Who Has the Cheapest Car Insurance Quotes in Arkansas?

We researched auto insurance quotes in Arkansas by company and city to give consumers an idea of who had the best rates in the state. We analyzed and compared quotes from 70+ companies to bring you results on the cheapest car insurance companies in Arkansas.

We found that in general, the cost of car insurance in Arkansas wasn't that expensive: $825. This annual premium, however, hid a wide range in prices from company by company. This is why drivers should look around to make sure they're getting fair quotes. Enter your zip code above to start shopping for great rates among the top car insurers in your neighborhood.

Cheap Car Insurance Companies in Arkansas

Our analysis looked at 71 auto insurance companies and their annual premiums across a number of Arkansas cities. We then averaged the costs across the cities for each company, and ranked them from cheapest to most expensive to surface those with the best rates. Based on that analysis, here are the six companies with the best car insurance rates that we found in our study:

The table below lists 30 auto insurance companies in the Natural State, organized from those with the lowest rates to the highest. Farmers Insurance Company, Horace Mann Property & Casualty, Safeco Insurance Company, USAA, and ANPAC / American National have the most affordable car insurance rates in Arkansas. Just bear in mind that Horace Mann and USAA are specialty companies that only cover teachers and military members, respectively.

Cheap Car Insurance in Arkansas: by City

As we showed in the table above, the three auto insurance companies with the lowest costs and most affordable quotes were Safeco Insurance Company of Illinois, American National Insurance, and United Home Insurance Company across the state. While those are the cheapest at the statewide level, companies do quote differently depending on where you live. In this table below, we identify the cheapest companies in each city:

Little Rock, AR

The cheapest car insurance in Little Rock can be found at Farmers Insurance Company (average annual rates of $319), Safeco Insurance Company ($336), and American National General Insurance Company at $385 (ANGIC actually ranked 5th - Horace Mann and USAA were 3rd and 4th, but are specialty insurers for educators and military members, respectively). The mean cost at these three companies is $347 a year, which is 65% lower than the overall city average. As the capital of Arkansas and home of the William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Library, Little Rock, AR, has some of the higher auto insurance rates in our study. Drivers across our four sample demographics can pay around $977 per year for car insurance - about 18% higher than the state average in our study.

Fayetteville, AR

The lowest cost auto insurance companies in Fayetteville are: Horace Mann Property & Casualty ($249 a year), Farmers Insurance Company ($287 a year), American National Insurance Company ($291), and Imperial Fire & Casualty ($299). Note that Horace Mann only insures teachers and educators.The 74,000 residents of Fayetteville, AR, pay about $746 each year on average to insure their cars.Based on the annual premiums of the three cheapest companies in Fayetteville, drivers could save 61%.This places auto insurance rates in Fayetteville at about 10% cheaper than the state average.

Since the city is home to the state's largest university, the University of Arkansas, we'll also take a look at car insurance rates for student drivers here. The best sample car insurance quotes for student drivers in the 18 year old age group started from $300 to the low $4,000. While rates for younger female drivers are slightly lower than those for their male counterparts, it isn't by much. University of Arkansas students can see rates of $1,207 for males and $1,056 for females on average.

Pine Bluff, AR

We found cheap auto insurance quotes in Pine Bluff from Farmers Insurance ($271 per year), Horace Mann ($275), United Home Insurance Company ($285), and Safeco Insurance Company ($293).$871 is the annual cost of car insurance in Pine Bluff, AR, based on the 282 data points collected for our four driver profiles. Its annual car insurance rates are about 6% higher than the state average, despite being a smaller city. One of the factors contributing to this is the high auto theft rate relative to the state average. According to national statistics in 2009, there were almost eight auto thefts in the city per 1,000 residents compared to the state average of two thefts per 1,000 inhabitants.

Trumann, AR

Our analysis indicates that the lowest car insurance rates are at United Home Insurance Company ($261 for the year), Safeco Insurance Company ($270), and American National General Insurance Company ($296).A city of 6,800 residents in Poinsett County, Trumann's residents pay $789 each year to insure their vehicles. That's nearly three times the cost of one of the cheapest companies; put another way, a year's premium at an average cost company could pay for almost three years of coverage at one of these cheaper companies. According to City-Data, nearly all of the residents (99%) here either drive or carpool to work, with the average commute duration being 19 minutes.

Lake Village, AR

Lake Village has a number of interesting claims to fame, from being the purported resting place of Hernando de Soto, a Spanish explorer, and the site of Charles Lindbergh's first nighttime flight. The city also has the cheapest auto insurance rate in the study, with annual premiums of $744. Living here already saves you 10% compared to the average city in Arkansas. For further savings, here are the cheapest car insurance companies inLake Village: Safeco Insurance Company of Illinois ($261 per year), Farmers ($265), 1st Auto & Casualty Insurance Company ($269). Collectively, the annual cost at these three companies would be on average a discount of 64%, or $479 more in one's pocket.

Most Expensive Insurers in Arkansas

On the other end, Metropolitan Property & Casualty Insurance, Traders Insurance Company, State Auto Mutual Insurance Company, Amica Mutual Insurance, and Direct National Insurance Company ranked as the five most expensive companies. Combined, their average premium of $2,187 was about seven times more expensive compared to sample rates from the five cheapest companies for the same 4-door Camry across the Arkansas cities included in the study. With a bit of comparison shopping, the price of one year's auto coverage could pay for seven years at another cheaper company.

Best Auto Insurance Companies in Arkansas

The best-rated auto insurance companies in Arkansas are Columbia Insurance Group, Cornerstone, Esurance, MetLilfe, and Auto-Owners based on their low complaint index numbers. The complaint index measures how much larger a company's share of complaints is compared to its share of business in the state. Companies that have a complaint index number below 1 are better than average, while those coming in higher than 1 are worse than the average insurer in Arkansas. Note that we excluded smaller companies with less than $5MM in premiums to make this most relevant to the majority of drivers in the state.

Here are the companies ranked from best to most complained about (an index below 1 is better than average; above 1 is worse than average).

Cost of Car Insurance in Arkansas: by City

The cities in Arkansas sampled for their car insurance costs represent a blend of urban cities and small towns in the Natural State. Their populations range from 2,500 to about 194,000 residents. Included are the capital of Arkansas and various cities scattered in the different corners of the state: Little Rock, Fayetteville, Trumann, Lake Village, and Pine Bluff.

The correlation between larger urban cities and higher auto insurance costs holds partially true in Arkansas. As expected, it costs more to insure a car in Little Rock, the largest city in Arkansas. Pine Bluff, a city about a quarter the size of Little Rock, was the second most expensive in the study. Fayetteville, the second largest city in the survey, and the third largest city in Arkansas, had some of the cheaper rates based on study results.

Cost of Car Insurance by Driver

Wonder what the average cost to insure a car is for 18, 40, and 65 year-old drivers? Rates for teenaged drivers in Arkansas were nearly 3x more expensive than those for older adults. Additionally, 18 year-old males could expect to pay about 16% more than their female teenagers.

How the Analysis was Conducted

Sample auto insurance costs were obtained for four driver profiles from seventy one insurance underwriters for five cities representing a mixture of the largest cities and smallest cities across Arkansas.

Insurance policies were structured to include mandatory minimum liability limits of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for bodily injury, and $25,000 for physical damage. These limits meet the minimum liability requirements put forth by the Arkansas government. Coverage does not assume comprehensive or collision insurance (although the large deer population in Arkansas might make this protection more worthwhile).

Our representative driver profiles include an 18 year old female, an 18 year old male, a 40 year old adult, and a 65 year old senior citizen. These drivers are assumed to have generally good driving records, one violation, andneutral / average credit scores. Each driver operates a 2011 Toyota Camry LE sedan with a 2.5L engine.

Surveyed auto insurance costs in Arkansas are for illustrative purposes only. Consumers' actual quotes will differ based on their physical residence, driving history, vehicle, and other factors.