Summary
- Auto-Owners offers the cheapest car insurance in Illinois at an average of $41 per month for liability and $74 for full coverage, according to Insurify data current as of August 10, 2026 — beating State Farm, Illinois' own Bloomington-headquartered home-state insurer, in both coverage lanes.
- Illinois is one of the cheaper states in our series: drivers average $122 per month overall, about 15% below the $142 national average, helped by fewer-than-average fatal crashes and minimal natural-disaster exposure.
- Chicago is the exception: at $223 per month for full coverage, the city runs 70% above cheap downstate markets like Bloomington ($130).
- Illinois is a straightforward at-fault state with 25/50/20 minimums plus mandatory uninsured motorist coverage — and it's an SR-22 state, with filers averaging $148 per month.
- New for 2027: Illinois will begin regulating auto rates on July 1, 2027, under Senate Bill 714 (signed August 4, 2026) — state review of increases, 30 days' notice for hikes over 10%, Illinois-only loss data. Nothing changes before then; details below.
- Compare Illinois quotes in under two minutes, no SSN required.
Illinois drivers have it comparatively good in 2026: an overall average of $122 per month, per current quote data — roughly 15% below the national average — with liability averaging $83 and full coverage $162. Fewer fatal crashes than the national norm and almost no natural-disaster exposure keep the state's claim costs down.
The interesting part is who's cheapest. Illinois is State Farm's home turf — the company has been headquartered in Bloomington for over a century and is known as the state's home insurer. And yet Auto-Owners undercuts it in both lanes, by $4 on liability and $6 on full coverage. Loyalty to the local giant costs Illinois drivers real money.
Cheapest Car Insurance Companies in Illinois
| Company | Liability | Full coverage |
|---|---|---|
| Auto-Owners | $41 | $74 |
| State Farm | $45 | $80 |
| Certainly | $57 | $163 |
| Progressive | $61 | $118 |
| Country Financial | $62 | $112 |
| Direct Auto | $63 | $131 |
| GEICO | $66 | $125 |
| Allstate | $67 | $139 |
| Erie | $68 | $123 |
| USAA | $73 | $131 |
| Safeco | $76 | $118 |
| American Family | $78 | $141 |
| Travelers | $99 | $180 |
| Liberty Mutual | $109 | $176 |
Source: Insurify average Illinois quote data, current as of August 10, 2026. Full-coverage figures reflect 50/100/50 liability limits with $1,000 collision and comprehensive deductibles. Your quotes will vary by profile.
The full market runs far wider than this table: identical coverage spans from Auto-Owners' $41 to $253 per month at the expensive end — a spread that makes comparing quotes side by side worth more than $2,500 a year in Illinois. One practical note on the leader: Auto-Owners sells only through independent agents with no online quoting, so the cheapest carrier in the state requires a phone call. And note the Certainly line — cheap on liability at $57, but $163 for full coverage, which is more than double Auto-Owners. The cheapest liability carrier is not always a cheap full-coverage carrier.
Average Cost of Car Insurance in Illinois
| Coverage level | Illinois average | National average |
|---|---|---|
| Overall | $122/mo | $142/mo |
| Liability only | $83/mo | $98/mo |
| Full coverage | $162/mo ($1,941/yr) | $187/mo |
The trend is as calm as the price level. The annual series behind the American Driver report has Illinois' full-coverage average finishing 2025 essentially flat at $1,786, with a projected rise of just 0.4% in 2026 — to $1,793 — as insurers chase new customers while absorbing higher tariff-driven repair costs. That annual series and the current quote level above are measured differently (the series is a yearly average, the level is today's median quote), which is why the two numbers don't match; both point the same direction. Illinois stays cheap by national standards and, for now, stable. Our September rate report tracks how Illinois compares nationally.
Car Insurance Rates by Illinois City
| City | Liability | Full coverage |
|---|---|---|
| Bloomington | $68 | $130 |
| Decatur | $69 | $141 |
| Champaign | $70 | $145 |
| Moline | $73 | $134 |
| Naperville | $76 | $144 |
| Rockford | $76 | $152 |
| Peoria | $77 | $154 |
| Aurora | $80 | $155 |
| Springfield | $80 | $160 |
| Evanston | $81 | $164 |
| Elgin | $83 | $150 |
| Joliet | $85 | $161 |
| Berwyn | $88 | $171 |
| Chicago Heights | $95 | $210 |
| Cicero | $98 | $209 |
| Chicago | $104 | $223 |
Source: Insurify Illinois city-level quote data, current as of August 10, 2026.
The pattern is Chicagoland versus everywhere else. Heavy traffic on the Kennedy Expressway and I-90/94 drives accident frequency in the city and its inner suburbs (Cicero, Berwyn, Chicago Heights), while downstate markets — including the capital — price like the calm Midwest towns they are. River towns along the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers carry some added flood and winter-ice risk, but nothing approaching the Chicago premium. Even within the metro, the gradient is steep: Naperville and Aurora sit a third below the city.
Illinois Car Insurance Requirements
| Coverage type | Illinois minimum |
|---|---|
| Bodily injury liability | $25,000 per person / $50,000 per accident |
| Property damage liability | $20,000 per accident |
| Uninsured motorist bodily injury | $25,000 per person / $50,000 per accident |
Two clarifications worth making, because both get muddled online:
Illinois is an at-fault state, not no-fault. The driver who causes the crash is responsible, and their insurer pays. No PIP mandate, unlike Michigan, Florida, or New York.
Uninsured motorist coverage is mandatory — at 25/50 limits matching the bodily-injury minimums. It protects you against hit-and-runs and uninsured drivers, and it's baked into every legal Illinois policy. The state also verifies liability coverage on every registered vehicle twice a year; driving uninsured brings a $500 fine and a registration suspension.
Illinois Is an SR-22 State
If Illinois requires you to prove financial responsibility — typically after a DUI, driving uninsured, or a license suspension — you'll need an SR-22 certificate filed by your insurer, and it prices accordingly: Illinois SR-22 filers average $148 per month, per current quote data, against $83 for the typical liability-only policy. How the certificate actually works — the filing mechanics, the three-year clock, and the lapse trap that restarts it — is covered in our SR-22 explainer.
What Changes in July 2027: Illinois Starts Regulating Rates
Until August 2026, Illinois and Wyoming were the only two states whose insurance departments had no authority over auto rates — insurers filed and used them. Senate Bill 714, signed August 4, 2026, changes that on July 1, 2027. Four things take effect that day:
- The Illinois Department of Insurance can review auto rate changes, prohibit rates that are "excessive, inadequate, or unfairly discriminatory," and order rebates of excess premium.
- Insurers must give at least 30 days' notice before raising a premium more than 10% year over year.
- Rates must be built on Illinois-specific claims data; losses from catastrophes in other states can't be recovered from Illinois policyholders.
- Credit score and ZIP code are not banned as rating factors. The department gains a standard it can use to challenge them, not a prohibition.
Nothing about an Illinois premium changes before July 2027, and a policy written in June 2027 runs its full term under the old rules. The governor expects the law to hold increases to what insurers can justify; industry groups warned it could slow rate changes in both directions and thin the market, as regulation did in California. Both are forecasts. Our news post on the law covers the provisions, the argument on each side, and what to do with the nine-month runway — which, for now, is the same thing as always: the $41-to-$253 spread in the table above is available today.
Rates by Driver Profile: What Moves Illinois Prices
Three profile factors stand out in current quote data. Teen drivers find their cheapest rates with Auto-Owners at $86 per month for liability — steep next to the adult average, but modest by national teen standards. High-risk drivers with a violation on record also do best at Auto-Owners, at $52 per month for liability; drivers with a DUI average $122 per month for liability statewide, and the path back to standard rates runs through our guide to lowering your rate after an accident. And credit matters a lot here: Illinois drivers with poor credit pay about $65 more per month than those with excellent credit, one of the larger credit gaps we've seen. Illinois allows credit-based insurance scoring, so the boring fundamentals — on-time payments, low balances, and checking your credit report for errors before you shop — translate directly into premium.
Best Cheap Car Insurance Companies in Illinois
- Auto-Owners — best for full coverage. Cheapest in the state in both lanes, with a top-tier A.M. Best financial rating and half the complaint rate of similar-sized insurers. Insurify Quality Score: 8.2/10. Trade-offs: agent-only sales, no online quotes, and a below-average J.D. Power score for the region.
- State Farm — best for customer service. The home-state insurer brings the largest agent network in Illinois and above-average J.D. Power satisfaction for the region (665). IQ Score: 9.3/10, A.M. Best A++. Cheapest it is not — but at $45/$80 it's close.
- Progressive — best for savings stacking. Competitive base rates ($61/$118) plus the Snapshot telematics program for further discounts — with the caveat that Chicago stop-and-go traffic can limit telematics savings, since hard braking counts against you. IQ Score: 8.7/10. Our telematics comparison covers when that bet pays.
How to Get Cheaper Car Insurance in Illinois
- Compare three to five quotes minimum. The same coverage spans $41 to $253 per month across Illinois carriers — the largest single lever available.
- Don't default to the home-state brand. State Farm's Illinois roots are real; so is Auto-Owners' price advantage.
- Check your credit report before shopping. With a ~$65/month gap between credit tiers, errors cost real money here.
- Bundle and stack — home or renters bundling, defensive-driving and new-car discounts. Our discounts guide has the list.
- Chicagoland drivers: re-quote after any move. Even Chicago-to-Naperville is a one-third rate cut on average — and if you think you're being charged unfairly, the Illinois Department of Insurance takes complaints.
For how Illinois compares nationally, see our cheapest car insurance companies rankings, or explore our other state guides: Kentucky, Tennessee, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, California, Florida, and Georgia.
Rate data on this page comes from Insurify (page updated August 29, 2026; carrier and city tables current as of August 10, 2026 — the source's Illinois liability-only and average-cost pages carry an August 31 date, but the hub tables this page is built on had not been re-cut as of September 15), whose Illinois analysis cites IIHS fatality statistics and the Illinois Department of Insurance. The 2026 trend figure is the American Driver report projection; the Mid-Year Report's first-half increase cited in the August edition of this page no longer appears on the source, so this page reports the current level and the report's annual series only. All figures verified September 15, 2026; individual rates vary by driver profile. Senate Bill 714 provisions and effective date per the Office of Governor JB Pritzker (August 4, 2026) and Capitol News Illinois (August 4, 2026); how the Department of Insurance will apply its new authority is not yet set in rule.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is car insurance in Illinois per month?
Illinois drivers pay an average of $83 per month for liability-only coverage and $162 per month for full coverage, according to current rate data — an overall average of about $122 per month, roughly 15% below the national average of $142. Rates start as low as $41 per month.
Who has the cheapest car insurance in Illinois?
Auto-Owners has the cheapest car insurance in Illinois, averaging $41 per month for liability and $74 for full coverage, per rate data current as of August 2026 — beating State Farm ($45/$80) in its own home state. Progressive ($61 liability) and Country Financial ($62) also price competitively.
What car insurance is required in Illinois?
Illinois requires 25/50/20 liability coverage — $25,000 bodily injury per person, $50,000 per accident, and $20,000 property damage — plus uninsured motorist bodily injury coverage at $25,000/$50,000. Illinois is an at-fault state, not a no-fault state.
Is Illinois a no-fault state?
No. Illinois is an at-fault (tort) state: the driver who causes an accident is responsible for the resulting injuries and damage, and their insurer pays. There's no PIP requirement like in no-fault states such as Michigan, Florida, or New York.
How much is SR-22 insurance in Illinois?
Illinois drivers who need an SR-22 filing pay an average of $148 per month for car insurance, per current rate data — versus $83 for the typical liability-only policy. Illinois uses the standard SR-22 certificate, typically required after a DUI, driving uninsured, or a license suspension.