Compare Car Insurance rates

Comparison shopping is crucial if you want to save money on car insurance. Here’s why: Insurers look at similar factors to Compare Car Insurance rates, but they have their own “secret sauce” when it comes to setting rates. So two companies can charge wildly different rates for the same driver.

Auto insurance prices tend to inch up over time, but they can also go down. By shopping around, you might find that your current insurer offers the cheapest rate for you, or you might find that it’s time to switch.

Several factors go into an auto insurance rate: ZIP code, marital status, annual mileage, driving history and vehicle make, year and model. In most states, your gender and credit history could also be used to determine rates.

That’s why every year, NerdWallet analyzes car insurance rates for men and women with various driving and credit histories, in every state and for every major auto insurance company, so you can compare auto insurance rates with ease and get the cheapest price for you.

Compare car insurance rates

Each insurance company evaluates personal factors in its own way, and they keep their methods as hidden as possible. So we can’t tell you which company puts high value in your occupation or emphasizes a clean driving history more than others.

But to help you get going, we can show you average annual rates for minimum and full coverage car insurance by state and by company, from many of the largest insurers in each state. Although it’s one of the largest insurers in the country, Liberty Mutual is not included in our rates analysis due to a lack of publicly available information.

Compare car insurance rates by age

Your driving history isn’t the only factor carriers look at when calculating your car insurance rate. Your age can have a big effect on what you pay. For example, you likely know teen drivers have some of the highest car insurance rates on average, but they aren’t the only ones. Drivers 75 years and older tend to have higher car insurance rates than most age groups, after teens and twentysomethings.

To get more insight, we compiled average annual rates from nine of the 10 largest private passenger auto insurers in the country based on market share data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

Compare minimum and full coverage rates for 25-year-olds

Drivers around the age of 25 typically get higher car insurance rates because as a group they get into more accidents on average than older drivers.

Rates vary from company to company. For example, full coverage from Geico for a 25-year-old costs $1,420 a year, on average, while the average price from Allstate is $2,588.

Below you can compare annual rates for 25-year-olds by company and by state. Rates are averaged across the country separately for full and minimum coverage.

*USAA is only available to military, veterans and their families.

Average car insurance rates for a 25-year-old driver vary significantly from state to state. Some states, like Hawaii and Maine, have average rates under $1,250 a year for full coverage. In other states, such as Louisiana and Nevada, insurance costs more than $2,900 a year, on average, for the same driver.

See how your state stacks up below.

Compare minimum and full coverage rates for 40-year-olds

Drivers around the age of 40 are in a car insurance sweet spot. Because this age group tends to get in fewer accidents than others, they typically can get lower rates. Aside from USAA, which is only available to military, veterans and their families, Geico provides the lowest price for full coverage for 40-year-olds at $1,210, on average.

Allstate comes in the highest at $2,368, on average.

Compare national average annual car insurance rates for 40-year-olds by company and by state below. Keep in mind that not all of these companies are available in every state.

*USAA is only available to military, veterans and their families.

While average car insurance rates fluctuate by state, 40-year-olds in several states, including Maine, Ohio and Idaho, can pay less than $1,050 a year, on average, for full coverage policies. Similar drivers in other states could pay less than $2,500 a year for full coverage, on average. Only two states have rates higher than $2,500 a year for 40-year-old drivers with full coverage car insurance: Nevada and Louisiana.

See how your state stacks up below.

Compare car insurance rates for drivers with a DUI

After a DUI, your auto insurance rate will go up — in some cases, 75% or more. But one thing you can control that can affect rates the most is your insurance company. A DUI can affect car insurance rates for 3 to 10 years, so it’s best to shop around for the best price after getting one.

Below you can compare company averages for 40-year-olds before and after a DUI. Keep in mind that not all of these companies are available in every state.

*USAA is only available to military, veterans and their families.

While your rate will increase after a DUI, how much it does depends in part on which state you live in. In Florida, the average rate for drivers with a recent DUI is 40% higher, on average, than for similar drivers with no incidents — $981 more a year. However, a DUI in Hawaii more than tripled average rates in our analysis, adding more than $3,000 to the annual cost of full coverage car insurance for 40-year-old drivers.

See below for how your state measures up.

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Compare car insurance rates for drivers with poor credit

Your credit history is one of the largest factors affecting your car insurance quote in all states except California, Hawaii, Massachusetts and Michigan. Carriers use credit history to determine how likely you are to file a claim.

While rates can double in some cases, it’s important to note that every company considers credit very differently, and even among insurers this factor fluctuates by state. Drivers with poor credit insured by Nationwide could pay an average of 38% more — $497 more a year — compared to similar drivers with good credit. Meanwhile, State Farm’s average price for full coverage more than doubles for drivers with poor credit compared to those with good credit.

Below you can compare average full coverage rates for 40-year-old drivers with poor credit by company.

*USAA is only available to military, veterans and their families.

Certain states prohibit the use of credit in setting rates, and how insurers treat credit differs from state to state. For example, state legislators in one state may allow more wiggle room for credit-based pricing than others, leading to variations by state.

Our analysis found that:

• In Alaska and North Carolina, a driver with poor credit could pay about 38% more than a good credit driver.
• Having poor credit in Nevada, Idaho, Oklahoma, Oregon and Washington raises the average insurance rate about 60% compared to drivers with good credit.
• Average rates for poor credit drivers in Wisconsin were about 2.6 times the average rates for good credit drivers.

Below you can compare average full coverage rates for 40-year-old drivers with poor credit by state.

*Credit-based pricing is banned in California, Hawaii, Massachusetts and Michigan.