It depends on what would still have to be paid for if your income stopped tomorrow — debts, the place, years of raising kids, a business that leans on you. You'll see confident multiples quoted online. We're not going to quote one, because the honest answer comes out of your obligations, not a formula.
The Question Behind the Question
The useful way to think about it isn't "how much insurance" — it's "what would still need to happen, and what would pay for it." Make that list first and the coverage question gets much clearer.
The list usually includes what's owed, what it costs to keep the household running, how many years of that there are left, and anything that would come apart if you weren't there to hold it.
Too Little and Too Much Both Cost You
Coverage that's short leaves people you love solving a problem you could have solved. Coverage well beyond the need spends money every month that had other jobs to do.
Neither error is obvious from the outside, which is why a rule of thumb is a poor tool here.
Business and Ranch Families Have Extra Pieces
If a business depends on one or two people, or if land has to pass to the next generation without being sold to settle things, there are obligations in the picture that a household calculation misses entirely.
Those situations deserve a real conversation with your CPA and attorney in it — no page can size that.
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