can reinvent your entire life in 1 year.”

Entertainment, politics, and self-improvement. The three categories dominated the leaderboard, mapping directly to what captured American attention in 2025. Below, Net Influencer rounded up the 10 Instagram accounts that grew their follower counts the most.

The 10 Fastest-Growing US Instagram Accounts of 2025

Net Influencer

#1. MrBeast | @mrbeast
Gained: +18.7M followers
2025 total: 83.4M followers

The YouTube titan promoted “Beast Games” Season 2 (which released Jan. 7, 2026, on Prime Vide

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For decades, there were two choices in air travel: buy the jet or fly commercial. That binary is changing. A shift in financial realities has opened up a third lane, fundamentally changing how businesses and high-net-worth individuals get from point A to B.

This analysis from Fractional Jet Ownership evaluates the real-world costs of both models to determine when it makes sense to lease and when it makes sense to own a private jet.

Unpacking Private Jet Ownership Costs

According to the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA), the depreciation and operational costs of full ownership no longer make financial sense compared to leasing and fractional models for travelers logging fewer than 400 flight hours annually.

While the “billionaire owner” stereotype persists in headlines, the modern private aviation consumer is increasingly prioritizing capital liquidity over asset accumulation.

The upfront purchase price of a private aircraft often varies depending on the aircraft chosen and whether it’s purchased new or used. While entry-level light jets like the Cirrus Vision Jet may start around $2 million, and converted commercial liners like a customized Boeing 747 can exceed $350 million, the purchase price is rarely the defining economic factor.

The primary erosion of value comes from depreciation. Much like luxury automobiles, new aircraft depreciate immediately upon delivery. According to PwC’s Depreciation of Business Aircraft (2024), business aircraft experience predictable early‑life value declines driven by market valuation behavior.

And the level of depreciation varies. Kevin O’Leary, president of Jet Advisors, estimates that it sits in the 5%-7% range each year. The more an aircraft is used, the faster it will depreciate. For a $20 million midsize jet, this equates to a $1 million loss in value per year, regardless of how often the plane leaves the tarmac.

Beyond the purchase price, fixed annual costs—hangarage, insurance, crew salaries, and pilot training—accrue whether the aircraft flies 10 hours or 500 hours. When these fixed costs are divided by a low number of flight hours, the effective “cost per hour” skyrockets.

The 400-Hour Rule

Once a private jet is purchased, ongoing operating costs must be paid. These are typically combined as a collective operational price per flight hour, which, again, varies depending on the size and complexity of the plane in question.

According to the R