A Firm Foundation: How Insurance Supports the Economy

Over the years, a number of alternatives to traditional commercial insurance have emerged to respond to fluctuations in the marketplace. Captives—a special type of insurer set up by a company to insure its own risks—first emerged in the 1980s. With 620 licensed captives, Vermont was the largest U.S. captive domicile in 2021, based on data in an annual survey of the world's largest captive domiciles conducted by Business Insurance magazine. On a worldwide basis, Vermont was the third-largest captive domicile, topped only by Bermuda with 670 and the Cayman Islands with 661 captives.

According to Business Insurance, there are 30 captive domiciles in the U.S., including 29 states and the District of Columbia.

Captives by State, 2022-2023

 

Rank Domicile 2022 2023
1 Vermont 639 659
2 Utah 412 (1) 439
3 North Carolina 294 311
4 Delaware 319 (1) 289
5 Hawaii 255 263
6 South Carolina 209 (1) 221
7 Arizona 162 176
8 Tennessee 150 162
9 District of Columbia 113 120
10 Montana 101 100
10 Nevada 155 100
12 Texas 72 (1) 79
13 Georgia 56 57
14 Oklahoma 45 (1) 56
15 Missouri 54 55
16 Alabama 51 54
17 Connecticut 45 53
18 New York 39 (2) 37 (1)
19 Kentucky 32 32
20 Michigan 24 26
21 New Jersey 20 (1) 20 (1)
22 Arkansas 15 16
23 South Dakota 14 15
24 Ohio 7 8
25 Colorado 6 6
26 Nebraska 4 4
27 Maine 3 3
28 Illinois 2 2
29 Kansas 1 1
29 West Virginia 1 1
  United States (3) 3,300 3,365

(1) Restated.
(2) Business Insurance estimate.
(3) Excludes territories.

Source: Business Insurance Survey, Business Insurance, April 2024.

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Captives & Other Risk-Financing Options.