Best Car Insurance Rates in Utah

Depending on where drivers live in Utah, the cost of auto insurance averaged $1,245 per year according to our research.The biggest factor affecting auto insurance quotes in Utah was which insurer they picked. Quotes from the most expensive carrier cost 68% or $1,414 more than the cheapest company in Utah. Our report below summarizes where we found the lowest rates for car insurance in Utah by state and by each of the 32 cities, including Salt Lake City, Provo, and West Jordan, etc.

• Cheapest Auto Insurance Companies
• Best Car Insurance Rates: by City
• Best Auto Insurance Companies in UT
• Average Cost of Auto Insurance: by City

Cheapest Auto Insurance in Utah

Based on our male driver, we found the three cheapest rates for car insurance in Utah at Bear River Mutual, GEICO, and Farm Bureau Mutual. Progressive and American Family round out the top five most affordable carriers here. The average cost of insuring a Toyota Camry at the three cheapest companies was $804 - 35% below the state mean. We'd recommend including any one of these companies, as well as comparing at least three quotes, when you're looking for low-cost auto insurance in Utah.

Bear River Mutual: We found the cheapest rates for car insurance in Utah at Bear River - by about 47% lower compared to the state mean for our 30 year old sample male driver. Bear River Mutual is a local insurer that operates as a mutual company, where its customers are also its owners. Any traditional profits are supposed to get funneled back to the policyholders via lower rates. It operates through independent agencies, with about six agencies in Salt Lake City, two in West Valley City, six in Provo, and a handful more scattered across the Beehive State.

GEICO: GEICO generally ranks as one of the most affordable insurers in our nation-wide studies. In Utah, our single male driver saw an average rate that was about 36% cheaper than what the typical insurer quoted - that shaves about $454 off on auto insurance costs a year. While they're predominantly an online company that handles most of their business and quoting through their website, they do have one agent stationed in Salt Lake City for consumers who prefer in-person interactions.

Farm Bureau: Farm Bureau Mutual was the third cheapest auto insurance company in Utah. Rates for a basic policy averaged just shy of $950 a year for our example driver, who had excellent driving records and good credit. One thing to note about Farm Bureau is that they require membership in order to be eligible for their insurance products, and the dues are $65 a year. While the $65 membership fee makes the average annual rate higher than Allied's, there are some benefits that accompany it, such as discounts to car rentals and AAA membership.

Check out the table below for a list of the 12 Utah auto insurers we studied. They're listed from the most affordable rates we found for our benchmark drivers to the highest. Your actual rates will differ based on your driver profile.

Minimum Auto Insurance Requirements in Utah

The rates we cite above reflect a driver getting full coverage insurance. For cheaper rates, drivers can opt instead for the state minimum which are the following:

Cheapest Car Insurance in Utah: by City

We analyzed quotes across 10 companies in 32 cities in Utah, and present in the table below which companies had the three best car insurance rates in each location. For the most part, Bear River and GEICO dominated as the cheapest and 2nd cheapest insurer in each city, respectively. Farm Bureau and Progressive alternated with the third best rates depending on the city. Even in Kearns, West Jordan, and Salt Lake City, which ranked with three of the most expensive rates out of Utah, there's still opportunity to save by shopping for quotes.

Salt Lake City, UT

Salt Lake City ranked as the third most expensive city with an average rate that is 6% higher than the state average. The average premium here for our sample driver was $1,314. The capital and the most populous city in Utah, SLC was founded by Brigham Young and other Mormon followers in 1847 and is the headquarters for the Church of the Latter Day Saints. The happiest snowflakes fall in Utah, as ads for the city have proclaimed, and ardent skiers no doubt have visited runs at Park City and Canyons Resort, or Snowbird and Alta. CNN calls Salt Lake City the “least stressed-out city in the U.S.” due to its job opportunities and low cost of living - perhaps with the exception of auto insurance.

For the best car insurance rates in Salt Lake City, we'd recommend getting quotes from Bear River, GEICO, and Farm Bureau. The cost of insuring a Toyota Camry at these three companies was the lowest for the sample driver that we obtained quotes for. Rates averaged $792, and were $523 cheaper compared to the typical insurer in SLC. Progressive and American Family help to round out the five best rates here. In total, the five companies quoted a mean annual premium of $942 for our sample profile, which came out to being 28% lower than the SLC average.

Provo, UT

To get the cheapest quotes for car insurance in Provo, we suggest starting at Bear River Mutual, GEICO, and Farm Bureau. From our data set, rates from these three carriers were about $801 or 36% cheaper for our driver’s vehicles compared to the other insurers here. Bear River and Farm Bureau are great for Utahns who prefer having one point of contact for their insurance needs, and GEICO would be great for people looking for a simple and quick online quote. The city of Provo is home to about 116,000 Utahns, including pop culture figures such as actress Julianne Hough, the Osmond family, and Imagine Dragons. It also is the site of Brigham Young University, one of the largest private universities in the U.S. with an estimated 34,000 student body.

West Jordan, UT

Also located in Salt Lake County, West Jordan ranks as the second most expensive city for auto insurance in the state. The city was founded in 1850, when the first sawmill was built in the area. Its population has grown exponentially since the 1970s, and today includes students at the Salt Lake Community College and Broadview University. Our example driver saw rates averaging $1,316 per year to insure their vehicles. Although rates here are 6% higher than the state mean, drivers can still save on their costs. We found the five most affordable car insurance rates in West Jordan at Bear River, GEICO, Farm Bureau Mutual, Progressive, and American Family. Compared to the 10-company composite of $1,245, these five insurers cost about $976 on average. That's savings of 22% for our benchmark driver - equal to $269 back in their wallets.

Orem, UT

Who has the lowest auto insurance rates in Orem? We compared rates across 10 carriers underwriting in Orem, and that distinction went to Bear River, GEICO, and Farm Bureau. Rates ranged from $660 to $936 for our typical single male driver in Orem for the three most affordable companies. Your rates will differ significantly, because our driver had excellent blemish-free rates in the past five years and a good credit history. Nevertheless, we recommend these three, along with Progressive and American Family as a starting point when you're thinking about where to get quotes from for low-cost auto insurance. About a 40-mile drive from Salt Lake City, Orem's population is 88,000. It's located at the base of the Wasatch Mountains, and near the banks of the Utah Lake. Forbes has recognized it as a great place to raise a family, and from outdoor activities in nearby Provo Canyon to kid-friendly spots like Nickel City and skating at the Classic Fun Center, it's not hard to see why.

Sandy, UT

If you're looking for cheap auto insurance in Sandy, we direct your attention to Bear River, GEICO, Farm Bureau, Progressive, and American Family Insurance Company. With an average annual rate of $960 for our single male driver, these five companies were $343 or 22% cheaper than the typical carrier operating in Sandy. With Little Cottonwood Canyon so close by, hiking trails like the Bell Canyon and Cecret Lake routes are just a hop, skip, and jump away for Sandy residents. The 87,000 people who live here have a plethora of nature and green outdoor space to relax in, from Dimple Dell Regional Nature Park to the Flat Iron Mesa Park. 

Best Rated Auto Insurance Companies in Utah

To determine which companies were the best in Utah, we looked at complaint data submitted by consumers to the Utah Insurance Department. Their complaint ratio measures the number of valid complaints against each insurer per $100,000 of premiums underwritten by the company. The lower the complaint ratio, the better the company. By this metric, Auto Owners, Safeco, USAA, Bear River Mutual, and Mid-Century were the five best car insurance companies in Utah. Below are the companies ranked from best-rated to the ones with the highest share of complaints relative to their market share. 

Rank	Auto Insurance Company	Earned Premiums in UT	Complaint Ratio
1	Auto Owners	$20,102,224	0.0000
2	Safeco	18,343,179	0.0000
3	USAA	47,405,875	0.0000
4	Bear River Mutual	67,868,102	0.0010
5	Mid-Century	149,636,182	0.0010
6	Allstate	139,913,941	0.0020
7	Farm Bureau	33,750,676	0.0030
8	Metro Group	18,008,796	0.0060
9	Progressive	101,827,957	0.0060
10	State Farm	226,864,725	0.0070
11	American Family	60,257,129	0.0080
12	Liberty Mutual	22,873,791	0.0090
13	CSAA	21,509,550	0.0140
14	GEICO	68,760,081	0.0180

Average Cost of Auto Insurance by City

The average premiums for the five most affordable cities come in 5% under the state average. Based on our sample drivers' costs of insuring a Toyota Camry, the average across these five cheapest cities is $1,178. They're a diverse group, varying widely in population, from 5,000 to 80,000 in size, and are situated all over the Beehive State. The five most expensive cities have an average rate of $1,320. They are located in Salt Lake City County, relatively closely to SLC. The graph below presents the entire list, and ranks the 30+ cities from the lowest average auto insurance rates to the highest.

How We Conducted the Study

For the study, we collected premiums for one sample driver in more than 30 cities in the state for a 30 year old single male. The example driver owns his 2011 Toyota Camry vehicles in full and commute to and from work, using about 12,000 miles a year. He also has a good credit history and a great driving record - no accidents or traffic violations in the past five years.

The state requires minimum Bodily Injury Liability protection of $25,000 per person, and up to $65,000 per accident. It also requires that drivers are insured for up to $15,000 for property damage and $3,000 for no-fault, or personal injury, protection. We included national insurers such as GEICO, Allstate, and State Farm in our study. Our table below shows the difference between the required minimums and our study, where we assumed basic liability protection for the Camry.

Insurance Coverage	Utah Minimum Coverage	Study Coverage
Bodily Injury (BI) (per person / per accident)	$25,000 / $65,000	$50,000 / $100,000
Property Damage (PD)	15,000	25,000
Personal Injury Protection	3,000*	3,000
Uninsured Motorist BI (per person / per accident)	25,000 / 65,000*	50,000 / 100,000

* These coverages, while usually bundled with policies, may be rejected in writing

The cities included in our list are presented below for readers reference in alphabetical order. Displayed next to each city is the average annual premium, along with how they rank among cities with the cheapest premiums, and their increase or decrease compared to the average cost for our sample drivers in the state.

Sources:
Utah Minimum Auto Insurance Limits: https://insurance.utah.gov/auto-home/auto/glossaryofautoterms.php
Census Data for Utah: http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/49000.html