The Best and Cheapest Iowa Car Insurance Quotes (2020)

ValuePenguin found the average cost of minimum coverage car insurance in Iowa is $357 per year, or about $30 per month.

But insurance prices depend on several factors, such as the coverage you select (minimum or full coverage), driving history and location. We recommend comparing multiple insurers to get the best price for you.

Enter your ZIP code above to begin shopping for quotes from Iowa insurers, or read our analysis below to get a sense for what Iowa drivers are paying. And if you're looking for more than just the most affordable policy, we also provide recommendations for auto insurers based on customer experience.

Cheapest auto insurance in Iowa: Minimum coverage

If you're looking for the cheapest available car insurance quotes with the lowest limits allowed in Iowa, the most affordable policies on average are offered by:

Our sample driver got an average quote of $266 per year from these providers, 26% cheaper than the state average. Wadena, noted in parentheses, is the largest subsidiary of IMT Insurance in Iowa.

However, insurance rates will vary depending on your location, driving history and several other factors. Below, we've provided a list of rates for our sample driver as a general guide to car insurance prices for minimum coverage in Iowa.

A minimum coverage policy will be the cheapest option for any given insurer, as it only meets state requirements for auto insurance coverage, but these provide less protection than a policy with higher limits and add-on coverages.

A policy with increased liability limits and comprehensive and collision insurance, which aren't required by the state of Iowa, will generally cost you more per year but will give you more protection than a basic policy. A minimum coverage policy could leave you without enough protection against liability costs or damage to your own vehicle in the event of a major accident.

Cheapest full-coverage car insurance in Iowa: State Farm

If you're looking to get more protection and buy a full-coverage policy — one with collision and comprehensive insurance — the cheapest Iowa insurers are State Farm, IMT Insurance and Nationwide. All three of these insurers were measurably cheaper than the Iowa state average of $1,482 per year for a full coverage policy.

Collision insurance covers the cost of damage to your own car after an accident, while comprehensive insurance pays for damage that isn't related to a collision, such as severe weather or vandalism. You may consider adding this coverage if you don't want to pay for these costs out of pocket.

Cheapest full-coverage car insurance after an accident: State Farm

If you have an at-fault accident on your record, you're much more likely to be charged a higher rate by your insurer. The cheapest insurers in Iowa for drivers with a checkered history are State Farm, Nationwide and Auto-Owners Insurance Co.

The differences in rates for our sample driver before and after an accident show the value in shopping among multiple insurers, as some providers penalize drivers more than others. For example, Nationwide and Grinnell Mutual don't raise rates for our sample driver, who was in an accident that caused $2,000 in property damage. However, GEICO raises rates by almost $1,300 per year.

Iowa insurers won't offer you these exact rates, but the differences show why drivers should shop around.

Best car insurance companies in Iowa

Price isn't everything, though. Iowa drivers should look for an insurer with a strong customer service reputation. Measured by their rate of customer complaints, the best auto insurance companies in Iowa are:

Below, we rank the biggest insurers in the state by their complaint index, which measures the number of complaints a company receives, adjusted for the size of the company. The national median is 1.0, and a lower complaint index means customers submit fewer complaints about this company than the national average (and vice versa).

Iowa insurers that have smaller market share and local knowledge — such as IMT and Grinnell — appear to better serve drivers in the state.

The national median of the complaint index is 1.0, so most of the large insurers in Iowa received a score better than the national median. GEICO was the exception, with a complaint index of 1.2 — indicating poorer-than-average customer service.

Auto insurance in Iowa: Minimum coverage requirements

Iowa is one of the few states in the nation that doesn't require auto insurance as long as you have an appropriate alternative. The law requires that a driver show proof of financial responsibility if he or she gets into an accident or loses driving privileges.

There are a few ways to show proof of financial responsibility in Iowa, including:

Cheapest auto insurance in Iowa: By city

Our research finds that car insurance rates in Iowa vary greatly based on where you live. And Iowa has wide variability between insurers, too, as seven of our 10 surveyed providers ranked as one of the cheapest options in the 50 most populated cities in the state.

Below we show the cheapest three auto insurers for a full-coverage policy with our sample driver in those 50 cities. State Farm tended to be the most affordable, but IMT Insurance, Nationwide and Farm Bureau Mutual also tended to offer some of the cheapest rates in these locations.

To give you a better idea on how rates varied, we dug into the five largest cities in the state by population:

Big cities tend to have denser populations and, consequently, more traffic accidents, so residents in those locations tend to pay higher rates. However, this is not the case in Iowa, as drivers in 41 of the 50 most populous cities pay rates below the state average.

State Farm is the cheapest auto insurer in four of the five cities, with Nationwide the cheapest in Cedar Rapids. Here's how insurance rates in each city vary from the state average.

Auto insurance in Des Moines, Iowa

Although Des Moines is the biggest city in the state, its insurance rates are below the state average. State Farm was the cheapest for our sample driver, but it's also the rare city where Farm Bureau Mutual ranks near the top for affordability; it was the second-cheapest insurer on average.

Although cheap on a state level, Des Moines is still one of the 10 most expensive cities of the 50 biggest in the state.

Auto insurance in Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Cedar Rapids is notably affordable, ranking in the top half of the 50 largest cities. Of note: Nationwide, not State Farm, is the most affordable insurer for our sample driver with average annual rates of $1,126 per year. Shoppers in Cedar Rapids seeking affordability should get a quote with Nationwide.

Auto insurance in Davenport, Iowa

Davenport is the third biggest city in Iowa, and its higher rates are more typical of those charged to drivers in populated cities. It's one of the most expensive cities among the 50 most populated, with high rates from Allstate and Grinnell Mutual driving up the average.

Auto insurance in Sioux City, Iowa

Sioux City is the most expensive city among these five, with rates 6% above the Iowa average. Drivers looking for ways to save in Sioux City should shop State Farm, IMT Insurance and Farm Bureau — at a minimum — as these insurers had the cheapest rates on average.

Auto insurance in Iowa City, Iowa

Iowa City is surprisingly cheap for its size, ranking as the second cheapest for auto insurance out of the 50 biggest cities. For our sample driver, the three cheapest insurers were all relatively closer in price: State Farm ($1,032 per year), IMT Insurance ($1,046) and Nationwide ($1,106)

Average cost of car insurance in Iowa: By city

The average cost of car insurance in Iowa for a full-coverage policy is $1,482 per year. This number comes from surveying 10 insurers across hundreds of cities, but rates can differ greatly depending on a variety of factors including driver profile, coverages and location.

Below, we have ranked the 50 biggest cities in Iowa based on the average price of a full-coverage policy, with the most affordable cities ranking first.

Methodology

Our research pulled quotes from hundreds of cities in Iowa from 10 major insurers. For the quotes, we used the profile of a 30-year-old male driving a 2015 Honda Civic EX. The driver has a below-average credit score and was quoted for a full-coverage policy with the following limits, unless noted otherwise:

If the policy quoted only met Iowa's minimum required limits, or altered the profile of a driver, that is noted in the piece.

ValuePenguin's analysis used insurance rate data from Quadrant Information Services. These rates were publicly sourced from insurer filings and should be used for comparative purposes only — your own quotes may be different.