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 683 licensed captives, Vermont was the largest U.S. captive domicile in 2024, 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 largest captive domicile. The Cayman Islands ranks 2nd with 670 captives and Bermuda ranks 3rd with 631 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, 2023-2024
| Rank |
Domicile |
2023 |
2024 |
| 1 |
Vermont |
659 |
683 |
| 2 |
Utah |
439 |
462 |
| 3 |
North Carolina |
311 |
293 |
| 4 |
Delaware |
283 (1) |
285 |
| 5 |
Hawaii |
263 |
272 |
| 6 |
South Carolina |
221 |
231 |
| 7 |
Arizona |
176 |
201 |
| 8 |
Tennessee |
165 (1) |
175 |
| 9 |
District of Columbia |
120 |
132 |
| 10 |
Montana |
100 |
93 |
| 11 |
Nevada |
100 |
92 |
| 12 |
Texas |
79 |
85 |
| 13 |
Oklahoma |
56 |
64 |
| 14 |
Connecticut |
53 |
59 |
| 15 |
Georgia |
57 |
54 |
| 15 |
Missouri |
55 |
54 |
| 17 |
Alabama |
55 (1) |
53 |
| 18 |
New York |
37 |
39 (2) |
| 19 |
Kentucky |
32 |
34 |
| 20 |
Michigan |
26 |
27 |
| 21 |
New Jersey |
20 |
20 (2) |
| 22 |
Arkansas |
16 |
17 |
| 23 |
South Dakota |
15 |
15 |
| 24 |
Ohio |
8 |
8 |
| 25 |
Colorado |
6 |
7 |
| 26 |
Nebraska |
4 |
4 |
| 27 |
Maine |
3 |
3 |
| 28 |
Illinois |
2 |
2 |
| 28 |
Kansas |
1 |
2 |
| 30 |
West Vriginia |
1 |
0 |
| |
United States (3) |
3,363 |
3,466 |
(1) Restated.
(2) Business Insurance estimate.
(3) Excludes territories.
Source: Business Insurance Survey, Business Insurance, April 2025.