Oregon Car Insurance Calculators: Cost & Coverage

• Our Oregon rate data comes from Quadrant Information Services, which pulls premium data directly from insurer filings with state regulators. Every rate filed in Oregon is a matter of public record.
• We track every residential ZIP code in Oregon and update rates monthly.
• Mark Fitzpatrick, a Licensed Property and Casualty Insurance Producer, authors this page. Mark Friedlander of the Insurance Information Institute reviews all content.
• Our editorial standards keep our recommendations free from any influence by carrier relationships. Our rating guidelines apply the same criteria to every insurer we analyze.

The insurance company you choose makes the biggest difference in how much you pay. It matters more than your address, age and driving record. In Oregon, the cheapest and most expensive insurance companies charge $111 a month apart for the exact same full-coverage policy on the same driver, which is $1,332 per year.

Progressive charges Oregon drivers $15 less per month than it charges California drivers, and $77 less per month than it charges Nevada drivers for the same coverage. If you're in Oregon, Progressive is giving you a better deal than it gives most of its other customers. If you're searching online, Progressive has the lowest price in Oregon compared to its rates in other West Coast states, so it's a reliable starting point.

Most comparison websites don't list every insurance company that sells in Oregon, especially companies that only sell through local independent agents. When you speak to a local independent agent, ask about Mutual of Enumclaw by name. Its full-coverage rate is $108 a month, $13 less than Allstate's and $25 less than Farmers' for the same coverage. MoneyGeek's Oregon carrier comparison shows every company's rates side by side.

Where your car is parked overnight is what your insurance company uses to decide how much to charge you. In Oregon, your street address matters more than just the city you live in. Across Oregon, the price difference between the most expensive ZIP code and the cheapest ZIP code is $71 per month for the lowest level of insurance the state requires, which is $852 per year. But 76% of that $71 price difference exists just within Portland's own neighborhoods.

East Portland ZIPs 97220 and 97230 cost $114 a month for minimum coverage. Northwest Portland and the Southwest Hills ZIPs (97231 and 97219) cost $60 a month. That $54-a-month difference is between neighbors in the same city. Two people living a few miles apart in Portland can also pay different prices just because of their ZIP code.

Most people forget to update their insurance address when they move across town. If your insurance still shows your old address, you're likely overpaying, because your company is charging you based on where your car used to be parked, not where it actually is now.

Oregon's age gap is a little smaller than the national pattern. Young drivers here pay 2.2 times the adult rate, versus about 2.4 times nationally. Average monthly costs are $249 for young drivers and $112 for adults.

The birthday that brings the biggest price drop in Oregon is 19. The 18-to-19 drop is $106 a month, or $1,272 per year. The 24-to-25 drop is $13 a month. Oregon drivers who wait until age 25 to get new quotes from other companies are waiting for a birthday that saves one-eighth as much as getting new quotes at age 19. Prices keep dropping through age 21. There's another $74-a-month drop from age 20 to 21, and then prices mostly stop changing until you get older.

Oregon prices reach their lowest point at age 60 (with a clean record and good credit). After age 60, prices start going back up. By age 80, the price is back up to $199 a month. Drivers who think prices only go down as they get older won't think to get new quotes at age 70, but that's when prices start going back up, so it's worth comparing companies again.

Your credit score can raise or lower your price by up to $140 a month. That's more than twice the $56 you'd save by switching from full coverage to the minimum coverage Oregon requires. Drivers with excellent credit pay $109 a month in Oregon. Drivers with poor credit pay $249 a month. That $140-per-month difference adds up to $1,680 per year.

The Oregon driver who responds to a high price by dropping to minimum coverage is saving $56 a month while leaving the $140 a month credit problem alone. That means they're still overpaying by $84 more than they need to. Improving your credit score saves more money than switching to minimum coverage.

The insurance company that's cheapest for drivers with poor credit isn't the same one that's cheapest for drivers with good credit in Oregon. Insurance companies don't automatically check your credit score again while your policy is active. Your policy is the contract you signed for a set period, usually six or twelve months. When that period ends, you need to ask for new quotes with your improved credit score.

Your driving record raises your rate in Oregon from the first incident, including accidents you didn't cause. A not-at-fault accident adds $7 a month on average, though that figure differs by carrier: five Oregon insurers charge nothing for a not-at-fault accident, while one charges $21 a month for the same crash the driver didn't cause.  

Getting caught and ticketed for speeding adds $35 a month. An accident where you were the one who caused it adds $55 a month. Getting a DUI adds $90 a month on average.

Oregon requires an SR-22 after a drunk driving conviction. This is a certificate that your insurance company sends to the DMV to prove you have active coverage. Oregon law says you must keep that SR-22 certificate active for three years. If your insurance is cancelled or you stop paying during those three years, even for one day, the DMV is automatically notified and your license can be suspended. Oregon insurance companies look at your driving record for the past three years when they decide what to charge you.

Switching to the lowest level of insurance Oregon requires saves $56 a month, but the choice isn't between protection and no protection. Oregon's minimum already includes personal injury protection (PIP), which pays your own medical bills after a crash regardless of who caused it, and uninsured motorist coverage, which pays for your damage and medical costs if the driver who hits you doesn't have insurance. Oregon law sets those minimums at $15,000 PIP per person and $25,000/$50,000 uninsured motorist coverage.

What you give up at minimum coverage is protection for your own car: collision coverage (which pays to fix or replace your car if you crash) and comprehensive coverage (which pays if your car is stolen or damaged by weather). Your liability coverage also drops to Oregon's legal floor: $25,000 per person injured, $50,000 total per accident and $20,000 for property, like the other person's car.

Oregon is an at-fault state, so the driver who caused a crash is personally responsible for paying for the damage. When you're deciding how much coverage to buy, you're deciding how much financial risk you're willing to take on yourself. If you cause a crash and the total cost is more than what your insurance will pay, you have to pay the rest yourself, directly from your savings, wages, or other assets. A court can also order you to pay using your home equity or future paychecks.

Comprehensive and collision coverage costs about $56 more per month than minimum coverage, which is $672/year. If your car is worth $7,000 and your deductible is $1,000, then the most your insurance would pay out is $6,000 if your car were totaled or stolen. At $672/year, it would take about nine years of paying for comprehensive and collision before you've spent more in premiums than the $6,000 your insurance would pay out. Comprehensive coverage makes financial sense for a car worth $7,000, while comprehensive and collision coverage is worth the cost for most cars worth more than $5,000.

Oregon's high vehicle theft rate is an extra reason to keep comprehensive coverage, even if your car is older and not worth a lot, because if your car is stolen and you drop comprehensive, your insurance pays nothing. A stolen car is a total loss. Minimum coverage pays nothing for theft.  

If what you pay per year for comprehensive and collision coverage is more than what the insurance company would actually pay you, then you're spending more on that coverage than you'd ever get back. At that point, drop comprehensive and collision. But if what you pay per year is close to what you'd get paid out, and you park in Portland, Oregon's high theft rate is a good reason to keep comprehensive and collision a little longer.

Bodily injury liability pays the medical bills, lost wages and legal costs of people you injure when you're at fault. Oregon's minimum is $25,000 per person and $50,000 per crash, per the Oregon DMV. Those are the minimum amounts Oregon requires, which is the least your insurance will pay per injured person. A single hospitalization in Portland can exceed $25,000 for one person. In an at-fault state, you're personally responsible for every dollar above your policy limit.

Property damage liability pays for damage you cause to other people's cars, buildings, and property when you're at fault. Oregon's minimum is $20,000 per crash, per the Oregon DMV. A newer vehicle can cost $35,000 to $50,000 to replace, and the $20,000 minimum leaves a real gap.

Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage pays your medical bills and car repair costs when the driver who hit you has no insurance or not enough to cover your damage and injuries. Oregon law requires UM/UIM on every policy, and the minimum amount must be the same as whatever bodily injury liability amount you chose. You can request lower limits in writing, but you cannot remove the coverage.

Collision coverage pays for damage to your own car from a crash, regardless of fault. Comprehensive pays for theft, fire, weather damage and other events that aren't crashes. In Oregon, the most common reason drivers use comprehensive coverage is vehicle theft. The state's Division of Financial Regulation recorded the state's vehicle theft rate as fifth highest nationally in 2021. Banks and finance companies that lend you money for your car require you to have both collision and comprehensive coverage for as long as you're paying off the loan.

Gap insurance pays the difference between what your car is worth and what you still owe on the loan if your car is completely destroyed or stolen and can't be recovered. Without gap insurance, you may still owe money on your loan even after the insurance company pays out everything the car was worth, because the car's value drops faster than the loan balance, especially in the first two years.

SR-22 is a certificate that your insurance company files with the Oregon DMV to confirm you have active coverage. It's required after a DUII conviction, driving uninsured, and certain other violations, per the Oregon DMV.

Under ORS 806.245, Oregon law says the SR-22 requirement ends after three years from the date the filing was first required. If you stop paying for your insurance at any point during those three years, your insurance company automatically notifies the Oregon DMV, which can suspend your driver's license.

1. Contact an independent agent who represents Mutual of Enumclaw and request a full-coverage quote before your next renewal. Mutual of Enumclaw charges $108 a month for full coverage in Oregon for a typical driver, cheaper than Allstate ($121 a month) and Farmers ($133 a month), and you can only buy it through a local independent insurance agent. It won't show up on GEICO.com, Progressive.com or on websites that collect prices from multiple companies and display them side by side. MoneyGeek's Oregon carrier comparison shows all the companies available to compare online; to get a quote from Mutual of Enumclaw, you need to call a local independent insurance agent.
2. Get new quotes the month your driver turns 19. Oregon's 18-to-19 price drop is $106 a month, or $1,272 per year, which is eight times the $13 a month drop at 25. The companies that charge the least for young drivers are different from the companies that charge the least for adults, so getting new quotes when your teen turns 19 can save more than just the automatic price drop that happens at that age. Waiting until 25 to get new quotes means missing the biggest price drop in Oregon, which happens at 19, not 25.
3. The month your credit score improves, request new quotes and include COUNTRY Financial. COUNTRY Financial charges Oregon drivers with poor credit $120 a month. State Farm charges the same driver with poor credit $490 a month for the same coverage, a $370 a month difference. You need to get new quotes because insurance companies don't automatically lower your price when your credit score improves. They keep charging you based on the score they had on file when you first signed up. If your credit score has improved and you haven't asked for new quotes, you're still being charged based on your old, lower credit score.
4. Mark month 36 from your SR-22 filing date as your re-shop date. Oregon's SR-22 requirement ends after three years from the date it was first required. Oregon insurance companies look back three years at your driving record when deciding what to charge you. Month 36 is when the SR-22 filing ends, and the DUI drops off your record at the same time. New quotes at month 36 let you pay the regular price again. You stop paying the extra $90 a month that the DUI has been adding to your bill.