Car insurance cost by state

How to read an average, and how not to

NAIC's figure is an average expenditure: total premiums written in the state divided by the number of insured vehicles, covering every driver, every vehicle, every coverage level and every deductible in that state. It is a description of what people actually paid, not a quote, and it is not what any one person should expect to pay.

That distinction matters more for auto than for almost any other line of insurance, because auto premium is priced per driver at a level of detail home insurance never reaches. Two households on the same street, in the same state, insuring cars of similar value, can be three times apart on premium because of a single at-fault accident, a lapse in coverage, or a teenage driver added to a policy that had been clean for a decade.

So use the state number for one thing only: to establish whether a premium of a given size is plausible where you live. If you are paying roughly the state average and you have average circumstances, your bill is probably ordinary. If you are paying double the state average and you cannot point to the reason on your own record, that is the case worth auditing — and that is what the premium checklist is for.

The ten most expensive states, in order

These are the only jurisdictions for which NAIC publishes a dollar figure. The ordering below follows NAIC's own published figure.

Three of the top four are states with a strong no-fault or hybrid system or a dense, expensive metropolitan claims environment — Louisiana, Michigan and New York are all states where the policy pays medical costs regardless of fault, or where personal-injury litigation is a structural cost of the system rather than an exception. Florida and Georgia sit closer to the middle of that group and are driven more by attorney involvement and repair costs than by the fault regime.

The ten least expensive states, in order

The mirror image, same source, same vintage.

The cheap end of the table is remarkably consistent in composition: low population density, low litigation rates, modest repair costs, and in several cases a state-run or state-adjacent residual market that puts downward pressure on the voluntary market. Maine and North Dakota are the two cheapest jurisdictions in the country and also two of the least dense — that is not a coincidence.

What the table does not tell you is anything about the twenty-one states in the middle. NAIC publishes dollar figures for the ten cheapest and ten most expensive jurisdictions only, and this site does not invent numbers for the rest. A state outside both lists is one where the average sits at or near the national pattern, and nothing more precise than that can be said honestly from this source.

Auto versus home: the two numbers behave differently

The same regulator data covers homeowners insurance, and the contrast is worth understanding before you shop for either.

Auto premium is largely a statement about you. Homeowners premium is largely a statement about the building and where it stands. That is why re-shopping auto every renewal is worth real money, while re-shopping homeowners is worth less per hour of effort but more in absolute dollars when it does pay. The home insurance ranking applies the same method to the other line.

What to do in the ninety days after you move

Auto is one of the few products where a change of address can change the price of the same policy with the same carrier, sometimes by a third. Several things happen at once: your garaging address changes, your territory rating changes, and if you cross a state line your required minimums change with it.

In practice, in the first ninety days after a move: tell the carrier the day you move, not the day the renewal arrives; confirm in writing that the garaging address on the policy matches the address on your registration; check whether the new state requires coverage you did not carry before; and ask for the new rate before you cancel anything. A lapse of even one day between policies is rated far more harshly than a continuous policy that costs slightly more.

If you are moving into one of the states in the top ten above, budget for the increase rather than assume the current premium will travel with you. The state average is the fastest way to know what you are walking into.

Common questions

Is the state average what I should be paying? Only if your circumstances are average, which most people's are not in the ways that matter. The figure is useful as a sanity check on whether your premium is ordinary or exceptional for the state.

Why is my premium above the average in a cheap state? Usually one of four things: an at-fault accident or a claim inside the rating period, a lapse in prior coverage, a newer or more expensive vehicle, or a young driver on the policy. Any of those will move a premium far more than the state line will.

Does shopping around really change anything? For auto, yes — more than for most lines. Carriers weight the same driver very differently, and a driver who is expensive for one carrier is often ordinary for another. The checklist covers the order to do it in.

Can you quote me a price? No. We are a publisher, not an insurer, agent or broker, and we do not sell or bind policies. If you want prices, we pass your details to licensed agents in your state and they quote you directly, which is also how this site is paid for.

Keep reading

If you already know where your state sits, the next question is usually why the number moved, or what to do about it. Three pages answer that directly: why car insurance premiums went up explains the market side — what insurers filed and why — as opposed to anything in your own record; the premium checklist sets out the levers in the order that actually moves a bill; and how to read a renewal notice tells you, line by line, what your carrier is really saying when the number changes.

If you would rather have the four numbers on your declarations page checked against the sourced average for your state, the renewal review is free and does not require a quote request.

Who we are, and how this site is paid for

We are not an insurer, an agent or a broker, and we do not sell insurance. When you ask for quotes, we pass your details to licensed insurance agents and agencies who may contact you by phone, email or text. That is how this site is paid for, and we would rather say it plainly than bury it.

The averages on this site come from public regulator data and are free to read whether or not you ever request a quote. We never ask for your Social Security number, date of birth, card details or your insurer's login, and if you never ask for quotes your details are never passed to anyone.