Average Car Insurance Rates: August 2026
National full-coverage car insurance averages $2,237 a year as of mid-2026, up 1%. See where rates are rising, falling, and headed by December.
Summary
- The national average for full-coverage car insurance sits at $2,237 per year (about $186 per month) as of mid-2026 — up 1% since the end of 2025, according to Insurify's 2026 Mid-Year Auto Report, updated August 11.
- The 2025 price break is over: 27 states saw rates rise in the first half of 2026, compared with just nine states in the second half of 2025. Insurify projects 32 states will finish the year higher.
- Connecticut leads the increases at +10% ($251) in six months, with Kentucky, West Virginia, Illinois, and Nevada behind it. Some of the priciest markets moved the other way — Washington, D.C. (-7%), New Jersey (-5%), and New York (-5%).
- Insurify projects a year-end national average of $2,242 — a 1% annual increase, a seven-point swing from 2025's 6% decline.
- Rates are moving state by state, not in lockstep — compare quotes for your state before your next renewal locks in a higher number.
The national picture
Drivers got a rare gift in 2025: falling premiums. The average driver paid about $140 less for full coverage by year's end than 12 months earlier. That relief has stalled. Insurify's mid-year data puts the national full-coverage average at $2,237 annually, a 1% increase over the first six months of 2026, and projects it will end the year at $2,242.
A 1% national move sounds quiet. The state-level story isn't. Insurers are raising rates in historically cheap states while trimming them in several of the most expensive ones — Kentucky drivers went from paying $58 below the national average to $65 above it in a single year.
Where the states we cover stand
Here's the mid-2026 picture for the twelve states in our guide library, plus the national benchmark.
| State | Avg. annual cost (June 2026) | Change, first half of 2026 | Projected year-end cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | $2,395 | +0.5% | $2,424 |
| Texas | $2,461 | -2.2% | $2,437 |
| Florida | $2,554 | -4.0% | $2,581 |
| Georgia | $3,109 | -0.5% | $3,101 |
| Michigan | $3,229 | +1.5% | $3,217 |
| Ohio | $1,404 | -0.5% | $1,405 |
| Virginia | $2,453 | +3.1% | $2,498 |
| Pennsylvania | $1,930 | +2.3% | $1,952 |
| Maryland | $3,646 | +1.3% | $3,664 |
| New York | $2,840 | -5.1% | $2,880 |
| Illinois | $1,930 | +4.1% | $1,958 |
| North Carolina | $1,373 | +1.2% | $1,392 |
| National average | $2,237 | +1.0% | $2,242 |
Source: Insurify 2026 Mid-Year Auto Report, updated August 11, 2026. Figures are two-year rolling medians for drivers ages 20–70 with clean records and average or better credit.
Two standouts: Maryland remains the second-most-expensive state in the country at $3,646 — a story we've tracked in our Maryland rate-shock analysis — and Illinois is among the five fastest-rising states nationally, up 4.1% in six months with a projected 6% annual increase.
Where rates are rising fastest
Connecticut tops the nation: up 10% ($251) in six months, with Insurify projecting a 15% annual increase by December. Kentucky (+6%), West Virginia (+5%), Illinois (+4%), and Nevada (+4%) round out the top five. A pattern worth noticing: seven of the ten fastest-rising states started the year with below-average premiums. Insurers appear to be correcting upward in markets that had been cheap.
Where rates are falling
The steepest declines came in some of the most expensive places to insure a car. Washington, D.C. dropped 7% ($278), New Mexico 6%, and New Jersey, New York, and Massachusetts each about 5%. New York's slide is part of a longer trend — rates there have fallen 13% over the past 12 months, moving it from the fifth-most-expensive state to the tenth. Our falling-rates breakdown covers which states have been trending down all year.
What's driving the reversal
Insurify's analysts point to cost pressure rebuilding under the surface. Auto maintenance and repair costs have risen 45% over the past five years — roughly double the rate of inflation — while gas prices climbed from about $3 to $4 per gallon. Claim severity keeps rising too: the cost of bodily injury claims rose 36% nationally from 2020 to 2024, and collision claims rose 42%. When claims get more expensive, premiums follow.
What drivers can do this month
A flat national average hides big local moves — your state, and even your ZIP code, may be repricing right now. The single most effective response hasn't changed: comparison shop before renewal, especially if you're in a rising state like Illinois, Virginia, or Pennsylvania. Our cheapest car insurance companies guide shows which carriers post the lowest medians nationally and by state, and it takes a few minutes to check current rates for your profile before your renewal date does it for you.
We'll update these figures next month as fresh data lands.
Rate data in this article comes from Insurify's 2026 Mid-Year Auto Report (updated August 11, 2026), based on more than 250 million quoted rates. Premiums reflect two-year rolling medians for drivers ages 20–70 with clean driving records and average or better credit; full-coverage figures reflect comprehensive and collision with $1,000 deductibles. Actual quotes vary by driver profile.