State car insurance rates most and least expensive

A shot of Montpelier, VermontSean Pavone/Shutterstock

• For drivers, there are few numbers more important than car insurance rates. 
• A car insurance premium is the rate an owner pays to activate an insurance policy which protects them against accidents, damages, stolen vehicles and other incidents.
• The insurance information website Insure.com recently published an analysis on which states have the highest and lowest annual insurance rates.
• According to the study, the national average for annual premiums is $1,365, but the variance among states is more stark than one would assume. 
• Michigan has the highest average annual insurance rates in the country while Vermont has the lowest. 

For drivers, there are few numbers more important than car insurance rates. A car insurance premium is the rate an owner pays to activate an insurance policy which protects them against accidents, damages, stolen vehicles and other incidents. Like many aspects of America, car insurance rates very from state to state.   

The insurance information website Insure.com recently published an analysis on which states have the highest and lowest annual insurance rates, including a total ranking of all 50 states. According to the study, the national average for annual premiums is $1,365, but the variance among states is more stark than one would assume. 

When looking at the example of a specific, best-selling vehicle, the Nissan Rogue, Insure.com Consumer Analyst Penny Gusner said in a public statement, “Insuring a 2018 Nissan Rogue in Michigan costs, on average, $2,372. In Vermont, the average rate for the best-selling SUV is just $918. This is a difference of $1,454, or breaks down that you’ll pay 158 percent more to insure the same vehicle in Michigan than in Vermont.”

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There’s a reason for the huge premium disparity for the same vehicle. 

Insure.com points out that Michigan uses “no-fault” car insurance that is believed to be the cause of driving up rates because this type of insurance un-caps medical benefits for injuries sustained while driving. 

When looking at the states that have low insurance rates, there are other factors at play that make for a lower number. 

Vermont has a small population, so this leads to less accidents and fewer claims, both which help drive down premiums. This is the reason why Idaho and Iowa are both top-5 for least-expensive insurance. 

Ohio and Virginia are each relatively highly-populated states that have low insurance rates, but Insure.com cites the vast number of insurance carriers in each state—almost 250 for Ohio and over 300 for Virginia—and the competition which results as the main reason their insurance premiums are so low. 

Variance in state laws account for the changes among auto premiums, but weather differences, crime rates, and the percentage of uninsured drivers in each state all play into the creating differences in premium numbers. 

Insure.com’ study notes that there are multiple risk factors at play that affect car insurance no matter the state that include age of drivers and gender, as older drivers have fewer accidents and females have less; location, as some states have more roads than others; the type of car one drives, because a minivan costs less to insure than a Ferrari; and driving record of the vehicle owner.

With this information in mind, take a look below the five states with the highest annual average insurance premiums and the five states with the lowest using data provided by Insure.com.