Average Cost of Car Insurance in Texas for 2026

Full coverage in Texas costs $1,799 per year, $306 more than the $1,493 national average. Minimum coverage costs $795 per year, $69 more than the national $726. The full coverage premium exceeds the national average cost by more than four times the minimum coverage difference in dollar terms. Hailstorms, flooding and hurricanes hit comprehensive and collision claims far harder than they hit liability costs, which is why Texas's above-average costs are much more pronounced on the full coverage side.

Texas at $150 per month sits between Colorado ($146) and Maryland ($150), in the upper range nationally. Hailstorms that damage vehicles each spring, Gulf Coast hurricane and flooding exposure, a 14.5% uninsured driver rate and rapid urban growth in Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth and San Antonio all contribute to Texas's above-average rates.

The $87 monthly difference between our baseline minimum liability ($68 per month) and full coverage ($155 per month) covers two distinct scenarios: liability protection for other drivers and comprehensive and collision coverage for your own vehicle. Adding comp and collision to minimum liability costs $25 more per month at a $1,000 deductible ($93 per month total). In Texas, that's a more defensible spend than in most states. A vehicle sitting in a Texas ZIP code that sees hail most springs and is within hurricane range is a different risk calculation than a vehicle in a drier, calmer state.

Two combinations appear cheaper than full 100/300/100 coverage in our data but carry lower liability limits: the 50/100/50 + $500 Deductible at $148 per month and the Minimum Liability + $250 Deductible at $150 per month. Whether those savings hold for your specific profile is worth checking before assuming they will. The combination to avoid outright is the Minimum Liability + $0 Deductible at $163 per month: it costs $8 more than full coverage while providing less liability protection, and it'd take over 10 years without a claim to break even. At the other end, the 300/500/300 + $1,500 Deductible at $172 per month costs more than 100/300/100 + $1,000 Deductible but delivers higher limits, making it a more worthwhile upgrade.

Full coverage ranges from $198 per month in Houston to $153 per month in El Paso, a $45 monthly difference across Texas's 10 most populous cities. Every city in the table exceeds the national average of $124 per month, the only state where that's true across all 10 cities. Texas's statewide hailstorm exposure and uninsured driver rate push costs above the national norm regardless of where in the state you live.

Houston's $198 rate reflects the state's densest traffic, high accident frequency and Gulf Coast storm exposure. El Paso's lower rate reflects far west Texas's lower weather risk, outside the primary hailstorm and hurricane corridors. Dallas at $195 per month sits just $3 below Houston. Austin at $158 per month, the state's capital and a fast-growing metro, comes in $40 below Houston despite its size, reflecting a less concentrated urban area.

Texas carries some of the highest teen driver premiums of any state we've reviewed. A 16-year-old male added to a family policy costs $418 per month, $263 above the 40-year-old baseline of $155. A 16-year-old female costs $406 per month, a $12 monthly difference at 16 that reflects Texas's use of gender as a rating factor and is the narrowest gender opening of any state we've reviewed. Drivers under 18 can't get their own individual policy, so the family plan is the only option for that age group.

Both figures drop steadily through the teen years, and the $12 gender difference closes to just $1 per month by age 25. Family plan rates are lower than individual rates through the early 20s, though some companies start pricing individual policies competitively around 19 and 20. At that point, comparing both options side by side is worth the time, since which is cheaper depends on the company and the driver's profile.

Texas penalizes not-at-fault accidents: a driver with one on record pays $12 per month more than a driver with a clean record, for an incident that wasn't their fault. A DUI in Texas adds $74 per month and pushes full coverage from $155 to $229 per month. An at-fault accident adds $60 per month, and speeding costs slightly more than a texting violation ($29 vs. $26 per month).

Violations affect rates for three to five years. The three-year mark is worth targeting for a re-shop, since that's when many surcharges begin to drop off and competing insurers may price your record more favorably than your current carrier will at renewal.

Texas drivers with bad credit pay $350 per month for full coverage compared to $148 for good credit, a $202 monthly difference that adds up to $2,424 more per year. That annual penalty exceeds Texas's entire full coverage premium ($1,799 per year) by $625, making credit the single most consequential factor on this page by a wider margin than in any other state we've reviewed.

Texas permits insurers to use credit-based insurance scores when setting premiums, unlike California, Hawaii and Massachusetts, which ban the practice. That makes credit improvement one of the highest-return actions available to Texas drivers with poor scores. Each renewal is an opportunity for a rate reduction as the score improves, and re-shopping every six to twelve months captures those reductions rather than waiting for your current insurer to apply them on its own timeline.

Insuring a Tesla Model Y in Texas costs $297 per month for full coverage compared to $205 for a Ford F-150, a $92 monthly difference equal to $1,104 per year. That $205 F-150 baseline is higher than in most other states we've reviewed, which reflects something worth understanding about Texas rates: the state's weather exposure and urban claim environment raises costs for every vehicle, not just expensive ones. Vehicle choice is the second most consequential factor in Texas after credit, producing a wider range than both company choice ($56 per month) and city location ($45 per month).

Texas's hailstorm frequency adds a state-specific layer to EV pricing. The Tesla Model 3 at $255 per month costs $22 more than the Toyota RAV4 at $233, a step that's wider here than in calmer states because hail damage to EV battery systems and sensors produces repair costs that a conventional vehicle in the same storm doesn't face.

Credit score produces the largest cost difference in Texas at $202 per month, more than any other single factor on this page and wider than in many other states we've reviewed. Texas is one of the few states where bad credit costs more than a DUI in dollar terms. Vehicle choice comes second at $92 per month, followed by company choice at $56 per month and city location at $45 per month.

Texas has the widest credit penalty of any state we've reviewed, and credit takes time to fix. Company choice doesn't. State Farm at $93 per month and Progressive at $149 per month charge a $672 annual difference for the same driver with identical coverage, and getting that quote takes minutes rather than months.

Getting quotes from at least three companies shows you where the market prices your specific profile. Our rankings of the cheapest car insurance companies in Texas cover rate data across all available carriers, and our guide to the best car insurance in Texas weighs service and claims quality for drivers who want more than the lowest cost.

Texas car insurance costs rank among the highest in the country, with Houston and Dallas rates well above the national average and the statewide credit penalty the widest of any state we've reviewed. These are the questions Texas drivers ask most about what affects their premiums.