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With high fatality and crash rates, it’s no wonder car insurance for teens is so expensive.
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(855) 953-0884Compare QuotesOut of any age group, teens are often the worst drivers — and that’s not their fault. With very little driving experience, teen drivers get into crashes more often than any other age group. Unfortunately for parents, that means car insurance costs more than average for teen drivers. Find how to add your high-risk teenage driver to your auto insurance without spending thousands of dollars more per year.
Car insurance for teens costs an average of $3,751 — 258 percent higher than the national average annual auto insurance cost of $1,047.
Car insurance for 16-year-olds costs the most, while prices generally decrease for the remainder of the teen years.
But don’t worry, parents: Car insurance costs start to decrease to normal rates after your child turns 25. At that point, you should be off the hook for their premiums anyway. This data from Progressive shows how car insurance costs change based on age.
Age | Price difference from previous age group |
---|---|
17 and under | N/A |
18 | 12% |
19-20 | -12% |
21-22 | -13% |
23-24 | -13% |
25-29 | -11% |
30-34 | -6% |
35-39 | -2% |
40-44 | -2% |
45-49 | -1% |
50-54 | -8% |
55-64 | -10% |
65-74 | -3% |
75 and over | 4% |
Do you have teenage boys? If so, expect to pay more for their car insurance than you would for teenage girls. However, there are some states in which men don’t pay more for car insurance, as insurance companies in those states aren’t legally allowed to use gender as a factor when determining premiums:
In every other state, young men pay more for car insurance than young women. Why? Because in general, men drive more miles than women, which leads to more accidents and, thus, more claims.1
Even with the best car insurance for college students, you can still expect to pay high fees for your children ages 18 to 22.
Age | Average annual cost of car insurance |
---|---|
18 | $3,952.75 |
19 | $2,758.33 |
20 | $2,931.25 |
21 | $1,909.67 |
22 | $1,670 |
The average annual cost of car insurance for college students is $3,073.57, assuming they’re between ages 18 and 22.
Depending on the state, teens can obtain learner’s permits between the ages of 14 and 16. The younger the driver, the higher their auto insurance rate will be. See below to find out when your teen can start driving in your state.
State | Permit | Restricted license | Full license |
---|---|---|---|
Alabama | 15 | 16 | 17 |
Alaska | 14 | 16 | 16.5 |
Arizona | 15.5 | 16 | 16.5 |
Arkansas | 14 | 16 | 18 |
California | 15.5 | 16 | 17 |
Colorado | 15 | 16 | 17 |
Connecticut | 16 | 16.33 | 18 |
Delaware | 16 | 16.5 | 17 |
Florida | 15 | 16.515 | 18 |
Georgia | 15 | 16 | 18 |
Hawaii | 15.5 | 16 | 17 |
Idaho | 14.5 | 15 | 16 |
Illinois | 15 | 16 | 18 |
Indiana | 15 | 16.25 | 18 |
Iowa | 14 | 16 | 17 |
Kansas | 14 | 16 | 16.5 |
Kentucky | 16 | 16.5 | 17 |
Louisiana | 15 | 16 | 17 |
Maine | 15 | 16 | 16.75 |
Maryland | 15.75 | 16.5 | 18 |
Massachusetts | 16 | 16.5 | 18 |
Michigan | 14.75 | 16 | 17 |
Minnesota | 15 | 16 | 16.5 |
Mississippi | 15 | 16 | 16.5 |
Missouri | 15 | 16 | 17.92 |
Montana | 14.5 | 15 | 16 |
Nebraska | 15 | 16 | 17 |
Nevada | 15.5 | 16 | 16.5 |
New Hampshire | 15.5 | 16 | 16.5 |
New Jersey | 16 | 17 | 18 |
New Mexico | 15 | 15.5 | 16.5 |
New York | 16 | 16.5 | 17 |
North Carolina | 15 | 16 | 16.5 |
North Dakota | 14 | 16 | 16 |
Ohio | 15.5 | 16 | 18 |
Oklahoma | 15.5 | 16 | 16.5 |
Oregon | 15 | 16 | 17 |
Pennsylvania | 16 | 16.5 | 17 |
Rhode Island | 16 | 16.5 | 17.5 |
South Carolina | 15 | 15.5 | 16.5 |
South Dakota | 14 | 14.5 | 16 |
Tennessee | 15 | 16 | 17 |
Texas | 15 | 16 | 18 |
Utah | 15 | 16 | 17 |
Vermont | 15 | 16 | 18 |
Virginia | 15.5 | 16.25 | 18 |
Washington | 15 | 16 | 18 |
West Virginia | 15 | 16 | 17 |
Wisconsin | 15.5 | 16 | 16.75 |
Wyoming | 15 | 16 | 16.52 |
Aside from age and gender, here are some other factors that affect car insurance rates for teens.
To see the average cost of car insurance in your state, read our auto insurance guide.
While car insurance for teens costs more than it does for regular adults, there are ways to lower your rates as much as possible.
First, find cheap car insurance companies for teens, such as these insurers:
Aside from setting yourself up with a good provider, here’s how to lower auto insurance rates:
Check if your car insurance company offers any discounts that could apply to your teenager:
Company | Defensive driving course | Driver training | Good student | Multi-car/family | Student away from home | Teen driver monitoring (GPS) | Young driver |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
21st Century | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
AAA | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
AARP | No | Yes; 3-year premium discount for AARP Driver Safety Course | No | Yes | No | No | No |
Allstate | No | Yes; TeenSMART education course for those under 25 and unmarried | Yes, for those unmarried and under 25 — average grade of at least B- or GPA of at least 2.7 | Yes | Yes; must be at least 100 miles away from where the car is garaged, under 25, and unmarried | No | No |
American Family | No | No | Yes | No | Yes, for those under 25 and more than 100 miles away from home | No | No |
Amica | Yes | Yes, for drivers under 21 who complete an accredited driver training program | Yes, for full-time college or high school students, ages 15-25 with a B average or above | Yes | Yes | No | No |
Bristol West | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No |
Clearcover | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
Concord | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
Dairyland | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
Direct | No | No | Yes — 10% | Yes | No | No | No |
Endurance | No | No | No | Yes — 25% | No | No | No |
Erie | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | Yes |
Esurance | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No |
Farmers | Yes | No | Yes — with at least a 3.0 GPA | No | Yes — if at least 100 miles away | No | Yes |
GAINSCO | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No |
GEICO | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
Good2Go | Yes — 5%-15% | Yes — 10% | Yes — 5%-20% | Yes | No | No | No |
Infinity | Yes | No | Yes | Yes — 10%-25% | No | No | No |
Kemper | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
Lemonade | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No |
Liberty Mutual | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No |
Mercury | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
Metromile | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No |
National General | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No |
Nationwide | Yes | No | Yes — for ages 16-24 with a minimum B average | Yes | No | No | No |
Plymouth Rock | Yes — in CT, NJ, and PA | Yes — in NJ, NY, and PA | Yes — in NJ and NY | Yes | Yes — in CT, NH, MA, NJ, and NY | No | Yes — in NH and NJ |
Progressive | No | No | Yes | Yes — in CT, NH, MA, NJ, and NY | Yes | No | Yes |
Root | No | No | Yes | Yes — 4% | No | No | No |
Safeco | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
State Farm | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
The General | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
Travelers | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
USAA | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
Are teens actually worse drivers than the average adult, or is this just a vicious stereotype?
Statistics show teens have more traffic fatalities than any other age group, especially 16-year-olds. Compared to the rest of the population, 16-year-olds are 32 percent more likely to die in traffic accidents, with 51 deaths per 100,000 licensed drivers in 2020.
Age group | Rate of licensed drivers in fatal crashes per 100,000 drivers in 2020 | Difference from national average |
---|---|---|
16 | 51 | 32% |
17 | 39 | 11% |
18 | 47 | 26% |
19 | 42 | 17% |
16-19 | 44 | 21% |
20 | 40 | 13% |
21 | 43 | 19% |
22 | 39 | 11% |
23 | 38 | 8% |
24 | 37 | 6% |
20-24 | 39 | 11% |
25-34 | 34 | -2% |
35-44 | 26 | -34% |
45-54 | 23 | -51% |
55-64 | 20 | -74% |
65-74 | 14 | -148% |
75 and older | 24 | -45% |
In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, motor vehicle crashes are the second leading cause of death for teens in the U.S., killing seven teens a day.3
The increased likelihood of accidents among teen drivers goes for all crash types, both fatal and nonfatal. Again, 16-year-olds are the most likely drivers to get into crashes — 45 percent higher than the average crash rate across all age groups, according to data from the National Safety Council.
Age group | Rate of licensed drivers in all crashes per 100,000 drivers in 2020 | Difference from national average |
---|---|---|
16 | 26,342 | 45% |
17 | 22,422 | 35% |
18 | 22,582 | 36% |
19 | 20,473 | 29% |
16-19 | 22,103 | 34% |
20 | 17,364 | 17% |
21 | 16,814 | 14% |
22 | 15,821 | 8% |
23 | 15,196 | 5% |
24 | 14,339 | -1% |
20-24 | 15,876 | 9% |
25-34 | 11,941 | -21% |
35-44 | 9,062 | -60% |
45-54 | 7,776 | -86% |
55-64 | 6,187 | -134% |
65-74 | 4,383 | -231% |
75 and older | 3,3694 | -330% |
The more likely someone is to get into an accident, the more likely they are to file a claim. Since teens are much more likely to get into car accidents than any other age group, and therefore more likely to have claims, insurance companies protect themselves financially by issuing high premiums for these drivers from the start.
Technically, you don’t have to add your teenager to your existing car insurance policy. Instead, you could keep your car insurance rates as is by getting them a separate policy. Here are some benefits and drawbacks of adding your teen to your existing policy.
Lower premiums: By combining your child’s information with your rate, good driving history, and positive credit score, you can get lower premiums than if you had your child on a standalone policy.
Convenience: Easily add coverages or adjust limits as you see fit from one place.
Coverage for any of your cars: Once your teen is part of your policy, they can be covered for use of any car in your household, which is convenient if you have multiple cars they might drive.
Bad for luxury or sports cars: If you have a luxury vehicle or a pricey sports car in your household, adding your teen to your policy will make costs skyrocket, even if they’re not driving the high-end ride. In this case, it’s better to have them on a separate policy for the car they will drive.5
When choosing which vehicle to attach to your teen’s auto insurance policy, look for safety features and good crash-test ratings from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety6 and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.7
These are some safety features to consider:
Avoid attaching your teen to the following types of vehicles.
Considering teens’ likelihood of accidents, avoid giving them an expensive sports car. Instead, let them drive an affordable and/or pre-owned vehicle that won’t cost too much to repair.
Getting car insurance for teens is similar to getting car insurance for anyone, but you may need to do some research to get affordable prices.
For a parent, few events are scarier than your teen taking the wheel, so brush up on teen driving laws before you hand them the keys. Although it’s likely your teen will experience at least a fender bender, you can keep accident and car insurance rates low with the right training and defensive driving.
We’ve received a few questions about car insurance for teens that we haven’t already covered.
After a divorce, the question of who pays for car insurance for teens depends on the stipulations of the parents’ divorce agreement. If the teen is driving multiple cars that both parents own, the parents might need to add them to their policies separately. The payment will be based on the divorce settlement agreement, according to Zelenitz, Shapiro & D’Agostino, divorce and family attorneys based in Queens, New York.
You should get car insurance for your teen before they can legally drive a motor vehicle, so before they get their learner’s permit or license. Make sure the policy is active before you start driving lessons, even if you’ll be in the car supervising.
Full coverage car insurance for teens can cost anywhere from $1,693 to $14,899 annually, depending on your state, vehicle, and other factors.
Car insurance for teens may or may not be cheaper if you buy a newer car. It might be cheaper if the newer car includes safety features like driver monitoring, forward-collision warning, or automatic high beams. However, new cars might be more expensive to repair than older cars, which would make them more expensive to insure. It depends on the car’s make, model, and auto theft rate.
What? Women Pay More Than Men for Auto Insurance? Yup. Insurance Journal. (2019, Feb 12).
https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2019/02/12/517466.htm
Driving Age by State 2022. World Population Review. (2022).
https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/driving-age-by-state
Transportation Safety – Teen Drivers. CDC. (2022).
https://www.cdc.gov/transportationsafety/teen_drivers/index.html#:~:text=Motor%20vehicle%20crashes%20are%20the,be%20in%20a%20fatal%20crash
Overview – Age of Driver. National Safety Council. (2022).
https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/motor-vehicle/overview/age-of-driver/
Car insurance for teens. Progressive. (2022).
https://www.progressive.com/answers/teen-driver-insurance/
Vehicle Ratings. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. (2022).
https://www.iihs.org/ratings
Vehicle Crash Test Database. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. (2022).
https://www.nhtsa.gov/research-data/research-testing-databases#/vehicle
Best Cars for Teens: The List Every Parent Needs. Kelley Blue Book. (2021, Mar 26).
https://www.kbb.com/best-cars/teens/