Updated NAIC 2023 data | NAIC Auto Insurance Database Report

Car Insurance Benchmarks: $107 a Month per Insured Vehicle

The state of US auto insurance in 2026. The 4-year YoY trend, the post-pandemic catch-up, the state extremes, and the stabilisation that began in 2025 to 2026.

2022 avg

$155

full coverage / month

2024 avg

$196

full coverage / month

2025 avg

$204

full coverage / month

2026 avg

$208

full coverage / month

The 4-year national YoY trend

US car insurance premiums rose approximately 35 percent between 2022 and 2026, the largest 4-year increase in the modern era of US auto insurance. The path:

2022: $155 per month national average. Carriers had under-priced through 2020 to 2021 due to pandemic-related claims drop and accumulated underwriting losses.
2023: $175 per month (+13 percent). Catch-up rate filings begin. Repair cost inflation peaks as chip shortage continues.
2024: $196 per month (+12 percent). Continued rate filings. Weather-related comprehensive claims elevated.
2025: $204 per month (+4 percent). Rate increases moderating as base rates catch up with loss costs.
2023: $107 per month per insured vehicle, up 13.99 percent on the year and 19.24 percent over five years. This is the most recent official figure; later increases are not yet published.

The 5 most expensive states (2026)

1. Florida

Florida's no-fault PIP system and high uninsured-driver rate (~20%), combined with hurricane risk and elevated medical f...

$166/mo

2. Louisiana

Louisiana's high-litigation tort environment, above-average uninsured-driver rate and flood or hurricane exposure put it...

$165/mo

3. New York

New York City density, high bodily-injury claim severity, mandatory no-fault PIP, and required UM place New York among t...

$158/mo

4. Washington D.C.

Urban density, high vehicle theft rates, and extensive uninsured-driver exposure place DC among the most expensive juris...

$152/mo

5. Georgia

Atlanta metro traffic and above-average claims frequency push rates above the national mean....

$146/mo

The 5 cheapest states (2026)

1. Maine

Maine's higher minimums come with very low rates -- low population density, low fraud, and low uninsured-driver rate....

$77/mo

2. North Dakota

No-fault state with PIP but very low population density and low accident frequency yield moderate rates....

$80/mo

3. Vermont

Very low population density, one of the lowest uninsured-driver rates in the country, low litigation and little severe-w...

$80/mo

4. Idaho

Low population density, low uninsured-driver rate, and low litigation costs place Idaho among the cheapest states....

$82/mo

5. Hawaii

Credit scoring banned. No-fault state with lower-than-average accident severity and low vehicle theft rates....

$83/mo

The four drivers of the 2022 to 2026 surge

1. Repair cost inflation. Auto body shop labour rates increased approximately 22 percent from 2022 to 2026, per CCC Intelligent Solutions industry data. Parts costs rose approximately 30 percent driven by supply chain disruption, semiconductor shortages, and the increasing complexity of modern vehicles (ADAS sensors, EV components, aluminum body panels). The cost to repair a moderate fender-bender that was $4,500 in 2022 is approximately $6,000 in 2026.

2. Medical cost inflation. Bodily injury claim severity rose approximately 18 percent from 2022 to 2026, per Insurance Information Institute industry summaries. Medical CPI rose faster than general CPI throughout the period. Settlements and verdicts in serious injury cases trended higher, reflecting both medical cost inflation and lawyer-driven valuation creep.

3. Weather event frequency. NOAA tracks insured weather event losses; the cumulative 2020 to 2025 period saw record hail seasons in Colorado, Texas, and Oklahoma; multiple major hurricanes in Florida and Louisiana; and elevated wildfire activity in California, Oregon, and the Pacific Northwest. Comprehensive claim frequency in affected states rose 25 to 50 percent vs the 2015 to 2019 baseline.

4. Uninsured driver rate. The Insurance Research Council's 2024 study reported the national uninsured driver rate at approximately 14 percent, up from approximately 12 percent in 2019. Higher uninsured rates mean UM/UIM claim cost rises and gets spread across the insured population, lifting everyone's premium.

2026 benchmark FAQs

What is the national average car insurance cost per month?⌄

$107 a month per insured vehicle on the 2022/2023 Auto Insurance Database Report (2023 data year), the average of what drivers actually spent whether or not they carried collision and comprehensive. A policy carrying all three coverages averaged $120 a month, and the liability portion alone $61. The state range runs from $67 in North Dakota to $155 in Florida. These are averages across every driver, vehicle and limit written in the state, not quotes. The NAIC series runs about two years behind, so premiums quoted today sit above these levels.

Why have car insurance rates risen so much since 2022?⌄

Four primary drivers. First, repair cost inflation: chip shortages, supply chain disruption, and parts inflation drove up the cost of repairing vehicles, particularly newer vehicles with ADAS sensors and EV battery systems. Second, claim severity: medical inflation drove up bodily injury claim costs. Third, weather: more severe hail (Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma), more severe hurricanes (Florida, Louisiana), more wildfire (California, Oregon) drove up comprehensive claim frequency and severity. Fourth, uninsured driver rate increases: economic stress led some drivers to drop coverage, and the cost of UM/UIM claims spreads across remaining policyholders.

Are rates stabilising in 2026?⌄

Yes, in most states. The NAIC quarterly market reports show that rate increase requests filed by carriers in 2026 have moderated significantly from the 2023 to 2024 peak. Carriers had largely under-priced through 2022 to 2023 and had to file substantial rate increases to catch up; with rates now reflecting actual loss costs, the pressure for further large increases has eased. Some states (Florida, Louisiana) still see above-average rate filings due to specific state factors. Most states are seeing single-digit annual rate changes in 2026.

How fast are premiums rising?⌄

The NAIC reports that the countrywide average expenditure rose 13.99 percent in 2023 alone, to $1,281.92 a year, and 19.24 percent over the five years to 2023. The combined average premium rose 14.42 percent in 2023, to $1,438.60. Those are the last official figures published; the increases carriers filed in 2024 and 2025 are not yet in the NAIC series, so current market premiums are higher again.

How do US car insurance rates compare to other countries?⌄

US rates are substantially higher than most peer countries. UK average annual car insurance is approximately $700 per year (vs US average $2,496). Australian average is approximately $750 per year. Canadian average is approximately $1,000 per year. Japanese average is approximately $500 per year. The US is structurally higher due to higher per-mile driving, higher claim severity from medical costs, more litigation, and more uninsured drivers. The state-by-state variation within the US (4x spread from Vermont to Nevada) is also wider than the country-to-country variation in most developed markets.

Which states had the largest 2025 to 2026 rate changes?⌄

Per state DOI rate filing summaries, the largest 2025 to 2026 percentage increases were in Florida (approximately 12 percent due to continued hurricane and PIP fraud issues), Louisiana (approximately 10 percent due to litigation environment), and Texas (approximately 8 percent due to severe weather). The states with the smallest changes or modest decreases included Vermont (approximately 1 percent), Maine (approximately 1 percent), and Idaho (approximately 2 percent). State-by-state rate trends are visible in each state's Department of Insurance public filings.

What is the outlook for 2027?⌄

Industry analysts (Bankrate, NerdWallet, Insurance Information Institute) generally project low single-digit rate increases for 2027 nationally, with continued above-average increases in Florida, Louisiana, and Texas. The structural drivers (vehicle complexity, medical inflation, weather risk) are not abating. New factors to watch: EV adoption changing the repair cost mix, autonomous driving liability frameworks beginning to emerge, and state-level legislation on credit-based insurance scoring and rate-filing transparency. As always, individual driver outcomes depend more on personal underwriting factors than on national trends.

Full coverage per month

All 51 jurisdictions ranked

2025-2026 law changes

State legislation tracker

Methodology

How these numbers are sourced

No-fault states

12 PIP-required jurisdictions