ValuePenguin dug into car insurance rates throughout the state to determine the cheapest car insurance companies in Michigan.

And the average cost of car insurance in Michigan is the highest in the country: $2,641 for a six-month policy, or $5,282 per year.

Cheapest insurer

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Best for customer service

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Cheapest insurer

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Best for customer service

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But insurance rates in Michigan and elsewhere can vary widely based on the policy you select, your driving history, your location and other factors. 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.

Cheapest auto insurance companies in Michigan

If you purchase a policy with unlimited Personal Injury Protection (PIP), the default policy offered by insurers, we found that Auto-Owners Insurance and USAA are the cheapest companies, costing an average of $1,485 and $1,304 per year, respectively. For those who aren't eligible for USAA or want to shop elsewhere, Frankenmuth Insurance ($1,556 per year) and Progressive ($1,729) also had some of the most affordable quotes.

The Michigan average is driven up by the fact that some of the biggest companies in the state — including Hanover, Allstate and AAA — are extremely expensive. You can usually find much cheaper rates by shopping around.

Below, we rank our sample companies from cheapest to most expensive for drivers shopping for a minimum-coverage policy. The actual quotes you'll get will differ based on your own circumstances.

Under the reform, new minimum-coverage policies have higher liability insurance limits than before, also called personal liability and property damage (PLPD) auto insurance. But in the event you're at fault for costly injuries to others in a major car accident — and if Michigan's no-fault laws don't apply — you could still find the minimum policy insufficient to cover your costs.

These policies also don't include comprehensive and collision insurance, the protections included in full-coverage policies.

Cheapest full-coverage auto insurance: Auto-Owners Insurance

States don't require comprehensive and collision insurance — the key components of full-coverage car insurance — but you should consider adding them to your policy if you have a new or expensive car. However, these policies are 65% more expensive in Michigan.

We found that Auto-Owners Insurance and USAA also offer the cheapest full-coverage policies in Michigan, on average, with USAA the clear winner if you're eligible. Progressive provided similarly priced policies to Auto-Owners.

Full-coverage policies include liability insurance, collision insurance to cover your own car in an accident, and comprehensive insurance, which covers weather-related damage, theft and vandalism. As a rule of thumb, if your car is worth $4,000 or more, you should consider buying full coverage.

Cheapest auto insurance after an at-fault accident: Auto-Owners Insurance

Your driving record is one of the most important factors in setting your auto insurance rates. And if you're at fault in an accident, your car insurance rates in Michigan could jump by hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

Once again, our research shows that Auto-Owners is the cheapest widely available insurer based on our comparison data, while USAA is the cheapest insurer for those who are eligible. After an accident, Auto-Owners Insurance had the smallest increase in rates, as our driver was only charged 17% more.

In extreme instances, such as with AAA, an insurer may double rates after just one accident. This shows why Michigan drivers should regularly compare rates across car insurers, especially if they have an accident or violation in their driving history.

Best auto insurance companies in Michigan

We recommend all Michigan drivers to shop around and find the lowest auto insurance quotes, but you should also get a policy from an insurer with a great reputation.

How you balance savings and quality of service is up to you, but you'll likely make an auto insurance claim in a time of stress and need. It helps to know you'll be working with an insurer that will be responsive and fair.

Measured by the rate of customer complaints, we found the best insurance companies in Michigan are:

The lower the complaint rate, the better rated a company.

Considering that Auto-Owners Insurance and Frankenmuth also offer some the cheapest policies in Michigan on average, these companies are great starting points for your auto insurance search.

Cheapest auto insurance in Michigan, by city

Michigan car insurance rates can vary a great deal depending on where you live. Our research found that for the 50 most populous cities in which rate data was available, USAA and Auto-Owners Insurance almost always had some of the cheapest rates.

The next-best option is Frankenmuth Insurance, which ranked as one of the three cheapest insurers in 35 out of 50 cities.

To provide Michigan shoppers with greater detail, we've highlighted the costs in the five largest cities in the state by population:

USAA is the cheapest company in each location, but prices can vary widely city to city.

Auto insurance in Detroit

Even for Michigan, Detroit is incredibly expensive for car insurance. Across our sample insurers, a minimum-coverage policy costs an average of more than $13,000 per year.

But even more surprising is the range of prices. Auto-Owners Insurance costs less than $3,000 a year, while Allstate, AAA and Hanover all cost more than $20,000 per year. The variability in this market means shoppers should definitely shop around and find the company that offers them the best rate.

Auto insurance in Grand Rapids

Despite being the second most populous city in Michigan, Grand Rapids has relatively affordable car insurance policies. Our driver found an Auto-Owners Insurance policy cost $1,260 per year, and Frankenmuth, Progressive and State Farm all charged less than $2,000 per year.

Auto insurance in Warren

Though not nearly as expensive as Detroit, Warren is the second most expensive city of these five. All our sample insurers are much more expensive in Warren, but USAA and Progressive increased their prices the least compared to their state averages.

Auto insurance in Sterling Heights

Sterling Heights is the 11th most expensive major city in the state for car insurance. But the average is driven up by major rate increases for this location by insurers such as AAA, Hanover, Allstate and State Farm. As is typical for Michigan, the cheapest insurers — USAA and Auto-Owners — raised rates the least in Sterling Heights.

Auto insurance in Ann Arbor

Young drivers in every state typically pay more for car insurance. But despite being a student town, Ann Arbor is one of the cheaper major cities in the state for car insurance.

Here, an insurer like State Farm has much more competitive prices than it does for the state as a whole. Its average rates in the city are 27% lower than its average rates for all of Michigan.

Average cost of car insurance in Michigan: By city

The average cost of a minimum-coverage policy in Michigan is $5,282 per year, and a full-coverage policy costs $8,723 per year; both the most expensive averages in the country.

Average rates can change a lot depending on where you live. Below, we've ranked the 50 most populous cities in the state (where data was available) from cheapest to most expensive minimum-coverage policies.

These averages include figures from all our sample insurers. However, shopping around should help you find rates that are cheaper than the average for any given city.

Michigan car insurance requirements

Starting July 1, 2020, Michigan enacted auto insurance reform with the intent of lowering costs for drivers statewide. The reform implements two key changes related to minimum coverage requirements were:

A minimum coverage policy in Michigan now has the following required limits:

In Michigan, a no-fault state, liability insurance is labeled as "residual" because it will only be used in special circumstances involving serious injuries or with out-of-state drivers.

You can read more in our guide on Michigan state auto insurance requirements, which describes the reforms enacted in July 2020 and the potential savings you could garner by lowering your PIP limits.

Methodology

This analysis used quotes from thousands of Michigan cities. The quotes were for a 30-year-old man with a 2015 Honda Civic EX. The driver had a minimum-coverage policy meeting Michigan state requirements before the July 1, 2020 reform. If he had a full-coverage policy, it had the following limits:

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.