How Age Affects Your Auto Insurance Rates (2024)

While car insurance companies look at a variety of factors when determining your rates, one of the most important is age. Average car insurance rates by age and gender can vary significantly, with younger drivers paying much more for coverage.

The reason average car insurance rates by age per month vary so much is that companies consider young, inexperienced drivers as a higher risk. Teen car insurance rates can easily cost over $500 per month.

Read on to learn how age affects your auto insurance rates, including how much you should expect to pay. Then, compare auto insurance rates by age to find the best price for you.

How Age Affects Your Auto Insurance Rates

Age is one of the many factors that insurance companies look at when determining your auto insurance premium. So, it should come as no surprise that if you’re in the “higher risk” age bracket, you’ll be paying more for car insurance.

It probably also comes as no surprise to you that teenagers and first-time drivers will foot the highest bill for their car insurance. It’s important to not get taken advantage of in the insurance buying process.

The bottom line is young drivers are deemed to be high-risk drivers because they’re inexperienced. As a result, young drivers, especially young male drivers, have the highest auto insurance premiums in America.

Auto Insurance Rates by Gender

Is male or female insurance cheaper? Let’s take a look at a table comparing male and female rates from State Farm.

State Farm Average Annual Auto Insurance Rates by Age and Gender

Before we dig further into the explanation for these discrepancies, let’s look at a table comparing male and female rates from Geico.

Geico Average Annual Auto Insurance Rates by Age and Gender

Research shows that young drivers (particularly males) are more likely to be reckless behind the wheel. In fact, statistics show that inexperienced drivers (both male and female) are more likely to file a claim or get a traffic violation, such as a speeding ticket. Because of this, most insurance companies make people wait until they are 25 years old to start paying normal, “adult” insurance rates.

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Finding the Best Car Insurance Rates by Age

What is the best age to get auto insurance? Who pays the most for auto insurance?

The following chart shows average insurance rates for one-person policies with auto liability insurance coverage amounts of $100,000 bodily injury per person per accident, $300,000 total bodily injury for each accident, and $100,000 property damage per accident. This chart shows only liability coverage rates. Collision and comprehensive coverage are not included.

Let’s take a look:

Average Annual Liability Auto Insurance Rates by Age

As you can see, teens and young adults pay the most for auto insurance by far. So, at what age is auto insurance cheapest? It turns out seniors pay the least. You can learn more about the best auto insurance companies for seniors by clicking the link.

The bottom line is that age has an inverse effect on premium rates. Let’s take a look at just why this is.

Auto Insurance Rates by Age – Teens vs. Older Drivers

Many people feel that the elderly also should pay more for auto insurance, as a person’s driving skills often diminish with age. Statistics show, however, that less than one percent of people aged 65 and above will die in auto accidents.

On the other hand, car accidents are the leading cause of death for people in the 15-20 age range, with males being twice as likely as females to die in a car accident at this age.

The elderly get in fewer high-speed accidents, and it’s not only because they drive 35 miles per hour on the highway. Their experience on the road gives them a huge advantage. Studies show that older drivers understand their limitations on the road and therefore take fewer risks. As a result, car accidents involving the elderly tend to be much less serious.

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How Much Auto Insurance Might Increase by Adding a Teen to Your Policy

A big factor in answering this question is whether or not the teen is on their own policy. If they are, they can expect to pay over $2,000 annually for state minimum coverage. If they were to be added to their parent’s policy, the rate would be about $600 on average. If possible, always add your teen to an existing policy.

Here’s a video explaining how to cheaply add a teen to your existing policy.

One other thing you can do to mitigate skyrocketing costs for teen drivers is to choose the vehicle they’ll be driving carefully. In a study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, 83 percent of parents reported buying a used vehicle for their teens to cut down on costs.

What’s even more important is to choose a safe vehicle. Insurers will see this as a responsible choice. Your teen will be viewed as even more high-risk if they’re driving a Ford Mustang vs. a Honda Accord.

Let’s take a further dive into factors that can affect your premiums.

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Other Factors That Affect Your Auto Insurance Rates

There are several primary factors that come into play in terms of rate determination. Chief among them are gender, age, marital status, geographic location, and credit score. We’ll get into all of them shortly.

Is it better to put single or divorced for auto insurance? Let’s take a look at a news report regarding how gender and relationship status can affect some drivers’ rates.

While it may seem unfair, insurers take your marital status into consideration. It’s been statistically determined that married people get in fewer accidents. Because of this, insurers consider single people to present a higher risk. It is worth noting that while the video states that gender is a factor, this is not always the case.

Some states have passed laws preventing insurance companies from factoring a person’s gender into their insurance prices, and some companies have simply stopped doing it on their own due to the fact that it could be viewed as a discriminatory practice.

Average Annual Progressive Auto Insurance Rates by State

What states have the highest auto insurance premiums on average? You better believe that where you live plays a role in your premium. Let’s take a look at a table showing Progressive’s rates in the states where they operate.

Average Annual Auto Insurance Rates by State

Take a look at the state average column. Notice how some states, like Michigan, can be upwards of $10,500 annually in comparison to other states where rates are half as much. Keep in mind these rates are for full coverage policies.

How about credit score? Let’s take a look at another news report, this time about credit score and your premium.

Basically, insurers view a good credit score as an indication that a person is responsible. Again, it’s all about risk. Let’s move on to how you can get the best rates possible.

Finding the Best Auto Insurance Rates by Age

It doesn’t matter if you’re 16 or 86, there are always ways for you to save on auto insurance. 4AutoInsuranceQuote.com has many guides that will help you find the best quotes for auto insurance regardless of how old or young you are. We recommend you start reading the following:

• The Top 10 Secrets for Finding the Cheapest Auto Insurance Rates
• The 20 Things You Should Know About That Will Affect Your Insurance Rates

After you’ve educated yourself on the ins and outs of auto insurance, scroll back up to the top of this page and enter your ZIP code to begin comparing auto insurance quotes. 4AutoInsuranceQuote.com helps connect all of our visitors, young or old, with the most competitive auto insurance rates in the industry.

If we haven’t answered all of your questions today, fear not because we’re going to wrap up with some commonly asked questions.

When you’re ready to buy car insurance, get a good start on finding the cheapest rates for your demographic in your area by typing your ZIP code into our helpful tool below to find the best car insurance company for you.

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