10 States Where Car Insurance Is Most Costly in 2019

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Unhappy driver
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No one enjoys paying for car insurance. But you’ll really feel the pain if your wheels are parked in a state on the U.S. East Coast.

Nine of the top 10 states with the most expensive car insurance are located on or very close to the Atlantic Ocean, according to a recent WalletHub survey.

In determining its rankings, WalletHub collected 2,800 quotes from 20 auto insurance companies across 47 states.

These are the 10 states with the highest costs, starting with the most expensive:

  • New York
  • Florida
  • New Jersey
  • Rhode Island
  • Louisiana
  • Delaware
  • Pennsylvania
  • Maryland
  • Georgia
  • Connecticut

By contrast, you’ll generally find lower car insurance costs in the nation’s interior. The five states with the lowest costs are:

  • Iowa
  • Vermont
  • Nebraska
  • Wyoming
  • South Dakota

It makes sense that insurance is so much more expensive in the highly populated East Coast than in the more sparsely populated Midwest and Mountain states.

Elisabeth Honka, assistant professor of marketing at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, told WalletHub that direct costs — in the form of claims — determine the rates that insurance companies charge:

“These costs are lower in states with fewer accidents (e.g. more rural state) and thus insurance rates are also lower. Secondary determinants of insurance rates are fixed costs, regulations, and demand-related factors.”

The three states that were not included in WalletHub’s analysis are Alaska, Hawaii and Michigan — the latter of which Insure.com has ranked as the most expensive state for car insurance for the past five years.

Those three states were not included because “not enough major insurers were able to provide quotes to our researchers in those states,” a WalletHub spokesperson tells Money Talks News.

How to lower your car insurance costs

Regardless of where you live, you can lower the price of your car insurance.

The best thing you can do is to shop around. But that doesn’t have to mean calling multiple insurers, talking to salespeople and waiting on hold for quotes.

Services like The Zebra and Gabi take the work out of the process by getting quotes for you. You can learn more about them in “7 Real Ways to Save on Your Car Costs.”

Another easy way to lower your costs is to drop comprehensive and collision coverage if your car is older. But this strategy involves a few potential risks. So, make sure you read “2-Minute Money Manager: Should I Drop My Comprehensive and Collision Car Insurance Coverage?” before moving ahead.

For more tips on reducing your auto insurance expenses, check out “The Complete Guide to Getting the Best Possible Deal on Car Insurance” by Money Talks New founder Stacy Johnson.

Do you have other great tips for slashing your car insurance premiums? Share them in comments below or on our Facebook page.

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