Insurify: Full-coverage auto insurance premium increases to continue, up in 32 states by year-end

A new report from Insurify predicts full-coverage auto insurance will increase in 32 states by year-end.

The 2026 Mid-Year Auto Insurance Report is the result of an analysis of 250 million rates stored in Insurify’s database. It covers how costs have changed within the first half of the year, following a 6% decrease in 2025.

Insurify projects full-coverage car insurance rates will end 2026 up 1% year-over-year, with an annual average of $2,242, and representing a 7-percentage-point swing in the national trend. The annual average cost of full-coverage car insurance is $2,237 nationwide, up 1% since the end of 2025.

While residents in 39 states with full-coverage auto insurance saw relief from rising insurance premiums, Insurify notes that this May, inflation hit a three-year high and consumer sentiment hit record lows, amid affordability concerns.

In addition, gas prices have risen from approximately $3 per gallon to $4, and auto maintenance and repair costs have been mounting as well, rising 45% in the past five years, or double the rate of inflation, the report states.

“Now, insurance rates are climbing again,” the report states. “So far this year, 27 states have seen their insurance rates increase. As of mid-2026, drivers in seven states and Washington, D.C., pay more than $3,000 annually for full coverage.”

In the first six months of 2026, residents in 27 states saw their rates increase, compared to nine states in the second half of 2025.

Looking ahead, Insurify projects rate increases in 32 states in the second half of the year. The biggest projected increases are in Connecticut (+4%) and West Virginia (+3%).

Insurify says two years ago, insurance premiums were at an all-time high “as insurers struggled to catch up to a surge of costly claims following the pandemic.”

“Those high premiums helped car insurance companies recover financially and enter 2025 in a more stable position,” the report states. “In 2025, insurers began seeing fewer claims and started lowering rates, hoping to win over new customers shopping for insurance. The average driver found themselves paying $140 less for full coverage by the end of 2025, compared to 12 months earlier. But that period of falling premiums looks to have been short-lived, as rates have started to pick up again in 2026.

“In some cases, insurers are raising rates in cheaper states while cutting them in more expensive states. Three of the most expensive places for car insurance, Washington, D.C., New York, and New Jersey, saw premiums fall at least 5% in the first half of 2026.”

The report also found that:

• • Drivers in Washington, D.C., pay $3,880 per year for full-coverage car insurance, more on average than in any other state.
  • The next-highest premiums are in Maryland ($3,646), Rhode Island ($3,611), Michigan ($3,229), and Georgia ($3,109).
  • Connecticut drivers pay 10% more, an extra $251 annually, for full coverage compared to six months ago, the highest increase in the nation. The states with the next-largest increases are Kentucky (+6%), West Virginia (+5%), and Illinois (+4%).

Insurify notes in the report that many of the most expensive places for residents to purchase car insurance are in the Northeast.

“The area has dense urban centers, which means more traffic and more accidents,” the report states. “More accidents mean more claims for insurers. In many cases, those claims are more expensive. The cost of bodily injury claims, the most expensive for insurers, rose 36% nationally from 2020 to 2024. The cost of collision claims rose 42%.”

Insurify also found that while 2025 price reductions have mostly subsided, prices are now flattening out or increasing in much of the country.

“But some states are still seeing falling premiums, including states that have long had more expensive insurance costs,” the report states. “Three of the most expensive places for car insurance, Washington, D.C., New York, and New Jersey, saw their rates fall by 5% or more in the first half of 2026.”

New Mexico, Massachusetts, Florida, Arkansas, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Oklahoma have also seen decreases between 2% and 5%.

Insurify predicts New Mexico, Arkansas, Minnesota, Colorado, Idaho, Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Iowa, and New Hampshire will see the largest decreases in average annual full-coverage car insurance costs, between 1% and 3%.

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Featured image credit: alexsl/iStock

Data in chart provided by Insurify