Resource Center Research

Women now pay more than men for car insurance in only 4 states

This is a reversal from recent years when women paid more in half of all states

By Susan Meyer

Updated April 1, 2025

Reviewed By Beth Swanson

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Men Pay More In Most States
Why do men pay more?
Why is insurance getting cheaper for women?
Is gender still relevant?

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Insurance rates and gender

Gender as a rating factor in car insurance has a long and varied history. Many people don't even realize that gender plays a role in how much they pay for car insurance at all.

Historically, the difference in pay between men and women is a fairly small percentage of the total, so it often goes unremarked. For example, the current averages are $2,184 for men and $2,151 for the annual premium. That works out to men paying only $33 more for the year or about 1.5% more.

That said, the difference varies significantly based on where you live, and it also changes: Back in 2018, when we looked at the data, we found that women paid more than men in half of U.S. states. The number of states where women paid more has doubled since 2016. Now, we seem to be seeing the reverse.

Government regulators have generally accepted gender-based pricing because insurers have been able to show risk correlated with gender. For example, male teen drivers are statistically far more likely to crash and file claims than female teens, so they should have to pay more for insurance. That said, considering gender as a rating factor is outlawed in seven states: California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

Let's dive into how gender as a rating factor varies across the country and some of the things that impact it.

Key Findings

1. Men pay more than women for car insurance in 38 states. 7 states don't consider gender as a rating factor. In one state, both genders pay the same. In the remaining 4 states and in Washington DC, women pay more on average for car insurance.

2. The amount of difference paid also varies significantly from state to state from as little as a $1 difference to a nearly 5% increase.

3. Studies show that men exhibit riskier driving behavior, and they’re more likely to be involved in fatal crashes.

Men Now Pay More Than Women in the Majority of States

Back in 2018, when we did another deep dive analysis, women paid an average of $10 more nationally for car insurance. Now, in 2025, they pay about $33 dollars less.

However, as explained above, this makes a big difference based on where you live. Below, you can see what men and women pay on average for a 6-month policy in each state.

Amount paid for a 6-month policy by gender

State	Men	Women	Percent Difference	Greater for Men or Women?
Alabama	$979	$954	2.68%	Men
Alaska	$1,058	$1,043	1.40%	Men
Arizona	$1,177	$1,149	2.40%	Men
Arkansas	$1,205	$1,187	1.55%	Men
California	$1,097	$1,097	0.00%	Not a Rating Factor
Colorado	$1,341	$1,305	2.75%	Men
Connecticut	$1,223	$1,198	2.08%	Men
Delaware	$1,284	$1,280	0.36%	Men
Florida	$1,843	$1,885	2.21%	Women
Georgia	$1,280	$1,253	2.12%	Men
Hawaii	$806	$806	0.00%	Not a Rating Factor
Idaho	$732	$701	4.45%	Men
Illinois	$988	$960	2.95%	Men
Indiana	$828	$804	2.88%	Men
Iowa	$844	$836	0.87%	Men
Kansas	$1,172	$1,137	3.14%	Men
Kentucky	$1,465	$1,434	2.15%	Men
Louisiana	$1,651	$1,627	1.47%	Men
Maine	$767	$738	3.99%	Men
Maryland	$1,213	$1,187	2.19%	Men
Massachusetts	$800	$800	0.00%	Not a Rating Factor
Michigan	$1,237	$1,236	0.04%	Men
Minnesota	$1,031	$1,031	0.00%	No Difference
Mississippi	$1,066	$1,034	3.02%	Men
Missouri	$1,612	$1,542	4.53%	Men
Montana	$1,108	$1,108	0.00%	Not a Rating Factor
Nebraska	$1,025	$992	3.27%	Men
Nevada	$1,365	$1,346	1.42%	Men
New Hampshire	$711	$691	2.93%	Men
New Jersey	$1,169	$1,165	0.39%	Men
New Mexico	$1,015	$999	1.63%	Men
New York	$1,263	$1,281	1.45%	Women
North Carolina	$766	$766	0.00%	Not a Rating Factor
North Dakota	$1,042	$1,013	2.90%	Men
Ohio	$739	$722	2.35%	Men
Oklahoma	$1,173	$1,200	2.29%	Women
Oregon	$938	$944	0.57%	Women
Pennsylvania	$1,134	$1,134	0.00%	Not a Rating Factor
Rhode Island	$1,321	$1,286	2.66%	Men
South Carolina	$1,208	$1,174	2.92%	Men
South Dakota	$1,001	$981	2.12%	Men
Tennessee	$998	$969	3.04%	Men
Texas	$1,291	$1,232	4.77%	Men
Utah	$1,107	$1,094	1.19%	Men
Vermont	$652	$636	2.44%	Men
Virginia	$947	$930	1.90%	Men
Washington	$1,079	$1,073	0.52%	Men
Washington, D.C.	$1,356	$1,357	0.04%	Women
West Virginia	$1,037	$1,034	0.29%	Men
Wisconsin	$855	$831	2.97%	Men
Wyoming	$804	$769	4.56%	Men

As you can see, there's a big range in both what people pay by state and what the differences by gender are. Here are some key points to highlight:

The states with the highest difference between what men and women pay on average are Idaho, Missouri, Texas, and Wyoming, which all have an increase of 4 - 5% for men. This amounts to an annual increase of between $59 and $140.
Across all states where men pay more than women, the average difference is 2.34%
In the four states and Washington DC where women pay more than men — Florida, New York, Oklahoma and Oregon — the difference is fairly small, between .04 - 2%.

Why do some states not use gender as a rating factor?

The states that have outlawed insurance companies from considering gender as a rating factor have mostly prohibited other personal rating factors besides gender, including age, credit history, education, occupation, employment status, etc. Lawmakers in these states have decided it is unfair for insurance companies to charge some drivers more due to personal characteristics. States favoring these more restrictive regulations believe drivers' car insurance costs primarily reflect their driving and claims history.

Men Exhibit Riskier Driving Behavior

The fact that men pay more than women for auto insurance in many ways makes sense from the data. Insurance companies use a variety of factors to determine how likely a driver is to file a claim, and gender is one of them — at least in states where gender can legally be considered.

This is because historical data shows that men, particularly young men, tend to be involved in more accidents, drive more aggressively and file more costly claims than women. As a result, insurers often view male drivers as higher risk, especially in the teen and young adult age brackets. According to IIHS, “Men typically drive more miles than women and more often engage in risky driving practices including not using safety belts, driving while impaired by alcohol, and speeding. Crashes involving male drivers often are more severe than those involving female drivers.”^[1]

A closer look at the numbers shows:

–For nearly every year from 1975 to 2022, the number of male crash deaths was more than twice the number of female crash deaths, according to IIHS.^[1]

– In terms of distracted driving, previously, women were actually more likely to engage in phone use while driving. Still, as of 2022 (the last year for which data is available), men and women use cell phones while driving at approximately the same rate. That said, men are still more likely than women to die in car accidents where distracted driving is a factor. ^[2]

– In 2022, alcohol-impaired drivers were involved in one-third of all fatal car crashes — and most of those drivers were men. According to NHTSA, there were three male alcohol-impaired drivers involved in fatal crashes for every female alcohol-impaired driver (44,359 versus 15,260).^[3]

What's interesting here is that these numbers have not dramatically changed. Men, and particularly male teenagers, consistently have shown increased risk for insurance companies. Yet, previously, women were paid more than men in half of all states.

The current numbers with women paying less in the vast majority of states are more in line with what we would expect a rating factor to show: those who present a lower risk to insurers do see some savings.

Why Is Insurance Getting Cheaper for Women? Why Now?

So if women have always demonstrated a lower risk than male drivers, why haven't they always historically paid less? There has been substantial investigation into this topic by many state insurance regulators with unclear answers. This is in part why some states have outlawed gender being considered as a rating factor all together.

Another possible contributor to this market correction is credit scores. As mentioned above, personal rating factors aren’t looked at independently, but are combined as a whole when considering the amount a person will pay for car insurance. Credit score is another rating factor that has an impact on car
insurance rates where the difference between a poor credit score and an excellent one can change your auto insurance rates by as much as 114%. Back in 2018, men’s credit scores were on average about 10 points higher than women’s, whereas today they are nearly identical.^[5] This change in credit score then might be a contributing factor to women now paying less. Of course, it’s impossible to look
at credit and gender as independent rating factors because the states that outlaw gender from being considered in determining insurance pricing, also outlaw credit

Is Gender Still Relevant in Car Insurance Pricing?

While the majority of states still allow price differences between men’s and women’s car insurance, the practice has become increasingly controversial.

Who’s for it?

Car insurance companies have generally argued in favor of keeping gender as a rating factor because, they say, it helps them more accurately price risk.

Insurers consider gender in combination with many other risk factors (like what kind of car you drive and your years of driving experience) when pricing insurance. When states prohibit rating factors like gender, it doesn’t mean the extra cost insurers charge certain groups disappears. It just gets distributed differently.

In California, for example, Department of Insurance analysis shows that eliminating gender could give the riskiest group — young male drivers with fewer than three years of driving experience — a 5 percent break on their insurance costs while less-risky young female drivers could end up paying more.

Who’s against it?

Consumer advocates, however, have become increasingly vocal about the cost disparities highlighted in this report and by previous consumer studies. They argue that if gender were strongly tied to how likely men and women are to file a claim, we’d see more consistency across insurers and locations. They say that wildly varying rates are unfair and that it’s time for men and women to pay the same.

Consumers concerned about the impact of their gender on their car insurance costs can shop around for an insurance company that doesn’t consider gender when setting rates — or one that rates their gender more favorably.

Industry trade groups have disputed previous consumer studies showing that women are charged more than men, but they have not shared alternate data or explained why female drivers may see higher prices in some states.^[4]

Want to learn more?

Check out our guide to Male vs Female Car Insurance rates for more detailed breakdown as well as tips and tricks for saving money.

Methodology

Data for over 32 million car insurance rates was used to examine how gender impacts insurance pricing nationwide.

The auto insurance rates displayed throughout this page come from The Zebra’s Dynamic Insurance Rating Tool. This proprietary insurance premium estimator uses the most recent rate filings across the United States at the ZIP code level to provide the most recent and up-to-date rate data. This data comes from Quadrant Information Services, which sources the most recent and approved rate filings across insurance companies in every state from S&P Global.

Rates are based on a sample driver profile — a 30-year-old single male driver or a 30-year-old female driver with a Honda Accord and full coverage at these levels:

$50,000 per person/$100,000 per incident for bodily injury liability
$50,000 per incident for property damage liability
$500 deductibles for collision and comprehensive coverage

Sources

Gender and driving behavior. [IIHS]
Distracted driving. [NSC]
Crash stats 2022. [NHTSA]
What? Women Pay More Than Men for Auto Insurance? (Yup.) Stateline
Credit card age, race, gender and income statistics. [Credit Cards.com]

Jump to

Men Pay More In Most States
Why do men pay more?
Why is insurance getting cheaper for women?
Is gender still relevant?

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