Average Cost of Insurance: Car, Home, Renters, Health, and Pet (2018)

ValuePenguin researched and crunched the numbers to get you the average cost of car insurance by state. Use our data to see what your states average premiums are to get a better idea of what you should be paying for insurance.

To jump directly to the average cost for different types of insurance, click on the links below:

How Much Does Car Insurance Cost?

The average annual cost of car insurance paid in the United States was $941.65 in 2018 according to a study by ValuePenguin. This figure will vary wildly state to state and does not always include all forms of coverage and may not be accurately reflect your coverage needs. Scroll through the table below to find the average cost of car insurance in your state or use the form to find a cheaper quote for auto insurance:

Monthly Car Insurance Rates by State

Insurers use the location of where you live, specifically your zip code as an important factor in pricing your auto insurance premiums. You could more than double your premiums simply by moving from a cheap location to one of the most expensive.

Drivers in Maine spent an average of $556 annually while those in Michigan, one of the most expensive states for auto insurance spent an average of $1,600 each year.

Consult the following table for how the cost of insurance in your state compares to others.

Data from various states' Departments of Insurance show that annual car insurance premiums are on the rise in the majority of states across the nation. The average cost of insurance for car owners of insuring their vehicles from accidents and other events has generally increased, with the ten largest insurers each increasing car insurance premiums between 2.3% (Nationwide) to 15.38% (Travelers) in the last three years.

These quotes for automobile insurance in select states across the country should give you a ballpark estimate for average annual car insurance.

Car Insurance Rates by Age

Auto insurance quotes also vary significantly depending on the driver and their years of experience. Younger and inexperienced drivers tend correlate with a higher frequency and severity of accidents than the overall population, leading to higher premiums overall.

For example, teenagers pay over than three times more than those in their 20's—with 16-year-old drivers paying an average of $344.78 a month for auto insurance coverage. Contrast that to a driver only slightly older at 25 years of age paying $118.89 a month.

Average Car Insurance Rates by Gender

Amongst those drivers that have had no violations or accidents within the past 3 years, auto insurance rates are fairly similar with the exception of young drivers. Our data showed that teenage males pay an average of 23% more in insurance rates each year than their female counterparts, averaging $344.78 a month across 10 companies vs $280.56 at the age of 16.

As drivers get older the gap in premiums shrinks, with both male and female 30-year-old drivers paying nearly the same for auto coverage.

Why is this the case? While gender alone is not a direct ratings factor that insurance companies look at, the data trends show that young men tend to drive more often, receive more speeding tickets, be involved in more accidents, and receive more DUI convictions than young women.

How Much Car Insurance Costs by Company

Consumers are often advised to shop around for auto insurance because premiums can differ widely between carriers. To illustrate we sampled premiums from 128 insurance companies across the United States for a 30 year old male who drove a 2011 Toyota Camry.

Overall Erie tended to be the cheapest—with rates 30% less than the national average—while of the larger brands GEICO and Progressive were very competitive overall.

Average Cost of Home Insurance

The average cost of homeowners insurance throughout the United States is $978 per year. Take a look at our table below to get an idea of how much it costs in your state:

Home insurance is designed to cover homeowners in the event of any unforeseen catastrophe that damages their home. The average cost of home insurance will be influenced primarily by the location of your residential property and the extent of your insurance coverage.

Several types of home insurance are common or typical to specific regions or locales, such as damage to floodwaters, hurricanes, earthquakes, etc. As a general rule, the Federal Reserve Bureau says you can estimate the expense of homeowners insurance by dividing the value of your home by 1,000 and then multiplying that number by $3.50.

Average Cost of Renters Insurance

The average cost of renters insurance for 2016 (for $20,000-$30,000 in coverage):

If you're one of the millions of Americans who have forgone buying a house in exchange for renting a place, you may want to consider renters insurance as a way to protect your personal belongings. Renters insurance protects your studio, walk-up apartment, or elevator apartment against events such as destruction of property from fire, vandalism, and theft.

Looking at some of the average costs of renters insurance in our four representative states, ValuePenguin thinks the monthly premium is cheap enough and worth the peace of mind knowing you can at least recover the cost of any lost or damaged items.

Average Cost of Health Insurance

Health insurance is an important investment to make in oneself, family members, and loved ones. According to the Department of Health and Human Services’ 2017 Annual Insurance Survey, the average monthly premium for individuals in the United States was $476 (or $5,712 per year). Between 2013 and 2017, average premiums increased 105% for individual policies. These figures include rates from all 39 Healthcare.gov states.

The average cost of health insurance ranges between $319 in Utah and $1,041 in Alaska. ValuePenguin's table has a few examples of average annual premiums for individuals in select states to give you an idea of the average cost of health insurance.

Average Cost of Pet Insurance

Insurance companies providing pet health coverage factor in the breed of your pet when determining quotes for your premium. In a 2017 survey of the market, ValuePenguin found that on average, medical insurance prices for the most popular breeds of pooches varied by over 18%, and rates for the most popular cat breeds varied by over 62%.

The below table shows the estimated monthly cost of pet insurance for the most popular breeds of cat, averaged across the expected monthly premiums of the different plans at several major pet insurance providers.