Auto Insurance Lowest Rates by State

Idaho, Iowa and Maine Offer Best Car Insurance Premium Quotes

Oct 27, 2009
Daniel Workman

California Car Insurance Rates Down 2.7% - richardmasoner (Flickr)

This comparison shows which states currently quote the lowest auto insurance rates and identifies where car insurance rates have fallen the most since January 2009.

The annual auto insurance rate quoted to drivers in the U.S. averaged $1,855 in September 2009, down 2.8% from the $1,908 national average premium for January 2009.

RateWatch data is based on the lowest average car insurance premiums from the million-plus auto insurance quotes that Insurance.com provides to consumers for rate comparison purposes each year.

While RateWatch tracks car insurance quotes from more than a dozen of America’s leading auto insurance companies that do business in 46 states plus the District of Columbia, car insurance rates from Alaska, Hawaii, Massachusetts and New York are currently not available for analysis.

States with Lowest Auto Insurance Rates

The following 15 states had the lowest average car insurance rates quoted in September 2009. Of these states, 11 had rate decreases compared with premiums quoted in January.

Idaho … US$1,275 annual premium (down 6.3% from January 2009)
Iowa … $1,301 (up 1%)
Maine … $1,307 (down 3.8%)
Ohio … $1,325 (no change)
Wisconsin … $1,344 (up 0.3%)
New Hampshire … $1,428 (down 8.6%)
Vermont … $1,438 (up 0.9%)
Illinois … $1,471 (down 4.5%)
New England … $1,492 (down 9.6%)
Indiana … $1,503 (down 1.2%)
Tennessee … $1,513 (down 4%)
Oregon … $1,535 (down 6.4%)
Montana … $1,541 (down 7.1%)
South Dakota … $1,551 (down 2%)
Missouri … $1,556 (down 4.9%).

Other States with Lower Car Insurance Premiums

The 17 states below also experienced average annual auto rates below the U.S. national average of $1,855 for September 2009 quotes. Only 4 of these states had mild increases in quoted car insurance rates from January.

Colorado … US$1,574 annual premium (down 6.6% from January 2009)
Alabama … $1,604 (down 2.3%)
South Carolina … $1,611 (up 0.6%)
Kansas … $1,615 (down 7.0%)
Arizona … $1,626 (down 10.2%)
Minnesota … $1,627 (down 2%)
North Dakota … $1,657 (up 0.3%)
North Carolina … $1,675 (down 0.5%)
Virginia … $1,675 (down 0.5%)
Georgia … $1,690 (up 1%)
New Mexico … $1,719 (down 8.4%)
Utah … $1,729 (down 5.3%)
Washington … $1,767 (down 6.7%)
California … $1,790 (down 2.7%)
Wyoming … $1,814 (down 0.3%)
Arkansas … $1,836 (down 6.7%)
Oklahoma … $1,850 (up 0.5%).

States with Higher Auto Insurance Rates

Drivers in the remaining 15 jurisdictions received car insurance quotes that were generally higher than the national average for September. Even then, 11 of these geographies had auto insurance premium rate decreases.

Mississippi … US$1,918 annual premium (down 3.8% from January 2009)
Texas … $1,968 (down 0.4%)
Connecticut … $2,009 (down 3.9%)
West Virginia … $2,010 (down 4%)
Nevada … $2,056 (down 5.8%)
Kentucky … $2,065 (up 3.3%)
Michigan … $2,068 (down 2.4%)
Florida … $2,110 (up 2.3%)
Pennsylvania … $2,185 (down 4.6%)
Maryland … $2,345 (up 6.9%)
Delaware … $2,368 (down 4.9%)
Rhode Island … $2,419 (down 2%)
Louisiana … $2,474 (down 6%)
District of Columbia … $2,490 (down 21%)
New Jersey … $2,757 (up 10%).

While Idaho topped the list of states with the lowest car insurance premiums, drivers in the District of Columbia enjoyed the most dramatic improvement with quoted annual rates falling an average $662 from $3,152 in January to $2,490 in September.

Sources

This analysis provides independent calculations and insights based on RateWatch data publicly available on Insurance.com, a leading third-party website committed to consumer education.