Original data
Car Insurance Cost by State
Full coverage — the kind that pays to fix your own car — averages $2,367 a year across the country. Where you park it moves that more than almost anything else you control: Nevada averages $3,527 and New Hampshire $1,278, a 2.8× gap for the same driver in the same car.
Analysis by the MotiveGrid Engineering Team · scored from primary sources
Key numbers
- The national average for full-coverage car insurance is $2,367 a year, or $197 a month.
- Nevada is the most expensive state for car insurance at about $3,527 a year, 49% above the national average.
- New Hampshire is the cheapest at about $1,278 a year, 46% below the national average.
- The gap between the most and least expensive state is 2.8 times, for the same driver in the same car.
- On 5 of the 51 jurisdictions the two published surveys behind these figures disagree by more than 30%, so those averages carry real uncertainty.
All 51 jurisdictions, most expensive first
Estimated average annual cost of full coverage — the kind that pays to fix your own car — for a driver with a clean record. Rows marked ⚠ disputed are the five where our two sources conflict sharply; the note under the table explains each one.
| # | State | Per year | Per month | vs national |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nevada | $3,527 | $294 | +49% |
| 2 | Rhode Island | $3,479 | $290 | +47% |
| 3 | Delaware | $3,361 | $280 | +42% |
| 4 | Florida | $3,266 | $272 | +38% |
| 5 | Louisiana⚠ sources disagree | $3,195 | $266 | +35% |
| 6 | Connecticut | $3,148 | $262 | +33% |
| 7 | Washington, D.C.⚠ sources disagree | $3,148 | $262 | +33% |
| 8 | Maryland⚠ sources disagree | $3,124 | $260 | +32% |
| 9 | New Jersey | $3,030 | $252 | +28% |
| 10 | Colorado | $2,935 | $245 | +24% |
| 11 | Michigan | $2,911 | $243 | +23% |
| 12 | New York | $2,793 | $233 | +18% |
| 13 | Georgia⚠ sources disagree | $2,698 | $225 | +14% |
| 14 | South Carolina⚠ sources disagree | $2,698 | $225 | +14% |
| 15 | Texas | $2,698 | $225 | +14% |
| 16 | California | $2,533 | $211 | +7% |
| 17 | Minnesota | $2,438 | $203 | +3% |
| 18 | Kentucky | $2,414 | $201 | +2% |
| 19 | Missouri | $2,414 | $201 | +2% |
| 20 | Washington | $2,414 | $201 | +2% |
| 21 | Arizona | $2,391 | $199 | +1% |
| 22 | Mississippi | $2,320 | $193 | -2% |
| 23 | Oklahoma | $2,296 | $191 | -3% |
| 24 | Arkansas | $2,249 | $187 | -5% |
| 25 | Kansas | $2,249 | $187 | -5% |
| 26 | Virginia | $2,249 | $187 | -5% |
| 27 | Utah | $2,225 | $185 | -6% |
| 28 | Pennsylvania | $2,154 | $180 | -9% |
| 29 | Oregon | $2,130 | $178 | -10% |
| 30 | Illinois | $2,083 | $174 | -12% |
| 31 | Montana | $2,083 | $174 | -12% |
| 32 | New Mexico | $2,083 | $174 | -12% |
| 33 | South Dakota | $2,083 | $174 | -12% |
| 34 | West Virginia | $1,988 | $166 | -16% |
| 35 | Alabama | $1,941 | $162 | -18% |
| 36 | Alaska | $1,941 | $162 | -18% |
| 37 | Nebraska | $1,941 | $162 | -18% |
| 38 | Massachusetts | $1,917 | $160 | -19% |
| 39 | Tennessee | $1,846 | $154 | -22% |
| 40 | Indiana | $1,775 | $148 | -25% |
| 41 | North Dakota | $1,752 | $146 | -26% |
| 42 | Wisconsin | $1,752 | $146 | -26% |
| 43 | Iowa | $1,681 | $140 | -29% |
| 44 | Vermont | $1,681 | $140 | -29% |
| 45 | Hawaii | $1,657 | $138 | -30% |
| 46 | Maine | $1,610 | $134 | -32% |
| 47 | Ohio | $1,586 | $132 | -33% |
| 48 | North Carolina | $1,562 | $130 | -34% |
| 49 | Idaho | $1,539 | $128 | -35% |
| 50 | Wyoming | $1,326 | $110 | -44% |
| 51 | New Hampshire | $1,278 | $107 | -46% |
Each state name links to its full cost-of-ownership breakdown, where insurance sits alongside fuel, maintenance, registration and depreciation. Download the full table as CSV — it carries both source ratios per row, not just the average, so the disagreement survives the export.
The 5 states we are least sure about
A state where both surveys say 1.14 and a state where one says 0.88 and the other 1.39 both average out to the same number — but they are not the same quality of answer. Publishing them identically would overstate what we know, so here they are separately.
- Our two sources disagree sharply about Louisiana: Insurify puts it near $2,651 a year and ValuePenguin near $3,716. We publish the midpoint, but the honest answer is that nobody knows Louisiana to better than that range — so treat the figure as a direction, not a price.
- Our two sources disagree sharply about Washington, D.C.: ValuePenguin puts it near $2,769 a year and Insurify near $3,503. We publish the midpoint, but the honest answer is that nobody knows Washington, D.C. to better than that range — so treat the figure as a direction, not a price.
- Our two sources disagree sharply about Maryland: ValuePenguin puts it near $2,391 a year and Insurify near $3,858. We publish the midpoint, but the honest answer is that nobody knows Maryland to better than that range — so treat the figure as a direction, not a price.
- Our two sources disagree sharply about Georgia: ValuePenguin puts it near $2,083 a year and Insurify near $3,290. We publish the midpoint, but the honest answer is that nobody knows Georgia to better than that range — so treat the figure as a direction, not a price.
- Our two sources disagree sharply about South Carolina: ValuePenguin puts it near $2,154 a year and Insurify near $3,266. We publish the midpoint, but the honest answer is that nobody knows South Carolina to better than that range — so treat the figure as a direction, not a price.
Where these numbers come from
Published averages disagree with each other more than most articles admit. They are built from different driver profiles, different coverage limits, and different mixes of insurance companies, and any of those three can move a figure by a third. That is why the numbers here are the average of two independent surveys rather than one, and why the five states where those two surveys genuinely conflict are flagged instead of quietly averaged away.
| Source | National average | Driver profile | As of |
|---|---|---|---|
| ValuePenguin | $2,496/yr | 30-year-old, 2018 Honda Civic EX, good credit, full coverage | 2026-07-08 |
| Insurify | $2,238/yr | median quote, drivers 20–70, clean record, credit 600+ | 2026-08-10 |
Each state's figure is the national average multiplied by the mean of the two surveys' state-to-national ratios. State ratios were last re-verified 2026-07-24; the national level 2026-08-13. Averaging two sources rather than adopting one is deliberate — published state tables disagree substantially because they use different driver profiles, coverage limits and carrier mixes, and any single table inherits all of one survey's quirks.
These are averages, not quotes. No insurer has looked at you, and your own price will move with your age, record, credit and deductible. What a table like this is good for is the comparison — whether moving from one state to another is worth hundreds a year or thousands — and for that the relative picture is far more robust than any single cell.
Why one state costs three times another
Almost none of the spread is about weather or traffic, which is what most people assume. It is about law and litigation.
What the state forces every policy to include. No-fault states require personal injury protection that pays your own medical bills regardless of blame. That is real coverage and it costs real money, which is a large part of why Michigan, New Jersey and Florida sit where they do.
How often claims become lawsuits. States where injury claims are routinely litigated carry the cost of that litigation in every premium, whether or not you ever make a claim. Louisiana and Florida are the standing examples.
How often people claim at all, and for how much. Dense urban states see more collisions per mile driven and more theft, and repair labour costs more in high-wage metros. Rural states with light traffic — New Hampshire, Wyoming, Idaho, Maine — sit at the bottom of this table for exactly the mirror reason.
What is NOT on this list is your credit score, your age or your record — all three move an individual premium enormously, but they do not vary by state in a way that explains the table. The state effect is on top of your personal one.
Frequently asked questions
- Which state has the most expensive car insurance?
- Nevada, at about $3,527 a year for full coverage — 49% above the national average of $2,367. The three most expensive are Nevada, Rhode Island, Delaware. Required coverage, claim frequency and how often claims are litigated explain most of the gap.
- Which state has the cheapest car insurance?
- New Hampshire, at about $1,278 a year — 46% below the national average. The three cheapest are New Hampshire, Wyoming, Idaho. They tend to be rural states with light traffic, low theft and no no-fault requirement.
- What is the average cost of car insurance by state?
- Full coverage averages $2,367 a year nationally — about $197 a month — for a clean-record driver. By state it ranges from $1,278 in New Hampshire to $3,527 in Nevada, a 2.8-times spread. The full 51-jurisdiction table is on this page.
- Why do different websites give different average car insurance costs?
- Because they are built from different driver profiles, different coverage limits and different mixes of insurance companies, and any one of those can move a figure by a third. The two surveys behind this page put the national average at $2,496 (ValuePenguin) and $2,238 (Insurify). We publish the mean of the two and flag the 5 states where they disagree by more than 30% rather than presenting either one as settled.
- Does moving to another state change my car insurance?
- Yes, and often by more than changing cars would. Moving from New Hampshire to Nevada multiplies the average full-coverage premium by about 2.8. Your rate is set by where the car is garaged, so it changes when you register it at a new address, not when you buy a new policy.