How Much Is Car Insurance?
Cost benchmarks and sub-topics
- Cost by age: Full-coverage anchors from 18 ($2,325) through 75+. Why middle-aged drivers get the lowest rates and where the big price breaks land.
- Cheapest full coverage: USAA, Travelers, GEICO, Erie, Auto-Owners anchor the full-coverage leader table. Why the cheapest carrier varies by profile and what you give up to get the lowest quote.
- How much is full coverage: The U.S. full-coverage average is roughly $2,400 to $3,000 per year, moved by state, age, vehicle, and credit. What full coverage includes and when it is worth paying for.
- Cost after a DUI: A first-offense DUI typically raises full-coverage premiums 50 to 100 percent. State-level dispersion, which carriers write post-DUI policies, and the 3-year total cost math.
- Cheapest minimum coverage: National average annual minimum-coverage premium runs $600 to $900. Which carriers lead on minimum coverage, why minimum is usually a trap, and when it actually makes sense.
- Senior rates (65+): Senior rates follow a shallow U-shape, lowest around 55 and rising after 70. Age-bracket benchmarks from 55 to 80+, state dispersion, and the mature-driver discount that saves 5 to 10 percent.
- Cost for an 18-year-old: The average 18-year-old pays about $2,325 per year on a parent policy; $3,500 to $5,500 stand-alone. The three age-breaks that follow, the discount stack, and which carriers to shop.
- Cost for a 25-year-old: Age 25 is the biggest age-break in auto rating: $1,426/year ($119/month) vs $1,700+ at age 24. Good-driver discount typically reinstates with 3 years clean.
- Liability-only cost: Liability-only runs $600 to $900 per year, roughly 40 to 50 percent of full coverage. Not the same as state-minimum coverage. When liability-only makes sense and when it is a trap.
- Cost for a Tesla: Tesla full coverage averages about $4,500/year, 1.5x the all-vehicle national average. Model Y and Model 3 are cheapest; Model S and Model X trend highest.
- Cost by credit score: In 46 states, poor credit can roughly double full-coverage premiums. $2,000 (exceptional) to $4,000 (poor) is the national range. California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, and Michigan prohibit credit as a rating factor.
- Cost after an at-fault accident: Full-coverage premium rises about 44 percent after an at-fault accident, persisting 3 to 5 years. Carrier lookback windows and the 3-year total cost math.
- Cost for rideshare drivers: Rideshare endorsements add $120 to $480/year to a personal policy; commercial auto for full-time drivers runs $3,000 to $8,000/year. Endorsement vs commercial math.
- 6-month vs 12-month policy: Progressive/GEICO default to 6-month; State Farm/Allstate to 12-month. Where each term wins, paid-in-full discount math, and installment fees.
- $500 vs $1,000 deductible: Break-even math for choosing a $500 vs $1,000 collision or comprehensive deductible. Formula is $500 extra exposure divided by annual premium savings; representative examples show 2 to 8 year break-even depending on carrier and profile.
- How deductible affects premium: How collision and comprehensive deductibles affect auto premium. Liability has no deductible by design. PIP deductibles exist in some states (FL $0-$1,000 options). Zero-deductible glass is mandated in FL, KY, SC.
There is no one "average" car insurance cost. U.S. drivers spent about $1,281 per insured vehicle in 2023 per NAIC data1, while modeled full-coverage rates for a defined 35-year-old profile in 2026 sit roughly in the $2,000 to $2,600 per year range across major publisher analyses3. Your quote depends on your state, age, driving record, credit, coverage choices, and vehicle far more than any published average.
YesWeSure Bottom Line
What the U.S. average actually is. The government-collected NAIC figure ($1,281 per insured vehicle in 2023) is not the same as a quote you would receive. It includes drivers who buy minimum coverage only and drivers who buy full coverage, mixed together1.
Why your quote will differ. Fourteen or more rating factors influence what an insurer charges you, from state and ZIP code to driving record and credit tier. Recent industry rate change has been substantial: motor-vehicle-insurance inflation was up as much as 11.8% year-over-year in early 2025 per the Bureau of Labor Statistics before moderating4.
How to get a real number. Compare quotes from at least three carriers with your actual driver, vehicle, and coverage details. Averages are calibration, not personal price. Starting from your state’s floor? Our state requirements checker shows the minimum each state actually mandates before you price full coverage.
Sourced cost snapshot
Key national anchors
Every figure below can be traced to a specific dataset, publication period, and driver profile. Click "How we got this number" on any card to see the provenance.
2023 U.S. national average expenditure
Per insured vehicle. Includes drivers who buy minimum coverage only and those who buy full coverage.
ExpenditureHow we got this number
- Source
- NAIC 2022/2023 Auto Insurance Database Report1
- Publisher
- National Association of Insurance Commissioners
- Period
- Full-year 2023 (NAIC 2022/2023 Auto Insurance Database Report; released February 13, 2026)
- Geography
- United States, all 50 states
- Limitations
- Expenditure does not equal the sum of liability, collision, and comprehensive because not all policyholders purchase all three. It reflects actual insurer premiums earned per insured vehicle, not synthetic quotes.
- Measurement
- Expenditure
2023 national combined average premium
+14.42% from 2022 to 2023.
ExpenditureHow we got this number
- Source
- NAIC 2022/2023 Auto Insurance Database Report1
- Publisher
- National Association of Insurance Commissioners
- Period
- Full-year 2023
- Geography
- United States
- Limitations
- Combined average premium sums liability, collision, and comprehensive premiums per insured vehicle where written.
- Measurement
- Expenditure
AAA 2026 average full-coverage cost, all vehicles
Modeled at 15,000 annual miles across all vehicle classes.
Modeled rateHow we got this number
- Source
- AAA Your Driving Costs 2026 study (cited via Insurance Information Institute)2
- Publisher
- American Automobile Association
- Period
- 2026 annual study
- Geography
- United States
- Driver
- Composite driver across AAA methodology
- Coverage
- Full coverage
- Limitations
- AAA methodology combines new-vehicle purchase profile assumptions; not directly comparable to a modeled quote for a specific driver.
- Measurement
- Modeled rate
Publisher modeled full-coverage range
National range across major publisher analyses for a defined 35-year-old profile.
Modeled rateHow we got this number
- Source
- NerdWallet, LendingTree, and other Tier-3 publishers (April to September 2026 analyses)3
- Publisher
- Multiple
- Data provider
- Quadrant Information Services
- Period
- April to September 2026
- Geography
- National average across all 50 states + D.C.
- Driver
- 35-year-old with clean driving record and good credit
- Vehicle
- Typically a 2023 Toyota Camry LE or comparable sedan
- Coverage
- 100/300/100 liability plus collision and comprehensive
- Deductible
- $500 to $1,000
- Limitations
- Modeled rates from a synthetic profile. Not personalized quotes.
- Measurement
- Modeled rate
Progressive own-book, low-cost-state tier
Six-month liability-only, one vehicle, one driver.
Observed premiumHow we got this number
- Source
- Progressive: How Much Is Car Insurance? consumer page5
- Publisher
- Progressive
- Period
- Policy years 2024 to 2025
- Geography
- Progressive-defined low-cost states (CA, HI, ID, IN, IA, KS, ME, MT, NH, NM, NC, OK, SD, VT, WA, WI, WY)
- Driver
- One driver, one vehicle
- Coverage
- Liability only (six-month term)
- Limitations
- Progressive-specific book of business; not the market average and not directly comparable to full-coverage figures.
- Measurement
- Observed premium
Progressive own-book, high-cost-state tier
Six-month liability-only, one vehicle, one driver.
Observed premiumHow we got this number
- Source
- Progressive: How Much Is Car Insurance? consumer page5
- Publisher
- Progressive
- Period
- Policy years 2024 to 2025
- Geography
- Progressive-defined high-cost states (AK, CT, DE, DC, FL, GA, KY, LA, MD, MA, MI, NV, NJ, NY, RI, SC, VA)
- Driver
- One driver, one vehicle
- Coverage
- Liability only (six-month term)
- Limitations
- Progressive-specific book of business; not the market average and not directly comparable to full-coverage figures.
- Measurement
- Observed premium
What "average" actually means
Four different terms get used interchangeably in car-insurance coverage. They mean different things. Understanding the distinction is the single most useful thing you can carry away from this page.
Expenditure
What consumers actually spent
A regulator-collected figure showing insurer premiums earned per insured vehicle, mixed across drivers who buy minimum coverage and drivers who buy full coverage. NAIC publishes this annually. Not the same as your quote.
Modeled rate
A publisher's synthetic profile
A rate that a defined synthetic driver, vehicle, and coverage set produces from insurer rate filings, typically via a data-analytics firm like Quadrant Information Services. Comparable across insurers or states within one analysis. Not your quote.
Observed premium
What one insurer actually charges
A specific insurer's own-book average, aggregated across its policyholders in a defined slice (state tier, coverage type, term length). Progressive publishes this style of figure. Real, but insurer-specific.
Quote
What you will actually pay
The number a specific insurer offers a specific person for a specific vehicle, coverage, and effective date. The only figure that is truly yours. Get several before you buy.
Recent rate trend
Motor-vehicle-insurance inflation ran unusually hot through 2023 and 2024 before moderating. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index tracks year-over-year change in motor-vehicle-insurance prices4.
- +11.3%Dec 2024
- +11.8%Jan 2025
- +6.1%Jun 2025
- +2.8%Dec 2025
- +5.9%Feb 2026
The takeaway is not that rates always rise 10% a year. It is that renewal shocks were unusually common in 2023 to early 2025, and renewal-quote comparison shopping has become more valuable than usual during that period. NAIC's longer-term expenditure series shows a 19.24% cumulative increase from 2019 to 20231.
Cost patterns by state
State variance is one of the biggest drivers of a real quote. Below are the three highest-cost and three lowest-cost states by NAIC 2023 expenditure per insured vehicle. Deeper state-by-state detail lives on dedicated future state pages.
Provenance. NAIC 2022/2023 Auto Insurance Database Report (released February 13, 2026). Measurement: expenditure per insured vehicle. Geography: individual states. Not comparable to a modeled quote for a specific driver.1
| State | 2023 expenditure |
|---|---|
| Florida | $1,865 |
| Louisiana | $1,754 |
| New York | $1,753 |
Provenance. Same source and measurement as above.1
| State | 2023 expenditure |
|---|---|
| North Dakota | $692 |
| Maine | $704 |
| Iowa | $708 |
Full 50-state table (coming soon)
We are ingesting the NAIC 2022/2023 database report to publish the full 50-state table with per-state expenditure alongside a current-year modeled full-coverage figure from Quadrant. Until that dataset lands, dedicated state pages will begin publishing the deep per-state cost data with the same provenance treatment shown above. State page URLs are not linked from this page until each state's page is live.
Cost by age
Age is one of the largest single-factor drivers of premium. Publisher analyses in 2026 consistently show teens paying two to three times more than adults for the same profile. Adults typically reach their cheapest years in their 50s, before senior-driver surcharges begin re-appearing in the 70s. This page gives the national pattern; deeper age-specific pricing (young drivers, senior drivers) will move to dedicated pages.
Provenance. Directional pattern reported across NerdWallet April 2026 and other Tier-3 analyses that use Quadrant Information Services. Specific dollar figures are profile-dependent and will be published on dedicated age pages with full provenance.3
Cost by driving record
A single at-fault accident or DUI reshapes a quote. Directional patterns from Tier-3 analyses and same-methodology comparisons on our own GEICO vs Progressive page:
- Clean record is the baseline for most published national averages.
- One speeding ticket typically adds a moderate surcharge that fades over three to five years.
- One at-fault accident raises premium substantially and typically stays on rate for three to five years depending on state and carrier. For the surcharge pattern and the three-year carry, see car insurance cost after an accident.
- A DUI triggers the largest single-event surcharge; carrier choice matters enormously here and pricing varies dramatically between insurers. The DUI premium path and the SR-22 cost add-on live on car insurance cost after a DUI.
Specific after-event pricing figures for defined profiles will live on dedicated situation pages. This national hub establishes the pattern, not the personalized number.
Cost by credit tier (where legally applicable)
In most states, insurers may use a credit-based insurance score as one of many rate factors. Drivers with poor credit typically pay meaningfully more than drivers with excellent credit for otherwise identical profiles.
States where credit is prohibited or restricted for auto insurance: California, Hawaii, and Massachusetts fully prohibit the use of credit-based insurance scores in personal auto pricing. Michigan restricts but does not fully ban the practice. Washington has proposed legislation but has not fully banned use as of this review6. Other states vary in how they allow credit to be weighted.
Deep credit-tier pricing tables belong on a dedicated bad-credit page rather than this national hub. For the quantified cost delta by credit tier and the carriers that lean less on the credit factor, see car insurance cost by credit score.
What actually affects your premium
Progressive's consumer page lists 14 rate factors that shape an individual quote5. Not every carrier weighs every factor identically, and state law changes which factors can be used at all (see credit-tier note above).
- Age. Teen and senior drivers typically pay more than adults in their 30s to 50s.
- Location and ZIP code. Theft rates, weather exposure, medical costs, and litigation environment all vary geographically.
- Vehicle usage. Commuting, business use, or occasional pleasure driving.
- Driving record. Accidents, tickets, and claims history.
- Speeding and traffic tickets.
- At-fault accidents.
- Not-at-fault and single-car accidents. These count against you at some carriers and not others.
- Coverage selections. Liability limits, collision, comprehensive, med pay, PIP, uninsured motorist. See our comprehensive coverage guide. Deductible choice is the single easiest rating-lever; run numbers in the deductible calculator, and if your car is older, use the drop-full-coverage tool. The quantified effect is on how deductible affects premium and the common $500 vs $1,000 trade-off is on deductible: $500 vs $1,000.
- Vehicle type. Safety features, theft frequency, repair cost, and horsepower all matter.
- Marital status. Where legally permitted.
- Payment method. Paperless, autopay, and pay-in-full often earn discounts.
- Annual mileage.
- Credit-based insurance score. In the majority of states where legally permitted.
- Continuous insurance history. Coverage lapses raise rate at most carriers.
How to read our numbers
Evidence tiers
Tier 1 sources are regulators (NAIC, state DOIs, BLS) and insurer official documentation. Tier 2 are independent authoritative studies (J.D. Power, ACSI, AAA). Tier 3 are reputable publishers whose methodology is transparent enough that a reader can understand what the number means (NerdWallet, Bankrate, LendingTree, ValuePenguin, U.S. News, MoneyGeek, Insurify, The Zebra). Every figure on this page carries a measurement type (Expenditure, Modeled rate, Observed premium, Quote) and an inline citation.
Why we show more than one number
National expenditure and publisher modeled rates measure different things. A NAIC expenditure includes drivers with minimum-only policies; a publisher modeled full-coverage rate prices a specific synthetic profile with fixed coverage. Both are useful for orientation. Neither is your quote.
Update cadence
Publisher rate datasets refresh monthly. NAIC publishes its auto-insurance database annually. AM Best publishes rating actions continuously. BLS CPI reports monthly. We review this page at least semi-annually; the "Reviewed" date at the top reflects the last substantive review.
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Common questions
What is the average cost of car insurance in the U.S. right now?
It depends on which measurement you want. In the government- collected NAIC expenditure series, drivers spent $1,281 per insured vehicle in 20231. In 2026 publisher modeled analyses for a defined 35-year-old profile with a clean record and full coverage, the national range is roughly $2,000 to $2,600 per year3. Your quote depends on many things and will differ from both.
Why is my quote different from the "average"?
Published averages come from either a regulator dataset that mixes many coverage types and profiles together, or a publisher's synthetic profile that may not match yours. Your quote reflects your specific age, ZIP code, driving record, credit tier (where legally permitted), vehicle, coverages, and continuous-insurance history at one specific insurer.
Why did my rate go up so much in the last two years?
Motor-vehicle-insurance inflation was up 11.3% year-over-year in December 2024 and 11.8% in January 2025 per BLS CPI data, before moderating4. Industry drivers included higher repair costs, higher medical costs, more severe accidents, and higher used-car values (which raise total-loss payouts). By late 2025 the rate of increase slowed substantially.
Does my credit score really affect my rate?
In most states, yes. Insurers may use a credit-based insurance score as one of many rate factors. California, Hawaii, and Massachusetts fully prohibit the practice in personal auto pricing; Michigan restricts it6. Where credit is permitted, the difference between poor and excellent credit can be substantial.
Why is Florida so expensive?
Florida topped NAIC's 2023 state expenditure ranking at $1,865 per insured vehicle. Contributing factors typically include hurricane exposure, high uninsured-motorist rates, litigation environment, and vehicle-theft rates1.
How much cheaper is minimum coverage than full coverage?
Substantially cheaper, but the tradeoff is that minimum coverage does not pay to repair or replace your own vehicle after an accident, theft, or comprehensive event. See our comprehensive coverage guide for the decision math.
How often should I re-shop my policy?
At every renewal, particularly during periods of high rate inflation. Renewal quotes at your existing carrier can drift upward even when your risk profile has not changed. Compare two or three carriers before you commit to any renewal.
Do men pay more than women for car insurance?
In most states insurers can use gender as one rate factor, and younger male drivers historically pay more than younger female drivers for otherwise identical profiles. Several states restrict or prohibit gender-based rating. Where the impact matters for your decision, run a real quote.
Sources & methodology
- NAIC 2022/2023 Auto Insurance Database Report (released February 13, 2026; national combined premium $1,438, up 14.42% from 2022; expenditure $1,281 per insured vehicle, up 19.24% from 2019) (National Association of Insurance Commissioners)
- Insurance Information Institute: Facts + Statistics on Auto Insurance (III (Triple-I))
- NerdWallet: cost analyses using Quadrant Information Services (2026 rate pulls) (NerdWallet)
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Consumer Price Index, motor-vehicle insurance line item (year-over-year changes) (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
- Progressive: How Much Is Car Insurance? consumer page (own-book 2024 to 2025 rates by state tier) (Progressive)
- NAIC: Credit-Based Insurance Scores (state regulatory status) (National Association of Insurance Commissioners)
- YesWeSure: GEICO Car Insurance Review (YesWeSure)
- YesWeSure: GEICO vs Progressive Car Insurance (YesWeSure)
- YesWeSure: Best Car Insurance Companies (YesWeSure)
Every claim on this page traces to a source listed above. Every material dollar figure carries inline provenance covering source, publisher, publication period, driver profile, vehicle, coverage assumptions, deductible, geography, methodology limitations, and measurement type. Last reviewed .
Cost by shopping situation
The leaves below answer the most common cost-shopping questions with specifics the national hub does not resolve on its own.
- Cheapest minimum-coverage car insurance for shoppers at the state liability floor.
- Cheapest full-coverage car insurance for financed vehicles and lower-deductible full-coverage builds.
- Car insurance cost by credit score for the credit-tier delta and carriers that lean less on credit.
- Senior car insurance rates and the typical age-curve inflection after 65.
- Car insurance cost for an 18-year-old and for a 25-year-old for the under-25 to over-25 pricing step.
- 6-month vs 12-month policy term and when the longer term saves money.
- Car insurance cost for a Tesla and for rideshare drivers for the two profiles most often mispriced by stock quotes.