Updated: July 9, 2026
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Virginia drivers pay an average of $97 per month on a full coverage and $53 per month on a minimum coverage policy. The $44 monthly gap between the two coverage levels is wide enough that the coverage choice matters, but so does the company.
Your rate depends on your driving record, ZIP code, age and the company you pick.
| Minimum Coverage | $53 | $60 | $636 | $726 |
| Full Coverage | $97 | $124 | $1,162 | $1,493 |
Standard full coverage in Virginia, with 100/300/100 liability limits and a $1,000 deductible, costs $99 per month. Drop to minimum liability only and that falls to $55. Add full comprehensive and collision at a $0 deductible and it rises to $133. The coverage level you pick is worth $78 a month either direction.
Comprehensive and collision are what separate a $55 policy from a $70 one, and they're the only part of the policy that pays for your own car after a theft, a storm or a crash you caused. Minimum liability skips all of that. For $15 a month, that gap closes.
Minimum Liability Only | $55 | $662 |
Min. liab. + comp/coll ($1,000 ded.) | $70 | $835 |
Min. liab. + comp/coll ($2,000 ded.) | $84 | $1,014 |
100/300/100 liability + comp/coll ($1,000 ded.) | $99 | $1,185 |
50/100/50 liability + comp/coll ($500 ded.) | $103 | $1,235 |
300/500/300 liability + comp/coll ($1,500 ded.) | $104 | $1,249 |
Min. liab. + comp/coll ($250 ded.) | $112 | $1,348 |
Min. liab. + comp/coll ($0 ded.) | $133 | $1,593 |
Dropping from a $1,000 deductible to $0 on a minimum liability policy adds $63 per month, from $70 to $133. Stepping up from minimum liability to 100/300/100 limits with the same $1,000 deductible adds only $29, from $70 to $99. Because Virginia is an at-fault state, the extra $29 for higher liability limits protects you from a lawsuit if you cause a serious crash. The $63 for a lower deductible only reduces what you pay out of pocket on your own vehicle after a claim. Raising your liability limits simply gets you more for your money.
An average cost of car insurance by city in Virginia is around $87 to $111 a month for a full coverage policy. Alexandria costs the most at $111 per month, and Norfolk follows close behind at $110. Roanoke costs the least at $87. That $24 difference across Virginia's ten largest cities is smaller than the $31 difference between the state's cheapest and most expensive insurers. Location affects your rate, but your insurance company affects it more.
Alexandria | $111 | $62 |
Norfolk | $110 | $61 |
Chesapeake | $107 | $62 |
Virginia Beach | $106 | $60 |
Hampton | $106 | $60 |
Richmond | $104 | $59 |
Newport News | $103 | $59 |
Portsmouth | $102 | $58 |
Suffolk | $96 | $55 |
Roanoke | $87 | $53 |
Alexandria's higher rate comes from its position inside the Washington D.C. metro corridor. Heavy commuter traffic on Interstate 395 and Route 1 pushes accident rates and claims costs above what Virginia's rural areas see. Roanoke's lower population density keeps claims lower across the board. If your Alexandria or Norfolk quote for standard full coverage on a clean record runs above $111 per month, the company is the reason worth addressing, not your ZIP code.
A 16-year-old male on a family plan pays $290 per month for full coverage in Virginia, three times the base adult rate, and that falls to $138 by 25. Gender matters too, but less than age. A 16-year-old male pays $24 more per month than a 16-year-old female for the same coverage, and that gap is gone by the mid-20s. The table below has full numbers for 16- and 17-year-olds, and Virginia's car insurance calculator can estimate your own rate.
A DUI is the costliest violation on a Virginia driver's record, $189 per month for full coverage, 1.9 times a clean record's $99 and $1,086 more per year. A crash that wasn't your fault still shows up on your bill, pushing full coverage from $99 to $117, a $216 annual increase. At-fault accidents cost more still, $148 per month, though nothing here touches DUI territory.
Speeding and texting while driving cost about the same in Virginia, $125 to $126 per month, both well below an at-fault accident's $148. Violations typically stay on your rate for three years. Virginia is one of only two states, along with Florida, that requires an FR-44 instead of an SR-22 after a DUI, doubling the minimum liability limits you must carry for at least three years from license reinstatement. Companies vary widely in how they price serious violations, so drivers with multiple marks on their record can often find better options through high-risk car insurance in Virginia. Once that three-year window closes, shop around, since your rate won't drop on its own.
Clean Record | $99 | $1,185 | — |
Accident (not at fault) | $117 | $1,407 | 18% |
Speeding | $125 | $1,499 | 26% |
Texting While Driving | $125 | $1,501 | 26% |
Accident (at fault) | $148 | $1,775 | 49% |
DUI | $189 | $2,271 | 91% |
Drivers with bad credit pay $274 per month for full coverage while those with good credit pay $93, a $181 monthly difference that adds up to $2,172 per year. That gap is 3.4 times the annual cost of Virginia's minimum coverage.
| Good Credit | $51 | $93 |
| Bad Credit | $119 | $274 |
| Difference | $68 | $181 |
Credit is different from other rate factors because you can actually improve it. Pay down debt, fix reporting errors, or wait out old negative marks, and your premium can drop without touching your coverage or your car. The catch: insurers won't apply that improvement on their own, so you have to ask for a new quote once your score moves. Drivers currently paying the higher end of Virginia's credit range can find companies that charge less for poor credit through car insurance with poor credit.
The Tesla Model Y costs $187 per month to insure, $66 more than the Ford F-150 at $121, a $792 yearly difference driven mostly by EV parts that cost more and take longer to source.
Comprehensive coverage costs even more on top of that in Richmond and Norfolk, where theft rates run high and specialized EV repair shops are scarce. The Toyota Prius splits the difference: $135 per month, $10 above a Honda Civic and $52 below the Model Y. It gets better mileage than a full EV without paying EV-level premiums to insure it.
$74 | $892 | $121 | $1,446 | |
$77 | $920 | $125 | $1,495 | |
$80 | $957 | $130 | $1,554 | |
$83 | $997 | $135 | $1,620 | |
$84 | $1,003 | $136 | $1,631 | |
$86 | $1,034 | $140 | $1,679 | |
$104 | $1,244 | $166 | $1,996 | |
$116 | $1,393 | $187 | $2,244 |
Poor credit and a DUI move a Virginia rate more than anything else, $181 a month for bad credit and $90 for a DUI. Driving record matters for another reason too, since Virginia holds at-fault drivers financially responsible. If your liability limits fall short after causing a crash, you could end up in a personal lawsuit, not just a higher premium next year.
Two drivers with identical Virginia policies can get quotes $31 apart just by picking a different company, $61 per month at Travelers or Farm Bureau versus $92 at Erie Insurance. Every policy in the state had to meet Virginia's new 50/100/25 minimum by 2025, so a quote from a few years ago won't reflect what's available now.
Travelers and Farm Bureau rank among the best car insurance companies in Virginia for claims performance, not just for being cheap. Cheapest car insurance in Virginia data only looks at cost, so it won't tell you how well a company handles a claim after a crash. Compare at least three companies on price and service before you renew.
$30 | $61 | $360 | $733 | |
$30 | $61 | $362 | $737 | |
$45 | $76 | $540 | $916 | |
$42 | $81 | $508 | $972 | |
$46 | $82 | $553 | $987 | |
$44 | $92 | $524 | $1,108 |
Car insurance rates in Virginia differ between Northern Virginia's metro corridor and rural areas like the Shenandoah Valley, and many drivers don't expect that gap when they move within the state. Here are the questions Virginia residents ask most about their premiums.
Minimum coverage in Virginia costs $53 per month. Full coverage costs $44 more, at $97. Your driving record, age, credit score and coverage choices all move that number up or down.
Full coverage in Virginia costs $97 per month, 22% below the national average of $124. Most of the state outside Northern Virginia has moderate population density, which keeps accident rates and claims costs lower. Virginia's uninsured driver rate is about 11%, also below the national rate of 15.4%. Northern Virginia's proximity to Washington D.C. pushes rates up in that corridor, but not enough to offset the savings statewide.
Drivers with good credit pay $93 per month for full coverage in Virginia. Poor credit pushes that to $274, a $181 monthly difference. Insurers in Virginia are allowed to factor credit-based scores into your premium. A better credit score lowers your premium over time, and you don't have to change your coverage to see it happen.
We used this profile to determine auto insurance costs across all available ZIP codes and cities in Virginia.
Sections covering costs by age and driving record use rates for those driver profiles. All other factors stay the same.
Minimum coverage represents Virginia's minimum liability coverage requirements. Full coverage includes a policy with 100/300/100 liability limits plus a $1,000 deductible for both comprehensive and collision coverage.
About Mark Fitzpatrick
Mark Fitzpatrick, a licensed Property and Casualty (P&C) Insurance Producer in Connecticut, is MoneyGeek's resident insurance expert. He has spent nearly a decade analyzing the market, first at LendingTree and now at MoneyGeek, where he produces original research on hundreds of carriers and millions of rates across auto, home, renters, health and life insurance.
He covers economics and insurance at MoneyGeek, and his work has been featured in The Washington Post, The New York Times and NPR, among other outlets.
Like all MoneyGeek analysts, he draws on independent cost and consumer experience data. No insurance company partnership influences his recommendations.
Mark holds a B.A. from Boston College and an M.A. in Economics and International Relations from Johns Hopkins University. He started his career in financial risk management at State Street and is also a five-time “Jeopardy!” champion.
