Insurance is simultaneously one of the greatest and most complained about things in the world. People complain about premiums, customer support, and sales calls daily, but that changes quickly once their Hyundai Sonata is lying totaled in a ditch, and they need a new car they can no longer afford. Car insurance is a necessary evil, not just because it can save your bacon in the catastrophic event that your car becomes unusable, but also because in all but a single state, you can’t even legally drive your vehicle without it.
However, the price of insurance can be wildly different depending on what you drive, among other factors. Some cars are always blessed with extra-safe drivers, statistically speaking, so a brand or model with fewer reported accidents will warrant lower premiums. There is always some outlier in every category, so join us as we explore these gaps and see what cars offer the lowest insurance premiums in 2026. We will also have a quick look at how your age can affect your premiums, what the average car insurance payment is, and how this might change in the coming years.
The Average Cost Of Car Insurance In America In 2026
As of the time of writing, the average cost for a year of comprehensive car insurance in the US is $2,697. Numbers may seem surprisingly low to some of you, and wildly high to others, and the reason for this is that the average varies from state to state. The people of Vermont enjoy the lowest price in terms of how much car insurance is a month, paying approximately $118 for a typical vehicle’s coverage. This is followed up by New Hampshire and Maine, where the average cost of auto insurance per month is $119 and $139, respectively. Compare this to the people of Maryland, and their massive average premiums of $352 a month seems ludicrous. That’s a big enough difference to insure two vehicles in Vermont, and still have change left over.
Basic coverage premiums are a little more palatable with an average yearly cost of $1,574. However, this is still a lot of money when compared to only a few years ago, and modern plans don’t always offer as much protection as fully comprehensive ones, so what has happened to make the average insurance policy cost rise so high?
Why has insurance risen so much in 2026?
Those crazy insurance prices we just spoke of are up around 10% to 12% over a two-year period, so why is this happening? Like all things to do with insurance, the answer is complicated and is affected by multiple factors, but we will try to break each down. Firstly, the cost to repair some of these modern vehicles is getting more and more expensive. With all the sensors, pre-crash safety technology, LED lights, and even Lidar technology fitted to modern vehicles, the cost of repair has ballooned massively. This is paired with a car industry that is now running as tight a margin as it can on new car part manufacturing, so you can quickly run into a situation where the parts are more expensive, due to much higher demand than supply, as their “just-in-time” manufacturing process means every part is already allocated to go onto a new car. Smack your Range Rover off a pole and see how long it takes to get a new front wing. You may have to wait months.
Another factor is that, surprisingly, even with all the safety technology in the world, people are having more crashes. The number of fatal car crashes has risen since the 2000s and 2010s. A US citizen is four times more likely to have a fatal crash than a person driving in the UK. Obviously, this increase in traffic accidents in general means a higher number of payouts, and a larger premium for the average consumer.
The average price of new cars since COVID-19 has also taken its toll on the consumer. The difference between totaling the average pickup truck five or ten years ago compared to now is that the value of said truck has made a massive jump in MSRP since then. This increase in payout cost has a knock-on effect on the consumer, raising premiums.
Average Cost Of Car Insurance In 2026 By Class
Now we know where the best and worst premiums can be found, geographically speaking, and why they have risen recently, so let’s break down some of the different categories of car and what the average insurance premium looks like for each. We will also highlight any star cars that have a lower premium than rivals.
Sedan
Sedans are surprisingly expensive to insure, costing $1,523 per year at age 65 to over $7,328 per year at age 16. The category has a huge disparity between the slowest and fastest models in the class, unlike a category like trucks, for example, so this higher average can be justified as there being a lot of high-performance sedans. Cars like the Subaru Impreza, Honda Accord and Toyota Camry stand out as having some of the best premiums, while models from Tesla and the German luxury brands are cited for having some of the more expensive premium prices.
Pickup Trucks
The backbone of America, the pickup has seen a radical change in the last ten years, with more refinement and features than ever before. All these features have made them a lot more expensive to repair, though, so who’s the biggest winner and loser? The Toyota Tundra takes the cake as the cheapest full-size pickup you can insure at a cost of $2,352 a year, on average. The Silverado 1500 is the most expensive of the 1500-sized trucks from the big three, coming in at $2,546 in yearly premium fees. The most expensive overall truck is the Ford F-450 with an annual cost of $3,236.
Compacts
Compacts are a double-edged sword in the world of insurance as they are small, cheap, and relatively safe cars, but are driven by a younger crowd who are more likely to crash them. Subaru, with its Impreza, again takes the crown as the cheapest compact to insure on the market, with an advanced safety suite bringing it an average yearly insurance of $2,022, 22nd in the whole car market. The Kia K4 and Mazda 3 both follow along with an average of $2,029, respectively. Surprisingly, the humble Toyota Corolla trails the pack with a yearly cost of $2,642, making it one of the most expensive compacts to insure.
Crossover/SUVs
Being some of the most ubiquitous cars on the US roads, crossovers and SUVs are eualliy split among the cheapest and most expensive to insure in the US. The crown of one of, if not, the cheapest car to insure in 2026 falls to the Mazda CX-5, with an average yearly price of $1,947. This of followed by the Honda CR-V and Hyundai Tucson, who are also within the top ten cheapest to insure. For people looking for a more full-sized offering, the Toyota Sequoia is the SUV to beat with a yearly cost of $2,154.
On the other side of the coin, the GMC Hummer EV SUV is one of the most expensive vehicles to insure in the US, with an average cost of $3,276 a year. Other lowlights include the Hyundai Palisade and Jeep Grand Wagoner, which also have incredibly high premiums.
The Average Cost Of Car Insurance In America In 2026 Based On Age Bracket
Driving as a young person can be tough, and nothing exemplifies this fact more than insurance costs. Experience and a no-claims bonus are huge in the world of insurance, with most people not experiencing a drop-off in premium costs till their mid to late 20s. Men tend to pay a higher premium than women and, surprisingly, drivers between the ages of 16 and 17 pay less than someone who is 18. This may be down to more people getting their license at 18, creating a larger number of accidents once unsupervised. Once you are in your mid 30s, the premium cost steadies out, and you pay around the mid-$2,000s a year for the rest of your life.
What Does The Future Look Like For Insurance Premiums?
The cost of insurance is mercifully going to steady out in the future. A push for telematics-based insurance may lead to people who drive carefully and don’t use their vehicle as often being rewarded with lower premiums. These telematic-based systems are popular in Europe, and are more commonly known as “Black Box” policies. The cost of cars is set to stay the same, though, unless a price war is initiated, so don’t expect this to have a positive impact on insurance costs.
For most of us, the cost of insurance is a headache that has been building in pain for years, except for a 50-year-old in Vermont with a Mazda CX-5, who is killing it right now.
