How much is car insurance?
There is no single price. What you pay depends on where you live, who you are as a driver, what you drive, the coverage you choose and which insurer you ask.
The short answer
For a sense of scale: according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), the national combined average premium in 2023 was $1,438.60 a year, about $120 a month. That is the average cost of a policy with liability, collision and comprehensive coverage across the whole U.S. market in 2023.
It is a historical average, not a current price and not what you will be quoted. Your own premium could be far lower or far higher. Average car insurance cost explains this figure and how it has changed since 2019.
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Four different numbers people call “the cost of car insurance”
Most confusion about car insurance prices comes from mixing these up.
- A national average
- One figure for the whole country, such as the NAIC's 2023 combined average premium.
- Shows the general scale of costs and how they change over time.
- A state average
- The same kind of figure for one state, published for all 50 states and D.C.
- Shows how costs differ between insurance markets. The NAIC warns that direct state comparisons need a high degree of caution.
- An insurer's quote
- The price one insurer offers you for specific coverage, after it has assessed your details.
- The only number you can actually buy a policy at. Different insurers quote different prices.
- An Insura estimate
- An illustrative range from Insura's published model, based on the answers you give.
- A rough sense of how your situation compares, before you collect real quotes. It is not a quote.
How insurers decide what to charge
The NAIC describes two steps. Underwriting is how an insurer evaluates the risk of an applicant and decides whether to offer coverage. Rating is how it then sets the price, based on the expected cost and likelihood of claims.
The NAIC lists the main rating factors for auto insurance as location, age, gender, marital status, driving experience, driving record, claims history, credit history, previous insurance coverage, vehicle type, vehicle use, miles driven, and the coverages and deductibles you choose.
Not every insurer uses every factor, and insurers weigh them differently. Each state also sets its own rules. Credit-based insurance scores are one example: the NAIC notes that some states restrict how insurers can use them and several states ban their use.
What can make your rate higher or lower?
The NAIC's consumer guide describes how these common factors tend to work. They are general patterns, not rules every insurer follows.
Location
Insurers price by where the car is kept. Urban areas usually have more accidents and auto thefts than rural areas, which tends to push premiums up. Each state's laws and coverage requirements differ as well.
Driver characteristics
Drivers under 25 tend to have more accidents and pay higher premiums, and accident rates and premiums also tend to rise for people over 65. Where state law allows, insurers may also consider gender, marital status and a credit-based insurance score.
Driving history
Insurers look at your driving record, and those of others on your policy, over roughly the last three to five years. They also check past claims, often through industry claim databases such as CLUE, the Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange. You have a right to a free copy of your CLUE report.
Vehicle
Newer or more expensive vehicles generally cost more to insure, particularly for collision and comprehensive. Sports cars and high-performance vehicles cost more too. A large SUV or truck, which can cause more serious damage in an accident, may cost more for liability coverage.
Mileage and use
How you use the car, including how many miles you drive each year, is part of the price.
Prior insurance
Most insurers charge more if you have no auto insurance when you apply, and some charge more if you currently carry only your state's minimum coverage.
Coverage and deductible
The liability limits and coverages you choose affect the premium. A deductible is the amount you pay yourself before the policy pays a claim, and a higher deductible means a lower premium: a policy with a $1,000 deductible costs less than the same policy with a $500 deductible. Choose a deductible you could afford to pay.
Discounts
Most insurers offer discounts, for example for insuring your car and home together, insuring several vehicles, safety and anti-theft devices, or completing a defensive driving course. Which discounts are available, and how large they are, varies by insurer.
Why two insurers can charge different prices
The NAIC's consumer guide is direct about this: different insurance companies use different methods to rate the risk of insuring you, and charge different premiums for similar coverage. Each insurer has its own rating plan and its own claims experience, so the same driver can be priced quite differently by two companies. Discounts vary too.
As the NAIC puts it, the way to compare companies' prices is to get premium quotes, so ask several insurers to quote the same coverage, limits and deductibles. Your state insurance department may also publish premium comparison guides.
An average is not your quote
Estimate your own cost
Insura's calculator asks for your ZIP code, vehicle, age, driving history, annual mileage, coverage level and deductible, then returns an estimated monthly and annual range and shows which answers raised or lowered it.
It uses Insura's own illustrative model, whose every assumption is published on the methodology page. It is not built from or calibrated to the NAIC averages on this site, so the two will not necessarily line up. It does not give an insurer's quote, and it does not use your credit, claims database records or exact address.
Keep exploring
- Average car insurance cost in the U.S.: the national figures, what they measure and how they changed from 2019 to 2023.
- Car insurance cost by state: published 2023 averages for all 50 states and Washington, D.C.
- How car insurance pricing works: coverage types and the factors the calculator asks about.
Sources
- NAIC, Auto Insurance (insurance topic page, last updated September 26, 2025): underwriting, rating and rating factors.
- NAIC, A Consumer's Guide to Auto Insurance (2022): how common factors affect premiums, deductibles, discounts, and why insurers charge different rates.
- NAIC, 2022/2023 Auto Insurance Database Report (adopted December 2025): 2023 combined average premium. The monthly figure is Insura's conversion (annual ÷ 12).
Insura is not an insurer or agent, and this page is general information, not advice. See the insurance disclaimer.