The average car insurance policy costs $60 per month, or $720 per year, according to WalletHub data. Average car insurance costs are rising overall, having increased by about 27% just from 2008 to 2017, largely due to natural disasters, a rise in distracted driving, higher car repair costs, and population growth in major cities.
The cost of the average car insurance policy is important because it’s a good indication of how much a driver should expect to pay for coverage. Each driver’s car insurance rates could differ significantly from the mean, however, depending on factors such as their driving record, age, car type, and credit history. Insurance companies use these characteristics to determine a driver’s risk of filing a claim. The higher the risk, the more the driver pays for coverage. Other notable factors that affect premiums are the amount of coverage that a driver purchases, where they live, and their annual mileage.
Average Car Insurance Cost by Category
- Minimum Coverage: $716 per year
- Full Coverage: $1,997 per year
- Drivers with a Violation: $903 per year
- Young Drivers: $2,415 per year
- Senior Drivers: $734 per year
Even though car insurance premiums are calculated on an individual basis, there are certain types of drivers who tend to pay more for coverage on average. For example, car insurance is particularly expensive for young drivers, and the cost of car insurance gradually goes down until age 65. Additionally, drivers with moving violations on their record pay more for insurance than good drivers. Certain types of cars, specifically sports cars, also drive up rates, and even having poor credit could cause you to pay more for insurance.
Average Car Insurance Cost by State
| State | Average Annual Premium |
|---|---|
| Alabama | $697 |
| Alaska | $543 |
| Arizona | $661 |
| Arkansas | $631 |
| California | $844 |
| Colorado | $725 |
| Connecticut | $1,027 |
| Delaware | $1,133 |
| Florida | $814 |
| Georgia | $1,095 |
| Hawaii | $501 |
| Idaho | $394 |
| Illinois | $662 |
| Indiana | $481 |
| Iowa | $326 |
| Kansas | $558 |
| Kentucky | $931 |
| Louisiana | $1,263 |
| Maine | $456 |
| Maryland | $1,069 |
| Massachusetts | $565 |
| Michigan | $1,908 |
| Minnesota | $758 |
| Mississippi | $578 |
| Missouri | $587 |
| Montana | $446 |
| Nebraska | $427 |
| Nevada | $1,108 |
| New Hampshire | $438 |
| New Jersey | $1,287 |
| New Mexico | $555 |
| New York | $1,828 |
| North Carolina | $477 |
| North Dakota | $370 |
| Ohio | $414 |
| Oklahoma | $643 |
| Oregon | $789 |
| Pennsylvania | $501 |
| Rhode Island | $887 |
| South Carolina | $817 |
| South Dakota | $326 |
| Tennessee | $498 |
| Texas | $780 |
| Utah | $750 |
| Vermont | $341 |
| Virginia | $931 |
| Washington | $714 |
| West Virginia | $568 |
| Wisconsin | $418 |
| Wyoming | $274 |
Average Car Insurance Cost by Violation
| Violation | Premium Increase |
|---|---|
| Speeding Over 20 mph | 19% |
| Reckless Driving | 41% |
| Driving With a Suspended License | 43% |
| DUI | 48% |
Drivers almost always pay more for auto insurance after a moving violation. The exact amount that your rates will go up depends mostly on your state and the specific infraction, but in some states your premium can rise to more than double the rate that a safe driver would pay.
You can check your driving record to see how many infractions and points you have on your license, and if you practice good habits behind the wheel, your rates will eventually go back down. It usually takes 3-5 years to improve your driving record for insurance purposes after a moving violation.
Average Car Insurance Cost by Age
| Age | Average Annual Premium |
|---|---|
| 16 years old | $7,001 |
| 25 years old | $1,768 |
| 45 years old | $1,490 |
| 65 years old | $1,424 |
Your age can affect your car insurance rates because younger drivers with less experience on the road tend to have more accidents than older, mature drivers. As a result, they also pay more for car insurance.
Premiums usually drop by 12% to 20% when a driver turns 25 years old. After that, the average driver’s rate will gradually decrease over time until they reach their seventies. At that point, costs rise once again due to the increased risk posed by senior drivers.
Average Car Insurance Cost by Car Type
| Type of Car | Average Annual Premium |
|---|---|
| Sport | $3,058 |
| Truck | $2,804 |
| Sedan | $2,734 |
| Crossover/SUV | $2,474 |
The most expensive type of car to insure is a sports car, followed by a truck. In general, the faster a car can go or the more expensive it is to repair or replace, the more its insurance will cost.
Drivers tend to assume that if a car is more expensive, it automatically costs more to insure than a cheaper car. However, this is not always the case. WalletHub’s analysis found that only 22% of the difference in insurance premiums for cars in the same category can be attributed to the cost of the car. The remaining 78% depends on other factors such as the car’s body type, make, and age, which affect how much damage a car can cause and how much it costs to repair.
Average Car Insurance Cost by Credit Score
Drivers with no credit pay about 67% more for car insurance than drivers with excellent credit, according to WalletHub’s analysis. Credit has a bigger impact in some states than others, though.
Credit data has the biggest impact on car insurance premiums in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. On the other hand, Hawaii, California, and Massachusetts do not allow insurance companies to consider credit when calculating premiums. And in some states, like Washington, insurers cannot deny a customer or cancel a policy based solely on credit.
Insurance companies consider drivers’ credit history because it is generally correlated with their likelihood of filing an insurance claim. They do not directly use credit scores when calculating the cost of premiums, however. They do use the same underlying information, though: your credit report.
