Our research found that the average cost of car insurance in Montana is $641 per year for a minimum coverage policy. Montana rivers may be able to maximize their savings by comparing quotes, as rates for the same type of policy can differ by more than $1,000 per year depending on the insurer.

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In Montana and elsewhere, it's quite simple to switch car insurance companies and save on costs. Read our recommendations for the cheapest and best insurers in Montana below, or input your ZIP above to begin comparison shopping for the best auto insurance quotes in Montana.

Cheapest auto insurance companies in Montana for minimum coverage

If you're a Montanan looking for the cheapest car insurance available, you could buy a minimum coverage policy, which only meets the coverage requirements mandated by state law.

We found that the cheapest minimum coverage policies in Montana are sold by State Farm and Progressive.

State Farm cost our sample driver $344 per year, while Progressive priced at $504 — both much more affordable than the overall state average of $641.

Shoppers should be wary that a minimum coverage policy is the bare minimum protection you can buy. In the case of Montana, a minimum policy will only cover you up to $50,000 in bodily injury liabilities and $20,000 in property damage liability.

Another affordable option for Montana residents is USAA; in fact, if you qualify, it's the most affordable of our sample insurers. Only current and former military members and their families can buy a USAA policy.

The cheap liability-only rates provided may differ greatly from yours depending on your driving history, age, location and other factors.

Cheapest full coverage car insurance in Montana: State Farm

Full coverage policies don't just protect you against liability costs. Through collision and comprehensive insurance, these policies cover damage to your own vehicle for incidents that happen both on and off the road.

The average cost of a full coverage policy in Montana is $2,525 per year. In Montana and elsewhere, it's always good to shop around if you're trying to find the cheapest option:

Full coverage policies pay to repair damage to your car caused by driving and non-driving perils. As a rule of thumb, a full coverage policy is worth it if the value of your car exceeds the cost of comprehensive and collision insurance plus your deductible.

Cheapest full coverage car insurance in Montana after an accident: State Farm

Montana drivers who have a checkered past — at-fault accidents, speeding violations and more — will pay more for car insurance than those with a clean record. But that doesn't mean they can't save: We found that State Farm once again had the cheapest rates after our sample driver got into an at-fault accident.

On average, insurance rates in Montana go up by 35% after an accident. State Farm's rates only increased by 15% from a low base, making it a particular bargain for those with an accident history.

Best auto insurance companies in Montana

Finding cheap car insurance helps Montanans put some extra money into their savings account, but you don't want to pay low rates only to face a poor service experience. Below we rate the best insurance companies in the state by two metrics: our consumer survey and customer complaints.

Based on our consumer survey, Allstate and USAA rate as the best auto insurance companies in Montana.

Rated by customer complaints (or lack thereof), Mid-Century Insurance (a Farmers subsidiary) ranks as the best company in the state.

Best auto insurance in Montana: ValuePenguin consumer survey

According to a survey commission by ValuePenguin measuring customer service and claim satisfaction, Allstate and USAA rank as the best insurers in the state. USAA is the best overall, but not everyone will be eligible for a policy.

Best auto insurance in Montana: By customer complaints

Official complaints lodged by customers against their insurer are collected by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. These can be used to get a sense of how often customers complain about their auto insurance.

The Montana auto insurer with the lowest rate of customer complaints is Mid-Century Insurance, part of Farmers Insurance. Its complaint index is 0.46 versus a national median of 1.0, meaning customers complain about its service half as often as the median insurance company.

Below we've listed the top 10 insurance groups in Montana by their customer complaint index. Nationwide and Mountain West Farm Bureau come off the worst, with complaint ratios above 1.0.

Auto insurance in Montana: Minimum coverage requirements

Montana requires that car insurance policies include, at minimum, the following limits of coverage:

• Bodily injury (BI) liability: $25,000 per person / $50,000 per accident
• Property damage (PD) liability: $20,000 per accident

Montana requires minimum auto insurance liability of $25,000 per person for bodily injury protection and up to $50,000 per accident, and $20,000 for property damage per accident. The state doesn’t require uninsured motorist coverage but requires that insurance companies offer it as part of liability coverage. Drivers have the option of declining this coverage in writing.

While these limits represent the minimum amount of insurance coverage you can have, you should consider adding more, as damages above these limits could require that you pay out of pocket. The amount of liability insurance you should have typically depends upon the amount of assets you have at risk in the case of a lawsuit. A good rule of thumb is to have liability limits matching the value of your assets.

Cheapest car insurance rates in Montana: By city

Location can be a big factor for car insurance rates. Depending on where in Montana you live, average rates may differ by as much as $400 per year.

We've highlighted the three most affordable car insurance companies for full coverage in the 50 biggest cities in Montana.

Unsurprisingly, USAA and State Farm are consistently the cheapest options for our sample driver. Progressive insurance is the next in line, with Allstate replacing it as one of the cheapest options in seven of the 50 cities.

Drivers looking for the cheapest local auto insurance quotes in their city should shop with as many companies as possible before making a choice.

To give you even more detail of how Montana car insurance rates can change, we've analyzed the markets for the five most populous cities in the state.

Often, big cities have higher insurance rates than the rest of the state, but in Montana that rule doesn't hold. These five cities are relatively cheap compared to the state average.

Auto insurance in Billings, MT

Auto insurance prices in Billings are right around the overall average for Montana. USAA, State Farm and Progressive all offered our driver cheaper-than-average rates. Farmers Insurance was particularly expensive in Billings, with rates over $5,000 per year.

Auto insurance in Missoula, MT

Missoula was the cheapest for car insurance of the big Montana cities. Here, our driver was quoted a USAA policy for only $1,025 per year.

Auto insurance in Great Falls, MT

Great Falls is one of the cheaper cities to buy Farmers Insurance. The average rate for Farmers in Great Falls was $4,600 compared to its state average of $4,981. This is still way more expensive than our other sample insurers, but Farmers Insurance rates particularly well for customer service, as measured by customer complaint rate.

Auto insurance in Bozeman, MT

Bozeman is one of the cheaper cities for GEICO, Progressive and Farmers. USAA and State Farm still rank as the cheapest, but you're quite likely to get a decent deal with these other insurers compared to other cities.

Auto insurance in Butte, MT

A city like Butte shows the value of shopping around. Although State Farm is still relatively cheap ($1,379 per year), it is more expensive in Butte than it is in other cities. USAA, Progressive, Allstate, GEICO and Farmers are all cheaper in Butte than they are for Montana as a whole.

Average cost of car insurance in Montana: By city

The average cost of a minimum coverage policy in Montana is $641 per year. The average cost of a full coverage policy is $2,525 per year.

We drew these quotes from hundreds of Montana ZIP codes across six major insurers and found that prices can vary greatly by city. Among the 50 largest cities, the most expensive average quote was $400 more per year than the cheapest.

Below, we've ranked those cities by the average cost of a full coverage policy from cheapest to priciest. East Helena is the cheapest city in Montana for car insurance, while Cut Bank is the most expensive.

Methodology

We gathered rates from six major car insurance companies in hundreds of cities in Montana. When we obtained a quote, it was for a 30-year-old male driving a 2015 Honda Civic EX. This driver had a below-average credit score.

We got quotes that met both the minimum coverage requirements in the state and for a more generous full coverage policy. When we obtained a quote for 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.