Average Auto Insurance Costs by State.
Posted: April 21st, 2011 | Author: Joe | Filed under: Insurance | Tags: Auto Insurance, car insurance, cheaper car insurance, Insurance Rates | 3 Comments »Have you ever wondered which state is the most expensive to insure a car, or which is the least expensive state for auto insurance? Here’s a list of average insurance costs by state that may help answer those questions.
I live in the once great state of New York, and I have to admit I’m quite surprised to find that while NY seems eager to compete with California in the race to bankruptcy, New York is just about in the middle when it comes to auto insurance costs.
Here’s the top 10 most expensive states for auto insurance, and the average cost:
1. Michigan, $2,541
2. Louisiana, $2,453
3. Oklahoma, $2,197
4. Montana, $2,190
5. Washington, D.C., $2,146
6. California, $1,991
7. Mississippi, $1,896
8. New Mexico, $1,896
9. Arkansas, $1,836
10. Maryland, $1,807
I’m not surprised to see that Michigan is #1. After all, they’ve practically been living in a depression for the better part of a decade now, and probably have to tack on hundreds of dollars in fees just to slow the pace of their economic decline. Also, with cities like Detroit that have a reputation for high levels of crime, you’ve got to figure auto theft is going to drive costs up as well.
Also, these costs are a function of the number of uninsured drivers in the state, and Michigan actually guarantees unlimited personal injury protection payments to people injured in auto accidents! That means insurance companies are on the hook for up to $480,000 per case, plus 3 years lost wages and the tax payers foot the bill for the rest. Of course, the insurance companies have to pass those costs on to the insured drivers, causing rates to rise and exacerbating the problem even more. Way to go Michigan.
You see something similar in Louisiana, where courts tend to award larger than average payouts in auto injury cases, driving up the cost of insurance.
Oklahoma blames their high costs on weather related claims.
So where is the cheapest place for auto insurance?
Here are the 10 least expensive states for auto insurance:
41. Arizona, $1,280
42. Utah, $1,272
43. Virginia, $1,237
44. Iowa, $1,179
45. North Carolina, $1,154
46. Ohio, $1,152
47. Tennessee, $1,146
48. Wisconsin, $1,128
49. Maine, $1,126
50. South Carolina, $1,095
51. Vermont, $995
There aren’t 51 states in the union, so obviously this list include the District of Columbia (i.e. Washington D.C.), which incidentally is also a high crime site and comes in at the 5th most expensive place to insure your car.
Vermont is by far the cheapest, and it’s no coincidence that they also have the fewest congested roads, and plenty of rural areas so claims are less and tend to be for smaller amounts as well. Cows just don’t sue as much as pedestrians. 
Check out the complete list here.
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