Car Insurance Rates by Age in the USA
A 16-year-old costs $5,740 a year to insure on full coverage — 2.4 times the cheapest age, 60, at $2,439. But almost the entire difference disappears by 25. The fall from 16 to 25 is $2,414. The fall from 25 to 60 — thirty-five further years — is only $887.
What every age actually pays
Nine age bands, full coverage and state-minimum coverage, from the same dataset and the same driver profile.
| Age | Full coverage | Minimum coverage |
|---|---|---|
| 16* | $5,740 | $1,904 |
| 18 | $4,941 | $1,615 |
| 20 | $5,448 | $1,688 |
| 25 | $3,326 | $1,003 |
| 30 | $2,877 | $860 |
| 40 | $2,697 | $820 |
| 50 | $2,532 | $783 |
| 60 | $2,439 | $767 |
| 70 | $2,640 | $863 |
*Ages 16 and 17 are measured differently — see below. Bankrate / Quadrant Information Services, November 2025 rates, all ZIP codes and carriers in 50 states + DC. Base profile: 40-year-old driver, 2023 Toyota Camry, good credit, clean record, 100/300/50 limits with $500 deductibles.
The 16-year-old figure is not what a teenager pays for their own policy. Bankrate’s methodology states that for teen drivers, rates were determined by adding a 16- or 17-year-old to their 40-year-old married parents’ policy, and the figure shown is the total cost of the policy with that driver added.
From 18 onward the figures are standalone. That distinction matters, and most sites publishing this data do not make it.
Why insurers price by age at all
The pricing follows crash data, and the gap is larger than most drivers expect.
The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety measured police-reported crash involvement per 100 million miles driven across every age band. Drivers aged 16–17 were involved in 1,432 crashes per 100 million miles. Drivers aged 60–69, the safest group in the study, were involved in 241. That is roughly six times the risk per mile driven.
| Driver age | Crashes per 100 million miles |
|---|---|
| 16–17 | 1,432 |
| 18–19 | 730 |
| 20–24 | 572 |
| 25–29 | 526 |
| 30–39 | 328 |
| 40–49 | 314 |
| 50–59 | 315 |
| 60–69 | 241 |
| 70–79 | 301 |
| 80+ | 432 |
Tefft, B.C. (2017). Rates of Motor Vehicle Crashes, Injuries and Deaths in Relation to Driver Age, United States, 2014-2015 (Research Brief). Washington, D.C.: AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. Table 1, all police-reported crashes. Crash data from NHTSA; mileage denominator from the AAA Foundation American Driving Survey. These are 2014–2015 data published in 2017 — the most recent study of its kind from this source, but over a decade old. Verified against the source PDF on 4 September 2026.
Two things in that table are worth sitting with. The first is how quickly risk falls: from 1,432 at 16–17 to 572 by 20–24, and roughly halving again by the thirties. The second is that it rises at the other end — 301 at 70–79 and 432 at 80 and over.
That shape is the same shape the premium curve takes. It is why the vehicle you drive matters less than your age when you are seventeen, and more than your age once you are forty: at seventeen the statistical risk of the driver dominates everything else in the calculation.
Hawaii and Massachusetts prohibit age as an insurance rating factor. If you are in either state, turning 25 has no automatic effect on your rate. Massachusetts still permits driving experience as a factor, so newly licensed drivers of any age still pay more there. Every other state permits age-based pricing.
Why 20-year-olds pay more than 18-year-olds
The table contains an apparent anomaly: a 20-year-old is modelled at $5,448 while an 18-year-old is modelled at $4,941 — the older driver costing more.
It is a consequence of how the figures are built rather than a finding about risk. Teen rates reflect a driver added to an established family policy, which carries the parents’ history and any multi-policy discounts. A standalone young-adult policy carries none of that. The 20-year-old figure is what a young driver pays alone; the earlier ones are what a household pays with a teenager on the policy.
Read as a curve of what a person pays independently, the decline is continuous from 20 onward. Read as a curve of household cost, the shape is different. Both are in the table; neither is wrong.
The nine years that matter
Between 16 and 25 the modelled premium falls $2,414. Between 25 and 60 — thirty-five further years — it falls $887.
Roughly three-quarters of the total decline happens in the first nine years. After 25 the curve is close to flat: $3,326 at 25, $2,877 at 30, $2,697 at 40, $2,532 at 50.
The practical consequence is that “rates come down as you get older” is true in a narrow window and misleading outside it. A 30-year-old waiting for age to reduce their premium is waiting for about $25 a year.
Rates rise again after 60
The floor is at 60, at $2,439. By 70 the modelled premium has risen to $2,640 — an increase of $201, putting a 70-year-old back to roughly what a 45-to-50-year-old pays.
The rise is real but modest in this dataset: 8 percent above the floor. It is not comparable in scale to the teen premium.
Minimum coverage follows the same shape
State-minimum coverage runs far cheaper at every age — $820 against $2,697 at 40 — but the curve has the same shape, peaking young and flattening after 25.
Minimum coverage pays for damage you cause to others and nothing for your own vehicle. If a car is financed or leased, the lender will require full coverage regardless of age.
How to read these figures
These are modelled sample rates, not a record of what individuals were charged. Bankrate commissions Quadrant Information Services to analyse rates across every ZIP code and carrier, then weights them by population density. The base profile is a 40-year-old driver in a 2023 Toyota Camry with good credit and a clean record.
Your own rate depends on your state, your ZIP code, your vehicle, your credit tier and your record — each of which can move the figure more than age does after 25.
Two limits worth stating plainly. Bankrate publishes no age-by-gender breakdown, so this page makes no claim about how rates differ between male and female drivers at a given age. And no figure is published for ages between the bands shown; we do not interpolate one.
It is also worth knowing that different publishers measure different things. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners, working from carrier filings rather than quoted rates, reports a countrywide average expenditure of $1,281 across all coverage levels. That is not in conflict with the figures above — it is a different measure of a different thing.
Frequently asked questions
Age 60, in this dataset, at $2,439 for full coverage. Rates fall steeply to 25, drift down slowly to 60, then rise again. Bankrate publishes figures at 16, 18, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60 and 70; the true minimum could fall anywhere between the bands and we do not estimate one.
The largest single fall in the published bands is between 20 and 25 — from $5,448 to $3,326. But the data shows a band-to-band decline, not a birthday event. Insurers reprice at renewal, and a claim or violation can offset the reduction entirely.
Because it measures a teenager added to their parents’ policy, not a standalone teen policy. Bankrate’s methodology states the figure is the total cost of the parents’ policy with a 16- or 17-year-old added. A standalone policy for a driver that age would cost considerably more. Sites quoting this figure as “what a 16-year-old pays” are describing the wrong thing.
In most states gender is a rating factor, but this dataset does not publish an age-by-gender breakdown, so we make no claim about the size of any difference. Bankrate’s methodology notes only that California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina and Pennsylvania do not permit gender as a rating factor.
About the Author — Ashvin J. Sonani
Founder & Lead Researcher at Cars.Zone. Digital marketer, data analyst and domain investor with 28+ years of internet experience, now focused on US automotive cost intelligence. Cars.Zone analyses are built from primary industry sources (AAA, Kelley Blue Book, Edmunds, iSeeCars, Experian, NAIC) for core cost data, with select supporting figures sourced from industry aggregators including Bankrate — each figure attributed to its named source and cross-verified before publication. No insurer or dealer relationships influence editorial content.