Updated April 2026 | NerdWallet, ValuePenguin, Bankrate 2026
Full Coverage Car Insurance Per Month: $208 National Average in 2026
What is bundled inside the policy marketed as full coverage, what it costs in your state, and the math on when keeping it stops making sense. Vermont $128, Nevada $335.
The four components inside a full coverage policy
Full coverage is not a single product. It is a bundle. Different carriers package it slightly differently but four pieces are universally present in any policy marketed as full coverage.
1. Liability (typically 100/300/100)
The legally required component. Pays for bodily injury and property damage you cause to others. Full coverage policies almost always carry limits well above state minimums. The 100/300/100 standard means $100,000 per injured person, $300,000 per accident, $100,000 in property damage. This typically accounts for 40 to 55 percent of the total full coverage premium.
2. Collision
Pays for damage to your vehicle when you hit another vehicle or object, regardless of fault. Hitting a guardrail, fence, mailbox, parked car, or being hit by an at-fault driver whose insurance is paying slowly. Subject to your deductible (typically $500 or $1,000). This typically accounts for 25 to 35 percent of the full coverage premium.
3. Comprehensive (other-than-collision)
Pays for theft, vandalism, fire, flood, hail, falling objects, animal strikes, glass breakage, and acts of nature. Subject to deductible. Typically accounts for 10 to 18 percent of the full coverage premium in low-weather states like Vermont, rising to 25 to 35 percent in Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, and Texas.
4. Uninsured / Underinsured Motorist (UM/UIM)
Pays for your medical bills and (in some states) vehicle damage when an uninsured or underinsured driver hits you. Required in 21 states and DC. Typically accounts for 5 to 12 percent of the full coverage premium. Skipping UM is the single most common gap in policies labeled full coverage. Always confirm it is included.
All 51 jurisdictions: full coverage per month, ranked cheapest to most expensive
Sources: NerdWallet 2026 State of Auto Insurance, ValuePenguin 2026 state averages, Bankrate 2026 state data. Cross-referenced averages for a 35-year-old driving a sedan with 100/300/100 plus collision and comprehensive plus UM/UIM. Click any state for the deep-dive page.
| Rank | State | Full / mo | Min / mo | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maine | $128 | $38 | UM required |
| 2 | Vermont | $128 | $38 | UM required |
| 3 | New Hampshire | $132 | $39 | Standard at-fault |
| 4 | Idaho | $135 | $40 | Standard at-fault |
| 5 | Iowa | $139 | $42 | Standard at-fault |
| 6 | Hawaii | $143 | $43 | No-fault, Credit ban |
| 7 | Wisconsin | $143 | $43 | Standard at-fault |
| 8 | North Dakota | $148 | $44 | No-fault |
| 9 | Ohio | $148 | $44 | Standard at-fault |
| 10 | Indiana | $152 | $46 | Standard at-fault |
| 11 | South Dakota | $158 | $47 | Standard at-fault |
| 12 | North Carolina | $161 | $48 | UM required |
| 13 | Massachusetts | $163 | $49 | No-fault, Credit ban |
| 14 | Virginia | $163 | $49 | Standard at-fault |
| 15 | Illinois | $167 | $50 | UM required |
| 16 | Wyoming | $167 | $50 | Standard at-fault |
| 17 | Oregon | $169 | $51 | UM required |
| 18 | West Virginia | $170 | $51 | Standard at-fault |
| 19 | Arkansas | $171 | $50 | Standard at-fault |
| 20 | Alaska | $174 | $51 | Standard at-fault |
| 21 | Minnesota | $175 | $52 | No-fault, UM required |
| 22 | Tennessee | $175 | $52 | Standard at-fault |
| 23 | Nebraska | $176 | $53 | Standard at-fault |
| 24 | Alabama | $178 | $52 | Standard at-fault |
| 25 | Kansas | $180 | $54 | No-fault |
| 26 | Mississippi | $182 | $55 | Standard at-fault |
| 27 | Utah | $183 | $55 | No-fault |
| 28 | Missouri | $185 | $56 | Standard at-fault |
| 29 | Washington | $186 | $56 | UM required |
| 30 | South Carolina | $187 | $56 | Standard at-fault |
| 31 | Pennsylvania | $188 | $56 | No-fault |
| 32 | Montana | $189 | $57 | Standard at-fault |
| 33 | New Mexico | $193 | $58 | Standard at-fault |
| 34 | Connecticut | $196 | $58 | UM required |
| 35 | Oklahoma | $196 | $59 | Standard at-fault |
| 36 | Arizona | $201 | $60 | Standard at-fault |
| 37 | Maryland | $208 | $62 | Standard at-fault |
| 38 | Delaware | $210 | $63 | No-fault |
| 39 | Georgia | $218 | $65 | Standard at-fault |
| 40 | California | $221 | $69 | Credit ban |
| 41 | Colorado | $222 | $66 | Standard at-fault |
| 42 | Kentucky | $225 | $67 | No-fault |
| 43 | Texas | $232 | $69 | Standard at-fault |
| 44 | Rhode Island | $236 | $71 | Standard at-fault |
| 45 | Michigan | $246 | $74 | No-fault, Credit ban |
| 46 | New Jersey | $252 | $75 | No-fault |
| 47 | Washington D.C. | $265 | $79 | UM required |
| 48 | New York | $268 | $80 | No-fault, UM required |
| 49 | Louisiana | $315 | $94 | UM required |
| 50 | Florida | $321 | $96 | No-fault |
| 51 | Nevada | $335 | $100 | Standard at-fault |
Why full coverage costs what it does
The same vehicle, driver age, and coverage tier costs $128 per month in Vermont and $335 per month in Nevada, a 2.6x spread. Five factors explain almost all of the variance.
- Population density and claim frequency. Per-mile accident rates climb with traffic density. Vermont and Wyoming sit at the low end. New Jersey, Massachusetts, and DC sit at the high end. Nevada is anomalous: low statewide density but Las Vegas drives the claim frequency.
- Uninsured driver rate. Mississippi (29 percent), Michigan (25 percent), Tennessee (24 percent), and New Mexico (21 percent) lead the country, per the Insurance Information Institute 2024 estimate. When 1 in 4 drivers carries no coverage, the cost of UM and UIM claims spreads across everyone else.
- Litigation environment. Some states permit higher attorney fees and broader pain-and-suffering claims, lifting average bodily injury claim severity. Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, and New York consistently rank high. The American Tort Reform Foundation tracks this annually.
- Weather risk (comprehensive). Hail in Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska. Hurricane in Florida, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina. Tornado in the central plains. Wildfire in California, Oregon, Washington. Each lifts comprehensive premium meaningfully.
- Statutory minimum limits. States that have raised minimums recently (California 2025, New Jersey 2026, Virginia 2025, Utah 2025) see floor pressure on premiums. Higher minimums protect victims but lift everyone's premium.
The math on dropping full coverage
Most drivers carry full coverage longer than the math supports. The reason is behavioural rather than financial: full coverage feels safer, dropping it feels reckless. The actuarial reality is more nuanced. Run this calculation annually at renewal.
Step 1. Look up your vehicle's current trade-in value at Kelley Blue Book or NADA. Use the trade-in value, not retail. That is what the insurer pays minus your deductible.
Step 2. Look at your declarations page and find the annual cost of collision plus comprehensive (not total premium, just those two coverages).
Step 3. Divide vehicle value by annual collision plus comprehensive cost. If the ratio is above 10, keep full coverage. If below 10, the math favours dropping it.
Step 4 (the discipline test). If you drop to liability-only, immediately set up an automatic monthly transfer of the savings into a high-yield savings account. The math only works if you actually accumulate the replacement fund. Without that discipline, dropping full coverage is just consuming the savings monthly and being uninsured for the loss when it happens.
Step 5 (the exit criteria). If you drop full coverage, the day your replacement fund equals or exceeds the actual cash value of your vehicle, you are formally self-insured. From that point forward, the savings are pure free cash flow.