BankRate cited a National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) study that highlights the dramatic difference on average premium charged in different states. For example, people in New Jersey paid an average of $1,182 per car for liability, collision and comprehensive coverage, while Iowans only needed to pay $596 per car. The study shows a national average of $817 per car based on 2001 data.
Topping the list are all New England locations:
1. New Jersey ($1,182)
2. New York ($1,161)
3. Washington D.C. ($1,156)
4. Rhode Island ($1,027)
5. Massachusetts ($1,013)
And at the bottom:
46. South Dakota ($648)
47. North Dakota ($634)
48. Wisconsin ($630)
49. Idaho ($630)
50. Maine ($621)
51. Iowa (596)
(Of course I did a quick comparison. From the list, people in the State of Washington, on average, paid $836 per car in 2001. In 2004, I'm current paying $570 every six months for two cars with $500,000 coverage. I'm satisfied -- it always pays off to perform regular comparison shopping.)
For your curiosity, NAIC's website gave out some extra interesting data points. For example (all data points are for 2001):
- Total Liability Premium Written: $70,365,241,891
- Average Liability Premium: $412.96
- Total Collision Premium Written: $34,006,423,658
- Average Collision Premium: $270.98
- Total Comprehensive Premium Written: $17,917,954,121
- Average Comprehensive Premium: $133.49
A word of caution: the above averages are simply calculated using total premium divided by total insured cars. The state average is highly dependent on the average value of the car and the average coverage/deduction, which may differ from one state to another. As a result, the numbers are not meaningful for comparing the relative expensiveness of car insurance in different states. Don't use this as a reference to estimate how much your auto insurance premium will change when you move.