Average Car Insurance Cost 2026: By State, Age and Coverage

In our calculator's estimate, full coverage for a 35-year-old with a clean record, good credit and a mid-size sedan comes to about $2,700 a year, or $225 a month, at typical U.S. prices. The same driver with only state-minimum liability comes to about $720 a year ($60 a month). Most large 2026 price studies put the national full-coverage average between about $2,240 and $2,700 a year, depending on the driver and policy each one prices.

How much is car insurance per month?

Our baseline is one specific driver: 35 years old, single, renting, living in a suburb, with a clean record, good credit, a 3- to 5-year-old mid-size sedan and 12,000 miles a year. Full coverage here means 100/300/100 liability with matching uninsured motorist coverage, plus comprehensive and collision with $500 deductibles, with no discounts applied.

For that driver, our model estimates:

• Full coverage: $225 a month ($2,700 a year), with an estimated range of $193 to $257 a month. About $73 of the monthly figure is liability, $11 is uninsured motorist coverage, $99 is collision and $42 is comprehensive.
• State-minimum liability only: $60 a month ($720 a year), with an estimated range of $52 to $68. This leaves out uninsured motorist coverage wherever a state doesn't require it.

We show a range because companies price the same driver differently and use details a calculator never asks for. If you live in a city, have a ticket on your record or, in most states, are under 35, your estimate will come out higher.

Average car insurance cost: what 2026 studies show

Each publisher priced a different driver, so read the "who" column before comparing the dollars.

Our model doesn't copy any single study. It compares each state with the typical (median) state in six or seven published sources and uses the middle result. The dollar level is what our baseline driver would pay in that typical state, built from the same studies after adjusting for their deductibles, discounts and driver ages.

Why the published averages don't match

Different drivers and coverage

Bankrate priced a 40-year-old, NerdWallet a 35-year-old and ValuePenguin a 30-year-old man. "Full coverage" isn't a legal term either: ValuePenguin and The Zebra use 50/100/50 liability, Bankrate and NerdWallet use 100/300/50, and deductibles are $500 or $1,000. In our model, a $1,000 deductible alone lowers the baseline estimate by about $291 a year.

Discounts and math

Bankrate's figures include bundling and paperless discounts. NerdWallet reports medians (the middle price) rather than simple averages, which a few very high prices can pull upward.

Quotes versus premiums actually paid

The NAIC counts the premiums insurers actually wrote in 2024 across all insured cars, at whatever limits and deductibles people chose. Its average for a policy with liability, collision and comprehensive was $1,612.81, and average spending per insured vehicle was $1,431.63, both well below the quote-based studies.

State figures disagree even more

For California, Bankrate's June 2026 table shows $3,119 a year for full coverage, NerdWallet's November 2026 table shows $1,884 and The Zebra's 2025-edition state table (archived copy) shows $2,220. Same state, three different drivers and policies.

Is car insurance getting more expensive?

It did, sharply, from 2021 to 2025, then eased in 2026. The Bureau of Labor Statistics price index for motor vehicle insurance rose about 58% between its 2021 and 2025 annual averages.

The index hit its highest published level in February 2026, and by September 2026 it was about 5.7% below that peak. NAIC data shows the same climb from another angle: average spending per insured vehicle rose 11.7% from 2023 to 2024. A falling index won't necessarily mean a lower renewal for you, because your own record, car and address still drive the bill.

Average cost of car insurance by age

Age moves the estimate more than any other single factor in our model. These figures keep everything else at the baseline: clean record, good credit, full coverage and the driver's own policy.

In our model, estimates are lowest around 55 to 65 and rise again after that. Those are typical U.S. figures, and a few states work differently: Hawaii doesn't let insurers price by age, and in California, Massachusetts and North Carolina, where insurers price by years licensed instead, age no longer adds to our estimate from 25 on. Teen figures assume the teen has a separate policy, and joining a parent's policy usually costs less: a 2026 Insurance.com analysis of eight insurers found adding a teen driver to a two-adult policy cost about $3,859 a year on average, against $8,408 for a teen's own policy. More detail is in our guides to car insurance for young drivers and car insurance for seniors.

Average cost by coverage level

Here is how coverage choices change the estimate for the same baseline driver.

Going from state minimum to full coverage more than triples the estimate, mostly because collision and comprehensive pay to fix or replace your own car. Higher liability limits cost relatively little: 250/500/250 adds about $150 a year over 100/300/100. The Zebra's 2026 report (archived copy) shows a smaller but still wide gap, with state-minimum liability at $784 a year against $2,276 for 100/300/100 with $500 deductibles.

To choose your own mix, see full coverage vs. liability and how to pick a car insurance deductible. Or skip the averages: change the age, car or coverage below and watch the estimate update.

How car insurance costs vary by state

For the same baseline driver, our full-coverage estimates run from $1,734 a year in Vermont to $4,387 in Louisiana. These are the highest and lowest state estimates in our model, not a promise of what any company will charge you.

For state-minimum coverage, our highest estimates are New Jersey ($130 a month), Louisiana ($114) and Delaware ($113), and the lowest are Wyoming ($26), Vermont ($35), and Iowa and South Dakota ($36 each). Legal minimums differ a lot from state to state, which is part of the reason; our guide to minimum car insurance by state lists them.

Published data orders the states differently. NAIC figures for 2024 on average spending per insured vehicle put Florida ($2,017.97), New York ($1,980.93) and Louisiana ($1,880.42) highest, and North Dakota ($907.25), Maine ($934.54) and Hawaii ($934.69) lowest. The NAIC itself warns against reading too much into state comparisons, because its figures don't adjust for drivers, cars, coverage choices or state laws.

Here is our estimate for the baseline driver in every state, highest first. Select a state for its rules and more estimates.

Common questions

How much does car insurance cost for one person?

It depends most on age and driving record. For our 35-year-old baseline driver, our model estimates about $225 a month for full coverage and $60 for state-minimum liability. A 20-year-old with the same profile comes to about $450 a month for full coverage, and a 65-year-old about $205.

Which states have the lowest car insurance costs?

No list can tell you where you personally will pay the least, because each company prices drivers its own way. For our baseline driver, the lowest full-coverage estimates are Vermont ($144 a month), New Hampshire ($150) and Idaho ($151). In the NAIC's 2024 data on actual spending per insured vehicle, North Dakota, Maine and Hawaii were lowest.

Why is my quote higher than the average?

Most published averages describe an adult with a clean record and good credit. In our model, being under 25, a ticket or accident, weaker credit where insurers can use it, a city address or a sports car can each add hundreds or even thousands of dollars a year. Our guide to why car insurance gets so expensive covers each one.

Is it cheaper to pay for car insurance yearly?

It can be. Some insurers discount paying the full term upfront, and paying in full can also avoid installment fees. In our model, a pay-in-full discount lowers the baseline estimate by about $243 a year.