Best Car Insurance for 18-Year-Olds

According to our rate estimates, full-coverage car insurance for 18-year-olds costs an average of $4,958 per year or $413 per month. If you add an 18-year-old to your family policy, your rates will go up but you’ll save money overall. Older drivers also typically get lower rates than 18-year-olds.

Factors That Affect Car Insurance Costs for 18-Year-Olds

The cost of car insurance for 18-year-olds is affected by various factors which include gender, driving history, location and credit score. Premium differences due to gender are especially pronounced for teens and young adults, with 18-year-old males often paying much higher prices than females of the same age. Some states, however, don’t allow car insurers to use gender as a factor when calculating auto insurance rates.

Why Is Car Insurance So Expensive for 18-Year-Olds?

Car insurance rates are more expensive for teenage drivers because they have less driving experience and get into more car accidents. Even an 18-year-old with a clean driving record will likely pay much more for auto insurance than drivers in their 30s or 40s.

According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, 18- and 19-year-olds are more than twice as likely to get into accidents as drivers between 30 and 39 years old. Below, you can see the number of crashes per 100 million miles driven separated out by age group.

The average cost of insurance closely follows the rate of accidents by age. Below, you can see that 18-year-olds pay an average of more than double what 35-year-olds pay for full-coverage car insurance.

The cheapest car insurance for 18-year-olds is Erie Insurance, which has average rates of $2,888 per year or $241 per month for full-coverage individual policies. USAA offers similar rates at about $2,897 per year or $241 per month.

Below, you can see how 12 popular providers compare based on car insurance prices for 18-year-olds.

*Car insurance estimates are based on full-coverage policies with $50,000 bodily injury per person, $100,000 bodily injury per accident, $50,000 property damage per accident and a $500 deductible for collision coverage and comprehensive coverage.

Cheapest Car Insurance for 18-Year-Olds in Each State

Geico, Erie, USAA and State Farm are affordable options across the nation for 18-year-olds, but different providers may be cheaper in your state. Below are the cheapest providers for 18-year-olds in every state and Washington, D.C., according to our full-coverage rate estimates.

10 Cheapest States for 18-Year-Olds

Eighteen-year-olds in Hawaii, Ohio and Iowa pay the cheapest rates in the country on average. Hawaii doesn’t allow age to influence car insurance rates in the state.

10 Most Expensive States for 18-Year-Olds

On the other hand, average rates for 18-year-olds in Michigan, Connecticut and Florida can be much more expensive for individual car insurance policies.

Some of the best car insurance for 18-year-olds comes from Geico, USAA, State Farm, Erie Insurance and Auto-Owners Insurance. Each score provided is based on factors such as cost, coverage, reputation, availability and customer experience:

*The overall rating applies to a standard driving profile, while the ranking order applies to 18-year-old drivers.

*Cost data taken from 2022 information

Car insurance for teens is expensive, but not everything is out of your control. There are things you can do to save money, including adding the 18-year-old driver to your family policy, shopping around often and looking for specific discounts.

Add the Teen to a Parent’s Policy

If you live in the same household, you can add a teen driver to your family policy to save hundreds or even thousands of dollars per year. This won’t work if the 18-year-old owns a car registered in their name, in which case they’ll need their own policy.

Also, it may not make the most sense if the parents have bad driving histories or very poor credit scores. An 18-year-old may find cheaper rates on their own policy in these cases.

Look for the Right Discounts

Car insurance discounts can make a world of difference in finding good rates for young adults. Young drivers can qualify for student discounts, and parents can save when their children attend school over 100 miles away without cars.

Bundling can also be a good idea if you have other types of insurance policies, like renters. Some car insurance companies offer safe driving discounts to people with short driving histories, while others require four or five years of claim-free driving to qualify.

Companies with the best car insurance for 18-year-olds offer a variety of applicable discounts. Look for the following discounts when comparing car insurance quotes:

• New driver discount
• Safe driver discount
• Good student discount
• Student away at school discount
• Usage-based discounts
• Multi-policy discount
• Multi-car discount
• New vehicle discount

Choose the Right Coverage and Deductible

Your coverage levels and deductibles have a direct impact on your car insurance rates. Consider what level of protection you’d want in case of an accident, and reduce your coverage to that amount to save money. You can also raise your deductible to take on a bit more risk and lower your overall premium. An auto insurance policy with minimum coverage will be the cheapest option.

Pick an Affordable Vehicle

If you’re thinking of getting a family car for your 18-year-old to drive, consider paying cash for an affordable used sedan or midsize SUV. Without an auto loan, you won’t be required to have comprehensive or collision coverage on the vehicle.

You’ll just need to have whichever levels of bodily injury and property damage liability coverage are required in your state. Some states require more coverage, but companies aren’t allowed to sell you less than the baseline amount.

Try Usage-Based Insurance

Telematics insurance programs like State Farm’s Drive Safe & Save™, Allstate’s Drivewise, Progressive’s SnapShot, Geico’s DriveEasy and Nationwide’s SmartRide award discounts based on your current driving habits, not your past driving history. Families with teens can take advantage of discounts if they all participate in the program. Be aware that some usage-based insurance options can raise car insurance premiums, so research programs before starting one. You could also try a pay-per-mile insurance program like Allstate’s Milewise to save on car insurance.

In this article, we explored car insurance costs for 18-year olds and the factors used by insurance companies to determine rates. We also highlighted the cheapest car insurance available and the best companies for 18-year olds seeking auto insurance policies.

While car insurance is expensive for 18-year-olds, it’s usually possible to find affordable coverage. We recommend that you compare car insurance quotes to find cheap auto insurance rates on policies that meet your needs.

Below are some frequently asked questions about the best car insurance for 18-year-olds.

Because consumers rely on us to provide objective and accurate information, we created a comprehensive rating system to formulate our rankings of the best car insurance companies. We collected data on dozens of auto insurance providers to grade the companies on a wide range of ranking factors. The end result was an overall rating for each provider, with the insurers that scored the most points topping the list.

Here are the factors our ratings take into account:

• Cost: Auto insurance rate estimates generated by Quadrant Information Services and discount opportunities were both taken into consideration.
• Coverage: Companies that offer a variety of choices for insurance coverage are more likely to meet consumer needs.
• Reputation and experience: Our research team considered market share, ratings from industry experts and years in business when giving this score.
• Availability: Auto insurance companies with greater state availability and few eligibility requirements scored highest in this category.
• Customer experience: This score is based on volume of complaints reported by the NAIC and customer satisfaction ratings reported by J.D. Power. We also considered the responsiveness, friendliness and helpfulness of each insurance company’s customer service team based on our own shopper analysis.

Our credentials:

• 800 hours researched
• 45 companies reviewed
• 8,500+ consumers surveyed

*Data accurate at time of publication.