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, 2021-2022

 

Rank Domicile 2021 2022
1 Vermont 620 639
2 Utah 386 (1) 419
3 Delaware 313 330
4 North Carolina 257 294
5 Hawaii 250 (1) 255
6 South Carolina 183 205
7 Arizona 149 162
8 Nevada 161 155
9 Tennessee 148 (1) 150
10 District of Columbia 112 113
11 Montana 102 101
12 Texas 54 73
13 Connecticut 44 57
13 Georgia 57 56
15 Missouri 52 54
16 Alabama 57 51
17 Oklahoma 45 (1) 47
18 New York 40 (2) 38 (2)
18 Kentucky 34 32
20 Michigan 24 24
21 New Jersey 20 20 (3)
21 Arkansas 14 15
23 South Dakota 16 14
24 Ohio 6 7
25 Colorado 6 6
26 Nebraska 4 4
26 Maine 3 3
28 Illinois 2 2
29 Kansas 1 1
30 West Virginia 1 1
  United States (4) 3,161 (1) 3,328

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

Source: Business Insurance Survey, Business Insurance, March 2023.

View Archived Tables

Captives & Other Risk-Financing Options.