Best Car Insurance Rates in Michigan

We studied car insurance rates throughout the state of Michigan to help our readers determine which companies offered the most affordable auto insurance quotes. From our study, we found that local rates fluctuated widely depending on insurance company. The cheapest company statewide cost just 19% of what the most expensive carrier was charging. Read our analysis below, or enter your zip code above for a list of cheap auto insurance companies near you to begin more local comparison shopping:

Cheap Car Insurance Companies in Michigan

It's helpful to know which auto insurance companies are more affordable in your state than others, especially since Michigan motorists are paying about 70% more than the average U.S. state for their no-fault benefits. Below we've ranked 21 companies in Michigan to give drivers an idea for the cheapest rates in the state. Rates are based on a thirty year old single male driver. MetLife ranked as the cheapest insurer in Michigan with the lowest average rates at $1,159 annually. Three other companies also had average rates below $2,000 a year: Hastings Mutual, Chubb, and Pioneer State Mutual. Allstate was the most expensive company with drivers paying over $5,992 per year on average.

This can look different depending on where you actually live, drive, and park your car. For those people who'd like to see which insurers operate near you and have the cheapest rates, just enter your zip code in the box above to start your search. We've also included the full list of 21 car insurance companies in our Michigan analysis, and ranked them from the lowest to the most expensive companies based on our benchmark driver. The actual quotes you'll get will differ based on your own circumstances.

Cheap Car Insurance in Michigan: by City

As we mentioned, where you live plays a large role in determining how much it costs to insure your car. In this section, we'll take a look at costs for the largest cities.

Detroit, MI

Detroit is the most populous city in Michigan and also its most expensive when it comes to auto insurance. This isn't the first time Detroit has found itself towards the top of insurance lists before. It is widely regarded as one of the most expensive auto insurance cities not only in MI but in the entire country. Based on our driver's profile, Detroit's annual rates average $6,197 or 103% more expensive than the state average.

Cheap auto insurance in Detroit does exist, however. We found some of the lowest local rates at MetLife, Hastings Mutual, and Chubb. For example, an average annual rate of $2,136 a year at MetLife is about 66% cheaper than the average annual premium in Detroit.

Grand Rapids, MI

The 2nd largest city in Michigan and about 30 miles from the eastern shores of Lake Michigan, Grand Rapids is nicknamed "River City" for the beautiful Grand River that runs through its center. There are many things to do in Grand Rapids, from golfing, to shopping, hanging at the beach, or even discovering one of the many art exhibits around town. Economically, GR's largest employer is Spectrum Health with almost 20,000 employees. Car insurance rates in Grand Rapids are relatively favorable despite the city being the second largest in Michigan. We found the average cost to insure a car here to be around $2,446 a year, making Grand Rapids the 11th cheapest city in our study.

MetLife, Hastings Mutual, and Pioneer State Mutual were several of the most affordable car insurance companies in Grand Rapids based on our comparison data. On average, their rates will be nearly 49% lower than most rates offered in Grand Rapids. Educators living in Grand Rapids should take advantage of MEEMIC Insurance’s low rates, which were $1,728 a year – the fifth lowest among Grand Rapids insurers!

Warren, MI

The 3rd largest city in Michigan, Warren is home to more than 134,000 people. It's located about 21 miles north of Detroit, and just 8 miles away from the Lake St. Claire Shores. General Motors’ Cadillac Car division calls Warren home, and tourists find Warren a great anchor point to several of the region’s attractions, such as the Detroit Zoo and the Museum of Contemporary Art. In our analysis, we found Warren to be on the pricier end of the spectrum, with average annual auto insurance rates around $3,446 for our sample driver.

We recommend adding MetLife, Chubb, and Hastings Mutual onto your list of insurers for locals to consider. In Warren, these three insurers generally were at least 56% cheaper than most other companies in Warren; some, such as MetLife, offer rates as low as $1,092 a year. MEEMIC helped to round out the top 5 low-cost car insurance companies in Warren, exclusive to drivers in the education industry.

Sterling Heights, MI

Home to almost 130,000 people, Sterling Heights is the 4th largest city in Michigan. It is one of the core suburbs within the Detroit Metro region, and its calendar is packed with recreational events. Some of the most notable summer events in Sterling Heights include their Memorial Day Parade, Sterlingfest, and the American-Polish Festival. Our benchmark driver paid about $3,223 a year, or around $267 a month, to insure a Toyota in Sterling Heights.

While the city’s overall premiums were 5% higher than the Michigan average, we still found a wide range in costs between insurers here. For example, at $2,028 a year, Pioneer State Mutual cost the most for a basic liability policy for our driver profile. As you shop around for the best car insurance rates in Sterling Heights, we suggest including MetLife, Hastings Mutual, and Chubb when getting a quote. If you are an educator, do look into MEEMIC insurance as well, as our benchmark motorists found it to be the 4th cheapest overall in the city.

Lansing, MI

Home to the Michigan State University Spartans in addition to being the capital city of Michigan, Lansing is the 6th largest city – very close behind Ann Arbor – in the state with almost 114,000 residents as of 2013. Lansing is also called "The Heart of Michigan" partly because it is quite literally in the center of the state. The state government and MSU provide many of the jobs in Lansing but there's strong private enterprise as well with plenty of national and regional companies keeping their headquarters in the city. The cost of insuring your vehicle in Lansing is $2,605 per year which is about 15% cheaper than the state average and more than $3,592 less than residents of Detroit are paying!

To save even more, start comparison shopping at MetLife, Hastings Mutual, Pioneer State Mutual, Chubb, and Auto Owners for some of the cheapest rates near you. Together, these insurers represent nearly a 52% “discount” on auto insurance quotes when compared to the city’s average.

Ann Arbor, MI

Ann Arbor is home to a large university, the University of Michigan Wolverines. With 114,000 citizens in the city, Ann Arbor is the 6th largest town in "The Great Lakes State". No stranger to awards, Ann Arbor has consistently placed on "Top Places to Live" lists for years and is widely considered a safe and friendly town with a very reasonable cost of living. In our study, the city placed fantastically as well. Ann Arbor was the second best city to live in for auto insurance in the state overall with low annual premiums of $2,233. This makes Ann Arbor 27% cheaper than the average Michigan city.

You can save even more with the right local insurer in Ann Arbor. For example, the cheapest insurer, MetLife, offered quotes that were less than half the cost of the city’s average; our driver’s quotes were around $960 a year. We also recommend putting Hastings Mutual, Pioneer State Mutual, Chubb, and SECURA onto your shortlist if you're looking for the lowest auto insurance quotes in Ann Arbor.

Best Auto Insurance Companies in Michigan

It's important to at least consider the complaint ratio of whatever companies you're looking at for car insurance. If you just look at the premium price there's always a risk that you end up with a company that has great rates but a lousy overall experience (claims servicing is slow, customer service is rude, etc). Below you'll find many of the largest auto insurance operators in Michigan and their corresponding complaint ratio, as published by the Michigan Department of Insurance. The lower the complaint ratio, the better rated a company is:

Cost of Car Insurance in Michigan: by City

Michigan's most expensive car insurance rates were in Detroit followed by Redford and Dearborn, among the cities we have studied. Detroit residents were paying an average of nearly $6,192 per year to insure their vehicles while those in Dearborn and Flint were both paying $5,135. Regarding the most affordable cities, Midland, Ann Arbor, and Holland finished in the top 3 positions with a yearly average of $2,238 between the three of them.

Here's a look at the 50 cities scattered throughout the state in our study and their average annual auto insurance rate. Cities are ranked from cheapest to most expensive.

Study Methodology

The quotes we compiled were for a 2011 Toyota Camry model. Our hypothetical driver was a thirty year old single male who drove about 12,000 miles per year in his Camry, which he purchased new for commuting to work. He has clean driving records in the past 5 years and excellent credit, and he has opted for basic auto insurance coverage.

We sampled quotes from 21 auto insurance companies and averaged the sample rates to come up with an average for each city. The companies we looked included but not limited to: State Farm, Nationwide, Allstate, Chubb, Mercury, Auto-Owners, Hastings Mutual, and MEEMIC. Surveyed auto insurance costs in Michigan are for illustrative purposes only and actual quotes will vary based on your physical residence, driving history, and other factors.

Below is a table comparison between the Michigan State auto insurance requirements and limits we used for our analysis. We used a slightly higher coverage than what is required: