The average annual cost of car insurance among insurers in our cheapest car insurance companies rating is $2,068. However, car insurance costs are highly individualized, and your premiums will likely differ from those in our analysis. Insurers consider many factors when setting rates, such as your location, age, vehicle type, credit rating, and driving history.
Our study found that USAA has the cheapest average annual rate for car insurance at $1,335. Because USAA only sells policies to members of the military community and their families, most drivers will have to search elsewhere to find the most affordable average rates.
Erie has the second-cheapest sample rate we found, at $1,532 per year, and Auto-Owner’s has the third cheapest rate, $1,619, which is well below the national average. The highest sample rate we found is $3,374 per year, on average, from Allstate.
Average Annual Rates for Car Insurance
Here are the average annual auto insurance premiums for the 10 insurers in our rating of the cheapest car insurance companies.
What Factors Affect Car Insurance Rates?
Car insurance companies generally consider the following factors when determining the cost of your policy:
Your auto insurance rates also depend on the type of coverage, deductible, and limit you choose.
- Coverage: State minimum coverage is often the cheapest option, but you may need or choose to purchase additional coverage. For instance, if you finance or lease your vehicle, your lender or lessor will likely require that you add collision (pays to repair or replace your vehicle after a collision) and comprehensive coverage (pays to repair or replace your vehicle after a non-collision event like weather damage) to your policy.
- Deductible and limit: Selecting a higher deductible (how much you pay out of pocket before your insurance company will pay toward a claim) and lower limit (the max amount your insurer will pay out) typically lead to lower rates. But there are drawbacks. If you choose a higher deductible, you’ll need to pay more out of pocket when you file a claim. Similarly, lower limits mean claim-related expenses (such as repairs after an accident) may exceed the amount your insurer will cover. In this case you’d pay the difference out-of-pocket.
The Average Cost of Car Insurance in Your State
Car insurance rates are influenced by many factors, including where you live. Our state car insurance guides include the average car insurance cost for each state in the nation and the District of Columbia.
Keep in mind that these sample rates are meant to provide a general idea of what you can expect but may not reflect what you actually pay for car insurance. The best way to find out how much you’ll pay for car insurance is to compare quotes from multiple insurers. Shopping around can help you find an affordable policy that suits your needs.
Average Car Insurance Rates for Good Drivers
Some of the lowest rates in our study are for motorists with a clean driving record. The national average rate for good drivers is $2,068 per year.
USAA has the cheapest sample rate in this category, 35% below the national average. Those who don’t qualify for USAA membership might want to explore policy options with Erie, which has an average annual rate 26% cheaper than the average.
Auto-Owners, with a rate about 22% below the national average, has the third-cheapest sample cost for drivers with a clean record.
Average Car Insurance Rates for Drivers With One Speeding Ticket
Even a single speeding ticket can raise car insurance rates significantly. Our analysis found that drivers with a single speeding ticket pay, on average, $2,503 annually for a policy.
But how much you’ll pay after a ticket also depends heavily on your insurer. USAA’s sample rate for drivers with a speeding ticket is the cheapest in our study, beating the national average by 35%. Erie and Auto-Owners have the next-cheapest average annual rates, at 30% and 23% below the national average, respectively.
Average Car Insurance Rates for Drivers With One Accident
Shopping around and comparing quotes can be especially important after an accident. Our study determined that the average annual cost of car insurance increases to $2,940 after one accident.
It’s likely that your rates will increase regardless of your insurer, but the cost of car insurance after an accident varies widely by company.
Other than USAA, which has a sample rate 35% below the national average, the cheapest sample rate in our study belongs to Erie, at 33% below the national average. Auto-Owners, with an average annual rate 24% lower than average, had the third-cheapest post-accident rate in our analysis.
Average Car Insurance Rates for Drivers With One DUI
The national average rate for drivers after a DUI is $3,538 per year, according to our car insurance rate analysis. That’s $1,478 more per year than the average annual rate for a motorist with a clean driving record. That difference helps illustrate how much a DUI can impact what you pay for car insurance.
But insurers charge different rates. Progressive has the cheapest sample rates for motorists after a DUI. Its premiums are 35% below the national average for drivers with a DUI on their record.
USAA and Erie also offer competitive premiums, with sample costs approximately 28% below the national average.
Average Car Insurance Rates for Drivers With Poor Credit
The average cost of a policy for a driver with poor credit is $4,381 per year, compared to $2,095 per year for a driver with good credit – a difference of $2,286.
Nationwide’s sample rates are the lowest for drivers with poor credit: 48% below the national average. Other drivers in this category may find the most affordable premiums with USAA and Geico, which have sample rates 42% and 32%, respectively, below the national average.
Average Car Insurance Rates for Teen Drivers
Average annual rates to insure teen drivers are some of the highest sample costs in our study: $6,410 per year, on average, for females and $7,377 per year for males. Why the high sample premiums for this group of drivers? Because they have higher accident rates making them riskier to insure.
Erie’s average annual rate for female teen drivers is 54% cheaper than the national average for female teen drivers and 59% cheaper than the national average for male teen drivers. USAA and Auto-Owners offer competitive rates as well.
Average Car Insurance Rates for Young Adult Drivers
Car insurance premiums typically decrease for drivers as they move past their teens and early 20s. The average annual rates for 25-year-old drivers are $2,387 for females and $2,526 for males.
The cheapest sample rates in our study for young adults are USAA’s. Its average annual premiums for both female and male young adults are about 33% below the national average.
For young adult drivers outside of the military community, Nationwide and Geico also offer rates well below the national average. Geico’s sample rates are 20% below the national average for females, and 22% for males. Nationwide is 21% and 20% cheaper than average, respectively, for female and male drivers.
Methodology – How We Collected Our Car Insurance Rates
To get comparative insurance rates for this study, U.S. News worked with Quadrant Information Services to analyze a report of insurance rates in all 50 states from most of the largest national car insurance companies, though not every company operates in every state. Quadrant obtained publicly available rate data that car insurers file with state regulators.
Our study rates are based on profiles for male and female drivers aged 17, 25, 35 and 60. Vehicles used include the 2018 and 2023 Honda Civic, 2018 and 2023 Toyota RAV4, and 2018 and 2023 Ford F-150, with annual mileages of 6,000 and 12,000 for each one.
Three car insurance coverage levels were used, as were credit tiers of good, fair, and poor. Clean driving records, as well as records with one accident, one speeding violation, or one DUI, were also used in the calculations of certain driver archetypes. To get the average annual rate used in our study, we computed the mean rate for male and female drivers 25, 35, and 60 years old who drive 12,000 miles per year, have medium coverage, good credit, and a clean driving record.
The rates in our study should not be considered “average” rates available by individual insurers. They are for comparative purposes only. Because car insurance rates are based on individual factors, your car insurance rates will differ.
