Cheapest Car Insurance in Tennessee for 2026

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Updated: November 2, 2026

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Tennessee Cheapest Car Insurance Company Overview:  

Cheapest Minimum and Full Coverage Car Insurance in Tennessee

Farm Bureau has the cheapest minimum coverage in Tennessee at $31 a month, $4 below Auto-Owners ($35). Travelers has the cheapest full coverage at $78 a month, $8 below Auto-Owners ($86).  

A driver switching from State Farm to Farm Bureau saves $11 a month ($141 a year) for the same minimum coverage. A driver switching from GEICO to Travelers saves $36 a month ($426 a year) for the same full coverage.

Farm Bureau suits drivers who just want liability at the lowest premium, but a driver with assets that a drawn-out claim could put at risk should pay the extra $4 per month for Auto-Owners' more efficient claims handling. Travelers is the right pick for full coverage drivers who rarely file claims, but drivers who file often should pay the extra $8 per month ($97 a year) for Auto-Owners.

Cheapest Full Coverage in Tennessee

Travelers
$78
Auto-Owners
$86
Farm Bureau
$96
Erie Insurance
$106
GEICO
$114
Your Next Step:

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Cheapest Minimum Coverage in Tennessee

Farm Bureau
$31
Auto-Owners
$35
Travelers
$38
Erie Insurance
$39
State Farm
$42

Cheapest Car Insurance for Teens and Young Adults in Tennessee

The cheapest insurer for most teens on a family policy in Tennessee is Travelers. Travelers is cheapest for both male and female drivers from age 18 through 24, starting at $246 for females and $271 for males.

Farm Bureau, Erie and Auto-Owners are cheapest at different ages. For example, a 16-year-old female adds $299 a month at Farm Bureau while a 16-year-old male adds $358 at Erie Insurance. At 17, Auto-Owners is cheapest for males at $307 and Erie takes the female lead at $297. Auto-Owners becomes cheapest for both genders at age 25, at $145 per month.  

The cheapest carrier changes at 17, 18 and 25, so re-quote at every renewal rather than waiting for a birthday. A 16-year-old male’s rate falls $87 a month by 18 ($358 to $271), and a female’s biggest one-year drop is $51, from 17 to 18. These are full coverage rates, which is recommended when insuring a teen driver since they're much more likely to file claims.

16
Farm Bureau
$299
Erie Insurance
$358
17
Erie Insurance
$297
Auto-Owners
$307
18
Travelers
$246
Travelers
$271
19
Travelers
$225
Travelers
$239
20
Travelers
$209
Travelers
$220
21
Travelers
$194
Travelers
$203
22
Travelers
$182
Travelers
$189
23
Travelers
$172
Travelers
$177
24
Travelers
$164
Travelers
$168
25
Auto-Owners
$145
Auto-Owners
$145
Your Next Step:

Get your real quotes from trusted insurance providers.

Cheapest Car Insurance for Seniors in Tennessee

Travelers is the cheapest for seniors in Tennessee at $84 a month for full coverage, only $6 above its $78 adult rate and $23 below Auto-Owners at $107. Although Auto-Owners’ customer experience has a slight lead over Travelers, the extra $275 per year is only worth it if you tend to file claims. A senior who rarely files should stay with Travelers and keep the $275.  

Tennessee law (T.C.A. § 56-7-1107) requires auto insurance rates to include a reduction for vehicles whose regular operators are over 55 and have completed a commissioner-approved accident prevention course. The reduction lasts three years from completion, self-instructed courses don’t qualify, and a license suspension in the prior three years disqualifies you from the discount.

Travelers
$84
Auto-Owners
$107
State Farm
$116
Farmers
$126
Progressive
$130
Your Next Step:

Get your real quotes from trusted insurance providers.

Cheapest Car Insurance for High-Risk Drivers in Tennessee

The cheapest insurer for high-risk drivers in Tennessee depends on the violation. Farm Bureau charges just $96 a month for full coverage after a speeding ticket or an at-fault accident, the same as its clean record rate, so neither violation costs extra there. Auto-Owners is cheapest after a texting violation at $86, also its clean rate. 

Travelers is cheapest after a DUI at $118 per month for full coverage, but if you only need minimum coverage for an SR-22 after a DUI, State Farm is the cheapest at $47 per month. Tennessee generally requires your insurance company to file an SR-22 with the Department of Safety and Homeland Security and keep it in place continuously for three years from license reinstatement. A lapse is reported to the Department and can suspend the license again. Re-quote 30 days before the three years end to move back toward Travelers’ $78 clean rate.

For bad credit, GEICO is cheapest at $218, $12 below Travelers at $230.

Speeding Ticket
Farm Bureau
$96
Farm Bureau
$31
At-Fault Accident
Farm Bureau
$96
Farm Bureau
$31
DUI
Travelers
$118
State Farm
$47
Texting While Driving
Auto-Owners
$86
Farm Bureau
$31
Bad Credit
GEICO
$218
Your Next Step:

Get your real quotes from trusted insurance providers.

Cheapest Car Insurance in Tennessee by City

Farm Bureau has the cheapest minimum coverage in 19 of Tennessee’s 20 largest cities. Its rate runs from $21 per month for minimum coverage in Kingsport to $36 in Memphis and Hendersonville, a $175 annual difference between Kingsport and Memphis. Nashville is $31 per month, Chattanooga $28 and Knoxville $27. Auto-Owners is cheapest in Collierville at $32, so quote it there.

Bartlett
Farm Bureau
$32
$389
Brentwood
Farm Bureau
$24
$290
Chattanooga
Farm Bureau
$28
$336
Clarksville
Farm Bureau
$32
$379
Collierville
Auto-Owners
$32
$379
Franklin
Farm Bureau
$24
$287
Gallatin
Farm Bureau
$27
$322
Germantown
Farm Bureau
$32
$381
Hendersonville
Farm Bureau
$36
$437
Jackson
Farm Bureau
$26
$312
Johnson City
Farm Bureau
$23
$272
Kingsport
Farm Bureau
$21
$254
Knoxville
Farm Bureau
$27
$328
La Vergne
Farm Bureau
$27
$322
Memphis
Farm Bureau
$36
$429
Mount Juliet
Farm Bureau
$26
$309
Murfreesboro
Farm Bureau
$30
$356
Nashville
Farm Bureau
$31
$367
Smyrna
Farm Bureau
$26
$316
Spring Hill
Farm Bureau
$26
$311
Your Next Step:

Get your real quotes from trusted insurance providers.

How to Get Cheaper Car Insurance in Tennessee

Switching from GEICO to Travelers saves $36 a month on full coverage, and the difference widens to $60 for a driver with an at-fault accident. Dropping from full to minimum coverage saves $40. Bundling, re-shopping after a violation and improving credit come next.

  1. 1

    Compare quotes and save $36 per month

    Travelers has the cheapest full coverage at $78/month and GEICO the highest of the five at $114/month — that's an additional $426 a year for the same driver and coverage. After an at-fault accident the five cheapest span Farm Bureau at $96 to Erie Insurance at $156. Quote every company at the same coverage level and deductibles for a fair comparison.

  2. 2

    Match coverage to your car and save $40 a month

    Full coverage costs $40 more a month than minimum at Travelers, $479 a year. Moving from Travelers full coverage to Farm Bureau minimum saves $47 a month. On a car worth less than $1,500, the most a total loss pays after the deductible is $500, so minimum coverage is the better fit.

  3. 3

    Bundle home and auto policies and save $1,149 per year

    State Farm has the cheapest home and auto bundle in Tennessee at $3,320 a year after a 26% discount. State Farm’s auto rate is not among the five cheapest for full coverage, so compare that $3,320 against Travelers auto at $936 a year plus a separate home quote. Travelers’ bundle discount is 9% on a $6,972 combined premium.

  4. 4

    Re-shop 30 days before a violation ages off and save $62 a month

    An Auto-Owners driver with an at-fault accident drops from $148/month to its $86/month clean rate when the violation clears. A Farm Bureau DUI driver drops from $153 to $96 ($57), and a Travelers DUI driver from $118 to $78 ($40).

  5. 5

    Improve your credit score before renewal and save $104 per month

    GEICO charges $114/month for full coverage with good credit and $218/month with poor credit, a $104 monthly difference and $1,260 a year. That's more than switching carriers ($426) and dropping to minimum coverage ($479) combined. At Travelers the difference is $152 a month ($78 to $230). Request new quotes once your credit improves, because Travelers at $78 is $36 below GEICO’s $114.

Our rate data comes from Quadrant Information Services, sourced from 11 insurers across all residential ZIP codes in Tennessee.  

Baseline profile: 40-year-old male, 2012 Toyota Camry LE, clean driving record, good credit, 12,000 miles a year. Full coverage is 100/300/100 liability with a $1,000 deductible. Minimum coverage is Tennessee’s 25/50/25 limits.  

Profile variations:

  • Young drivers: Ages 16 to 25 on a family policy (one adult plus one teen), shown as the total family premium and split by gender.
  • Seniors: An aggregate of ages 65, 70, 80 and 85, with the same vehicle and coverage as the baseline.
  • Violations: Baseline profile with one driving record variable changed: speeding, at-fault accident, DUI or texting while driving.
  • Poor credit: Baseline profile with the credit tier changed to poor.
  • Cities: Minimum coverage rates for Tennessee’s 20 largest cities.

USAA is excluded from all provider tables. It is available only to military members, veterans and their immediate families, who should include it in any quote comparison.

Tennessee permits gender and credit-based insurance scoring as rating factors. The uninsured driver rate of 21.3% is the Insurance Research Council’s 2023 estimate.  

MoneyGeek scores are not included in state rate tables. See best car insurance in Tennessee for scored rankings.

Tennessee-specific notes:

  • Tennessee is an at-fault state
  • Tennessee requires SR-22 filing for DUI convictions; filing must be maintained for 3 years from conviction under Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-12-139
  • Tennessee permits gender as a rating factor
  • Tennessee permits credit-based insurance scoring under Tenn. Code Ann. § 56-5-203
  • Uninsured driver rate: 21.3% (Insurance Research Council)

About Mark Fitzpatrick

Mark Fitzpatrick, Licensed P&C Insurance Expert, MoneyGeek

Mark Fitzpatrick is a licensed Property and Casualty (P&C) Insurance Producer and MoneyGeek's resident expert in insurance and economics. In nearly a decade covering the insurance market at LendingTree and MoneyGeek, he's analyzed hundreds of carriers and millions of rates across auto, home, renters, health and life insurance.

His work has appeared in The Washington Post, The New York Times and NPR. He draws on independent cost and consumer experience data, and no insurance company partnerships affect his recommendations.

Mark studied at Boston College and later earned a master's in economics and international relations from Johns Hopkins University. He worked in financial risk management at State Street before joining MoneyGeek. He's also a five-time “Jeopardy!” champion.

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