Call a licensed agent: 833-964-9663

Car insurance for teenagers

Insuring a teenage driver is infamously expensive, with the average cost of adding a teen to a parent’s policy sitting around $1,500. With such a big investment, you want to be sure you’re getting the best coverage for the cost. 

In this guide, we’ll explain everything you need to know about car insurance for teens. We’ll also answer some common questions, like how much is car insurance for teens, what’s the best car insurance for teens and how to find the most affordable car insurance for teens.

Trophy

Why you can trust Rate Retriever

Our rates are based on public rate filings obtained by analytics company First Interpreter. While we may partner with some of the carriers you see on our site, we maintain editorial independence and it does not affect the rates you see. Read more about our rating methodology or see our rigorous editorial policy. 

Written by Alyssa DiCrasto

Reviewed by Rob Deming

Last updated: February 26th, 2024

The best car insurance for teenagers

For many teenagers, getting a driver’s license is a rite of passage. But for parents of teens, adding a newly licensed driver to your car insurance policy can be a big expense. While it is possible for teenage drivers to get their own car insurance policy, it will often be much cheaper if they are added to a parent’s policy.

Cheap car insurance for teenagers

What are the different types of car insurance for teens?

To legally get behind the wheel, teen drivers must have car insurance that meets the minimum requirements in their state. The most common way for newly licensed drivers to get insurance is through their parents. When you add a teen driver to your current policy, the teen gets the exact same coverage you already have.

In most states, teen drivers must carry personal liability insurance, which includes coverage for bodily injury and property damage if they cause an accident. So, for example, if your teen hits another driver which results in injuries or vehicle damages, your personal liability insurance would pay for the other driver’s losses. 

In addition to liability insurance, many teen drivers can benefit from add-on coverages. Here are some other types of car insurance that you might consider adding to protect you and the young drivers on your policy:

  • Collision insurance: Collision insurance helps cover the cost for repairing your own vehicle if your teen causes an accident or hits a stationary object. It usually provides a payout based on the car’s actual cash value (ACV), minus a deductible.
  • Comprehensive insurance: Comprehensive coverage pays for your vehicle’s repairs after a non-collision incident, such as theft, vandalism, weather-related damage, a fire or a flood. Like collision insurance, you’re generally compensated based on your car’s ACV, less a deductible.
  • Medical payments insurance: If your teen gets in an accident and gets injured, or if one of their passengers gets hurt, medical payments insurance provides extra coverage for their medical bills.
  • New car replacement coverage: If your car gets totaled in a covered claim, new car replacement coverage will compensate you for the cost of a new car, of a similar make and model to your old car.
  • Roadside assistance: Roadside assistance covers the cost of basic roadside repairs, like flat tire changes, a new battery, fuel delivery and extrication. It also covers the cost of towing up to a certain mileage if the car can’t be easily fixed.

What is the cheapest insurance company for a teenager?

The cheapest car insurance company depends on several factors beyond age including where you live, what kind of car you drive, and what discounts you qualify for. However, here are the average rates for a 17-year-old from some national car insurance companies.

Company Average Annual Premium
USAA 5,551
Auto-Owners Insurance 5,768
Nationwide 6,677
State Farm 7,061
Geico 7,728
Travelers 8,090
Progressive 9,878
Allstate 10,780
Farmers 12,128

Annual rates for a male driving a 2023 RAV4, estimated using public rate filings sourced from First Interpreter. Rates do not represent actual quotes. Accurate as of January 2024. 

As you can see, even rates from the most popular car insurance companies in the nation can get expensive for a teenager. In order to find the cheapest car insurance for you, it’s important to compare rates from several insurance companies, including local companies that might be able to provide better rates than larger national companies. 

What is the best insurance for a teenager?

Every family has different car insurance needs, so the best car insurance for a teenager depends on multiple factors. Many parents are searching for the cheapest car insurance for teens, but others are looking for companies with the best customer service, the best discounts or the best additional coverages.

Find the best insurance company for teens by taking our quick start quiz. Based on your responses, you’ll get matched with the providers in your area that fit your unique coverage needs. You’ll be able to compare rates and discounts and connect with the company you choose.

For a deeper look into car insurance for teens, visit one of the guides below to see data, insights, and recommendations specific to the age you’re most interested in:

Average cost of car insurance for teens

The national average cost of car insurance for a teenager is more than $3000, but the cost you will pay will depend on your state and if your teen is the primary driver on the policy.

Below is the average cost of car insurance for a 17-year-old male in each state. These rate assume the teen is the sole policyholder.

Annual rates for a male driving a 2023 RAV4, estimated using public rate filings sourced from First Interpreter. Rates do not represent actual quotes. Accurate as of January 2024. 

Of course, your rates will be a little different since the cost of car insurance depends on several personal factors. Most teens don’t have an established credit history or traffic violations on their record, so some of the things that will impact their premium include:

  • Location
  • Desired policy types
  • Policy limits
  • Insurance company
  • Discounts available

Despite all these factors, good car insurance for teens can still be expensive. Newly licensed drivers under age 20 lack experience on the road and are viewed as high-risk from an insurer’s perspective. To offset the increased likelihood of an accident or another claim, insurance companies usually charge teens much higher premiums than older drivers.

The cost of adding a teenager to your policy

Teen drivers can’t always get their own policy, and instead need to be added to their parent’s existing policy. 

Parents who add a teen to their car insurance will see their premium increase, but it’s usually far less expensive to add a teen driver to your existing policy than it is for the teen to purchase a policy of their own. 

Below are the average annual rates in each state for a 17-year-old on their own policy, a single 45-year-old parent on their own policy, and then the policies combined, with the parent as the primary driver.

State Teen's Policy Parent's Policy Combined
Alabama 8,588 1,531 4,248
Alaska 6,722 1,524 4,062
Arizona 8,866 1,616 4,700
Arkansas 8,459 1,702 4,101
California 5,144 1,923 4,029
Colorado 10,124 1,848 4,239
Connecticut 10,435 1,994 4,942
Delaware 14,276 2,297 5,573
Florida 11,851 2,300 6,135
Georgia 10,961 1,781 5,109
Hawaii 1,701 1,255 1,263
Idaho 6,314 1,072 2,959
Illinois 8,344 1,652 4,166
Indiana 5,906 1,335 3,335
Iowa 6,025 1,390 3,300
Kansas 8,713 1,771 4,114
Kentucky 9,611 1,861 4,942
Louisiana 12,724 2,780 7,497
Maine 5,074 1,186 2,934
Maryland 10,951 2,159 5,581
Massachusetts 6,079 1,647 3,627
Michigan 9,433 2,406 5,799
Minnesota 7,199 1,796 4,551
Mississippi 7,787 1,486 3,920
Missouri 9,264 2,004 4,950
Montana 7,143 1,384 3,008
Nebraska 6,894 1,693 3,885
Nevada 12,800 2,136 6,701
New Hampshire 6,315 1,280 3,259
New Jersey 12,246 2,087 5,676
New Mexico 7,604 1,450 3,591
New York 10,545 3,334 6,903
North Carolina 4,918 1,525 3,172
North Dakota 7,281 1,431 3,427
Ohio 5,703 1,184 2,991
Oklahoma 11,037 1,974 4,412
Oregon 7,873 1,417 3,892
Pennsylvania 7,192 1,863 4,821
Rhode Island 11,605 1,908 5,718
South Carolina 6,972 1,579 4,791
South Dakota 8,051 1,916 4,093
Tennessee 7,514 1,522 4,285
Texas 9,313 2,068 5,204
Utah 10,063 1,582 3,885
Vermont 4,647 1,114 2,958
Virginia 8,420 1,517 4,678
Washington 7,774 1,467 3,735
Washington DC 9,225 1,940 4,399
West Virginia 7,725 1,450 4,402
Wisconsin 6,646 1,364 3,427
Wyoming 4,450 1,178 3,270

Annual rates for a male driving a 2023 RAV4, estimated using public rate filings sourced from First Interpreter. Rates do not represent actual quotes. Accurate as of January 2024. 

As you can see, parents may see their premium more than double when they add their teenage driver. However, assuming the teen maintains a good driving record and avoids accidents and tickets, parents should see their premium start to slowly decrease as their teen driver gets older. 

Cheap car insurance for teenagers

How to get affordable car insurance for teenagers

To get more affordable car insurance for teens, it’s a good idea to see what discounts are available from your insurance company. For example, many car insurance companies offer savings for teen drivers who get good grades in school or maintain a minimum GPA. There are also discounts for teens who attend school or college more than 100 miles away from home and don’t bring a car to campus.

As a parent, you should also ask your insurance company about other ways to get cheap car insurance for teens. For instance, you can usually get a lower premium by bundling your policies, paying your annual premium in full, taking a defensive driver course, raising your deductibles and improving your credit score. 

Common types of car insurance discounts for teens include:

Edit Content

Car insurance companies often provide a discount when you insure multiple vehicles with the same policy.

Edit Content

Some car insurance providers have special discounts when you bundle multiple types of insurance policies, such as a homeowners insurance policy with an auto insurance policy.

Edit Content

For families with teenagers and young adults, good student discounts can help lower the cost of your premiums if your student has good grades, has completed a Driver’s Education course, or goes to college out of state. 

Edit Content

Some car insurance companies offer Safe Driver Discounts, also known as Good Driver Discounts. These discounts are based on a driver’s record and are typically granted when a driver doesn’t have significant at-fault accidents, claims, or points.

Car insurance FAQs for teenagers

When do I have to add my teen to my car insurance?

Ideally, parents should add a teen to their car insurance policy when the teen gets their learner’s permit. If you are planning to purchase a car for your teenager once they get their driver’s license, keep in mind that you might have to buy a separate policy for the teen only. In most cases, a teen can stay on their parent’s policy for as long as they are living in their household and driving a shared vehicle. 

Why shop for car insurance once your teenager starts to drive?

Once your teen has their driver’s license, you should think about shopping around for car insurance. You will probably see your car insurance premium increase significantly after adding a young driver, so getting new quotes from different companies may help you find a more affordable policy. If you are able to get a better rate from a different provider, you can cancel your current policy and switch insurers at any time, even before your policy is up for renewal. 

How to get cheap car insurance for teenagers?

There are a few things teenagers can do to get cheaper car insurance. One is to stay on their parent’s policy if they are eligible. Another is to shop around and compare rates from different companies. Lastly, practicing safe driving and taking advantage of available discounts is also a good idea. 

Compare how much insurance costs at the top insurance companies near you

30 Seconds  |  No Sign-Up  |  Reliable Results 

Methodology

Rate Retriever rates are based on public rate filings obtained by analytics company First Interpreter. This data comes from the rating plans insurance carriers submit to each state’s department of insurance. Rating plans detail how each carrier calculates premiums using factors such as location, age, gender, and driving record, and they ensure that insurance premiums are both fair and competitive.  

For the data on this page, we made the following assumptions: a single male with a clean driving record and Good credit score, driving a 2023 RAV4. We adjusted this profile by age to determine the rates you see on this page. 

These rates are not actual quotes and should be used only for comparative purposes. Your rates can vary significantly based on your unique driver profile. 

About Rate Retriever

At Rate Retriever, our mission is to make the way you shop for insurance transparent and fair through user-friendly tools that respect your privacy and deliver reliable, comprehensive results 

So we took everything we hated about comparing insurance quotes online – the spam, the long questionnaires, the limited choices, the inaccuracy of quote prices – and threw it out the window, favoring a short form that more accurately estimates what you’ll pay at each of the top insurance providers near you. 

Rate Retriever is an independent company that is not owned by an insurance provider, nor do we provide insurance ourselves. This independence allows us to be your free and impartial insurance research tool, helping you make the best decisions for your insurance needs.  

We may earn a commission when you click one of the links or call one of the providers listed on our site; however, we do not allow our partnerships to influence which information we provide.