Auto Insurance Rates

The state of California has saved its residents $62 billion over the past 20 years or so do to theitr unique auto insurance rules.

New Jersey, Hawaii, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania also have served their drivers well by keeping auto insurance rates relatively low, but drivers in other states have watched their costs skyrocket.

California ramped up its automobile insurance regulatory system in the late 1980s, making it tougher for companies to raise their insurance rates.

Nationwide, the average cost of auto insurance jumped by 50% between 1989 and 2005. Other states where price hikes were held down, relatively speaking, included New Jersey with a 20% increase in that time period; Hawaii, 25%; New Hampshire, 30%; and Pennsylvania, 31%.

With the exception of New Hampshire, those states have systems in which insurers cannot put auto insurance rate changes into effect without state approval.

States with the steepest rate changes were Nebraska, where average per-car costs surged 118% and South Dakota, where costs jumped 107%.

Other high-increase states include: Montana, 104%; Wyoming, 101%; and Kentucky, 100%.

Compare auto insurance rates in all 50 states and save money with insurance.com