On average, we found that men pay $720 per year for auto insurance, while women pay $739 per year. The cost difference between teenage men and women drivers is easy to explain. Men pay significantly more for car insurance than women in their teen years, while women pay slightly higher premiums in later years. On average, we found that men pay $720 per year for auto insurance, while women pay $739 per year.
But these rates depend on age: during their younger years, men pay more for auto insurance than women. This cost difference usually evens out at age 25 for both genders. However, women see a comparatively slight hike in their rates by age 35. Why women wind up paying more for auto insurance over time is not really known, and some states have already started taking steps to eliminate gender as a rate factor.
This article includes:
- Car insurance rate differences between men and women
- Car insurance rates for men
- Auto insurance costs for women
- Why do male and female drivers pay different rates?
- The future of gender as an auto insurance rate factor
Do men or women pay more for car insurance?
Our research found that men pay an average of $720 per year for car insurance, while women pay $739. Which gender pays more for auto insurance at any given point in time depends on the age of the driver. On average, young men pay much more for car insurance than young women. This is because car insurance providers find men to be riskier drivers than women, especially when they are younger. When they are older, women start to pay slightly higher rates. Besides age, other factors that can affect the car insurance rates of either gender include:
- Driving history
- Where you live
- Car make
- Marital status
In order to defray higher auto insurance costs regardless of your age and gender, make sure to compare multiple auto insurance quotes from many companies. Rates and coverage offerings can vary widely. Getting a broad overview of what's available can save you a lot of money.
How much do men pay for car insurance?
On average, men pay $720 a year, or $60 a month, for auto insurance. At age 18, a male driver pays an average of $5,124 a year, or $427 a month.
At 18 years old, men pay over $1,000 more per year on average than an equal-aged female driver. The key reason for this? Teen males show a higher level of crash risk than women of the same age. The graph below shows the difference in average rates between an 18-year-old man and woman:
According to a 2018 CDC study, the rate of fatal car accidents for men between the ages of 16 and 19 was almost twice the death rate for equally-aged women drivers. Auto insurance providers take this into account when factoring risk levels to calculate premiums.
Men's auto insurance rates decrease significantly around age 25. After that, rates stabilize, then stay fairly constant for many years if a clean driving record is maintained.
The cost of car insurance for women
Women pay an average of $739 a year, or $62 a month, for auto insurance throughout their lifetime. Eighteen-year-old female drivers can expect to pay an annual average rate of $4,118, or $343 a month. Women have safer driving records than men overall. At age 35, however, women see slightly higher average rates, as shown in the graph below:
Why do men and women pay different car insurance rates?
Since they show a better reputation for safe driving than men, women tend to pay cheaper rates when they're younger.At age 25, both genders see fairly equal rates due to maturity and more experience behind the wheel.
Then why do women see higher rates than men when they're older? There is currently no clear answer. In 2017, the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) found that women between the ages of 40 and 60 paid more for minimum liability coverage than men with similar histories. Looking at the underlying factors used to calculate claim risk level, there doesn't seem to be a clear and constant risk factor in women drivers' histories to reveal a reason for the cost difference.
Women may also pay significantly more than men depending on where they live. Our analysts found 31 states where women pay more than men, 15 where men pay more than women and four where men and women pay the same amount.
We also found that when women pay more, they tend to pay substantially more. Women pay over $100 more than men in four states, while the most men pay more than women is $64.
| State | Male average | Female average | How much more men pay | How much more women pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. | $1,559 | $1,589 | $28 | $62 |
| Alabama | $1,469 | $1,517 | $49 | |
| Alaska | $1,006 | $1,384 | $378 | |
| Arizona | $2,501 | $2,437 | $64 | |
| Arkansas | $1,345 | $1,346 | $1 | |
| California | $1,423 | $1,423 | ||
| Colorado | $1,696 | $1,772 | $77 | |
| Connecticut | $1,935 | $1,901 | $34 | |
| Delaware | $1,890 | $1,994 | $104 | |
| Florida | $3,236 | $3,543 | $307 | |
| Georgia | $1,467 | $1,458 | $9 | |
| Hawaii | $1,213 | $1,221 | $8 | |
| Idaho | $933 | $929 | $4 | |
| Illinois | $1,896 | $1,927 | $32 | |
| Indiana | $987 | $1,009 | $23 | |
| Iowa | $1,005 | $968 | $38 | |
| Kansas | $1,103 | $1,131 | $28 | |
| Kentucky | $2,262 | $2,300 | $38 | |
| Louisiana | $2,897 | $2,844 | $54 | |
| Maine | $762 | $737 | $26 | |
| Maryland | $1,947 | $2,017 | $70 | |
| Massachusetts | $1,546 | $1,546 | ||
| Michigan | $1,881 | $1,881 | ||
| Minnesota | $1,617 | $1,692 | $76 | |
| Mississippi | $1,671 | $1,685 | $14 | |
| Missouri | $1,575 | $1,636 | $61 | |
| Montana | $1,106 | $1,108 | $2 | |
| Nebraska | $978 | $994 | $16 | |
| Nevada | $2,442 | $2,531 | $90 | |
| New Hampshire | $1,378 | $1,371 | $7 | |
| New Jersey | $1,586 | $1,623 | $37 | |
| New Mexico | $1,271 | $1,296 | $25 | |
| New York | $3,851 | $4,059 | $208 | |
| North Carolina | $808 | $834 | $26 | |
| North Dakota | $1,180 | $1,167 | $13 | |
| Ohio | $918 | $926 | $8 | |
| Oklahoma | $1,423 | $1,423 | $1 | |
| Oregon | $1,831 | $1,903 | $73 | |
| Pennsylvania | $1,232 | $1,232 | ||
| Rhode Island | $2,554 | $2,525 | $2 | |
| South Carolina | $1,557 | $1,535 | $22 | |
| South Dakota | $1,269 | $1,275 | $6 | |
| Tennessee | $1,187 | $1,165 | $22 | |
| Texas | $2,224 | $2,179 | $45 | |
| Utah | $1,376 | $1,436 | $60 | |
| Vermont | $902 | $858 | $44 | |
| Virginia | $1,162 | $1,187 | $25 | |
| Washington | $1,460 | $1,525 | $65 | |
| West Virginia | $1,091 | $1,093 | $2 | |
| Wisconsin | $930 | $950 | $20 | |
| Wyoming | $1,002 | $962 | $40 | |
| Methodology: The average rate used here is an average of minimum and full coverage plans for a 30-year-old man and woman across multiple insurance carriers. | ||||
Women, however, tend to see a slightly smaller increase in their insurance premiums after a driving incident. We found that on average, men will see a larger increase in their insurance premiums after a speeding ticket, accident or DUI.
| Incident | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| Speeding ticket | $2,332 | $2,303 |
| Accident | $2,993 | $3,019 |
| DUI | $3,665 | $3,657 |
The disappearance of gender as a car insurance rate factor
Given the vagueness of the reasoning underlying the rate differences between men and women, states have started putting laws on their books to prohibit insurers from using gender as a rate factor when calculating premiums. The removal of gender when calculating auto insurance premiums could go a significant way towards equalizing rates, especially car insurance rates for younger drivers. States that currently have laws that prohibit gender from being used as a car insurance rate factor are:
- California
- Hawaii
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Montana
- North Carolina
- Pennsylvania
Methodology
The average rates used in this article are based on thousands of quotes for full-coverage car insurance in random ZIP codes across the country for drivers 18 and 35 years old with excellent credit and no accidents. The vehicle used for data is a 2012 Honda Accord LX with 16,000 miles in annual mileage.
References:
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