2019

The State of Auto Insurance

What does car insurance cost Americans today? The Zebra explores the latest data, what trends are impacting rates, and which drivers pay the most.

Down

…is how much the average American is paying this year for car insurance coverage. This varies based on where you live, what car you drive, how you drive, and who you are.

What do Americans
pay for car insurance
in 2019?

Car insurance rates across the U.S. are higher than ever before, with an average annual premium of $1,470. Rates are 23% higher than in 2011, and they’ve risen consistently every year since 2013. Over the years, 15 states’ rates have increased 40% or more, and some as much as 80%.

Premium Ranges

  • $900–$1,300
  • $1,301–$1,700
  • $1,701–$2,100
  • $2,101–$2,500
  • $2,500 +
Map of insurance rates across the U.S per state Map of insurance rates across the U.S per state

Premium Ranges

  • $900–$1,300
  • $1,301–$1,700
  • $1,701–$2,100
  • $2,101–$2,500
  • $2,500 +

Where are car
insurance rates
rising or falling?

In the past year, car insurance rates have risen across 41 states (including Washington, DC), and gone down in just 10 states. Colorado saw the highest year-over-year rate increase of 19%, and Montana saw the greatest decrease of 21%.

Rate Changes

  • Increased year-over-year
  • Decreased year-over-year
Map of insurance rate changes year-over-year

Rate Changes

  • Increased year-over-year
  • Decreased year-over-year

What does it cost to insure America’s favorite cars?

#1

Ford F-Series

$1,516/yr (3.95% of MSRP)
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#2

Chevy Silverado

$1,532/yr (3.62% of MSRP)
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#3

Ram-1500

$1,787/yr (3.34% of MSRP)
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#4

Toyota Rav4

$1,556/yr (6.05% of MSRP)
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#5

Nissan Rogue

$1,546/yr (5.98% of MSRP)
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#6

Toyota Camry

$1,692/yr (6.89% of MSRP)
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#7

Honda CR-V

$1,509/yr (5.98% of MSRP)
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#8

Honda Civic

$1,801/yr (9.08% of MSRP)
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#9

Toyota Corolla

$1,724/yr (8.83% of MSRP)
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#10

Honda Accord

$1,624/yr (6.64% of MSRP)
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*Using 2018 models for 10 most popular vehicles in the U.S. by annual sales. Most/least expensive to insure calculated by premium as percent of MSRP. See full report for all vehicle rates.

Most expensive brand:

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Mitsubishi

avg. 8% of MSRP

Least expensive brand:

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Volvo

avg. 4% of MSRP

How much does a ticket raise your insurance rates?

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DUI

$1,086
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At-fault collision

$617
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Speeding

$341
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Texting while driving

$290
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Not wearing seatbelt

$59
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Did you know?

Most driving violations will continue to affect your rates for three years after the occurrence.

Did you know your
marital status
gender
age
credit
education
job
residence
Uber driving
affects your car insurance?

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Getting married can save you up to 15% on car insurance in some states, though national savings average 6%.

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Though men and women technically pay different car insurance rates in most states, the difference is less than 1% nationally, and at most 6% by state. However, whereas men paid slightly higher rates than women as of 2016, women pay slightly more in recent years.

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Age has a significant impact on car insurance, with people in their 50s and 60s paying the lowest premiums and teens paying the highest premiums. In fact, adding a teen driver to their policy doubles a parent’s car insurance rates.

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In nearly every state, credit has a significant impact on auto insurance rates. Improving your credit score by several tiers could lower your rates nearly 70%.

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On average, drivers save 1% upon earning a high school diploma or GED, 2% for a bachelor’s degree, and 3% for a Masters or PhD.

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In some states, your job will affect your car insurance rates. For example, engineers and lawyers pay an average of 3% less than civil servants or people who are unemployed.

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Nationally, renters pay 2% more for car insurance than homeowners or condo owners (or up to 10% more in some states).

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If you drive for a rideshare company like Uber or Lyft, you’ll need special coverage added to your policy. This adds about 13% to your premium.

*Certain states do not factor non-driving information such as credit score, level of education, and whether drivers rent or own their homes into insurance rates. See full report for more.

Pro Tips: How Can You Save on Car Insurance?

Save 17%

Increase your credit
score by one tier

Save 12%

Buy a used car (a 5-year-old model saves ~2.5% each year)

Save 11%

Raise your deductible from
$500 to $1000

Save 11%

Purchase your policy in advance, pay in full and online

Save 8%

Bundle your auto policy with home, condo or renters insurance

Save 6%

Maintain continuous coverage for at least 6 months

About the Report

The Zebra is the nation’s leading insurance search engine and an independent source for auto insurance quotes, industry research, and educational resources for consumers.

61,000,000car insurance rates

34,000 U.S. ZIP CODES

408 INSURANCE COMPANIES

8 YEARS

The Zebra’s 2019 State of Auto Insurance Report analyzes more than 61 million car insurance rates to examine how dozens of risk factors affect car insurance pricing, what trends are causing rates to skyrocket or plummet, and where that’s happening nationwide.

Car insurance is there to safeguard you in the event of an accident, theft, or other unexpected disaster. But this protection comes at a cost, and it’s different for everyone. The auto insurance industry uses rating factors – what kind of car you have, how you drive, and who you are (your age, marital status, even your credit score, etc.) — to determine your risk and your rate.

Rates also vary from one company to another, from year to year (or even through the duration of your policy), and from one town to the next. This research explores rates from more than 400 insurance companies, over the past 8 years, and across all 34,000 U.S. zip codes to identify trends and critical factors impacting rates in 2019.

The Zebra’s 2019 State of Auto Insurance Report analyzes more than 61 million car insurance rates to examine how dozens of risk factors affect car insurance pricing, what trends are causing rates to skyrocket or plummet, and where that’s happening nationwide.

Car insurance is there to safeguard you in the event of an accident, theft, or other unexpected disaster. But this protection comes at a cost, and it’s different for everyone. The auto insurance industry uses rating factors – what kind of car you have, how you drive, and who you are (your age, marital status, even your credit score, etc.) — to determine your risk and your rate.

Rates also vary from one company to another, from year to year (or even through the duration of your policy), and from one town to the next. This research explores rates from more than 400 insurance companies, over the past 8 years, and across all 34,000 U.S. zip codes to identify trends and critical factors impacting rates in 2019.

The Zebra’s 2019 State of Auto Insurance Report analyzes more than 61 million car insurance rates to examine how dozens of risk factors affect car insurance pricing, what trends are causing rates to skyrocket or plummet, and where that’s happening nationwide.

Car insurance is there to safeguard you in the event of an accident, theft, or other unexpected disaster. But this protection comes at a cost, and it’s different for everyone. The auto insurance industry uses rating factors – what kind of car you have, how you drive, and who you are (your age, marital status, even your credit score, etc.) — to determine your risk and your rate.

Rates also vary from one company to another, from year to year (or even through the duration of your policy), and from one town to the next. This research explores rates from more than 400 insurance companies, over the past 8 years, and across all 34,000 U.S. zip codes to identify trends and critical factors impacting rates in 2019.

The Zebra’s 2019 State of Auto Insurance Report analyzes more than 61 million car insurance rates to examine how dozens of risk factors affect car insurance pricing, what trends are causing rates to skyrocket or plummet, and where that’s happening nationwide.

Car insurance is there to safeguard you in the event of an accident, theft, or other unexpected disaster. But this protection comes at a cost, and it’s different for everyone. The auto insurance industry uses rating factors – what kind of car you have, how you drive, and who you are (your age, marital status, even your credit score, etc.) — to determine your risk and your rate.

Rates also vary from one company to another, from year to year (or even through the duration of your policy), and from one town to the next. This research explores rates from more than 400 insurance companies, over the past 8 years, and across all 34,000 U.S. zip codes to identify trends and critical factors impacting rates in 2019.

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Methodology

The Zebra’s 2019 State of Auto Insurance Report comprises analysis of more than 61 million unique auto insurance rates from The Zebra’s proprietary quote engine. The Zebra research team explored auto insurance pricing data from 2011 to 2018 across all United States zip codes for a base driver profile representative of an average insured: a 30-year-old single male driving a 2014 Honda Accord EX. For more details on methodology, download The Zebra’s 2019 State of Auto Insurance Report.

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Using the Data

The Zebra is an independent insurance search engine with the goal of making auto insurance easier to understand. We encourage you to explore, share, and reference the findings of our report and ask that you attribute uses to “The Zebra” or “TheZebra.com” and link to this page.

2019

The State of
Auto Insurance

insights based on 61,000,000 rates
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Interested in learning more?

For specific data requests, more information on our auto insurance research, or to contact the report authors, click here.

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