Cheapest Car Insurance Companies in Portland, OR (2023 Rates)

Your background and needs determine the cheapest car insurance provider for you.

State Farm provides the most affordable rates for minimum and full coverage car insurance in general. It’s also typically the cheapest option for young adults, seniors and drivers with bad records.

Meanwhile, Nationwide is the most affordable for teens and motorists with bad credit. USAA features the lowest rates for military-affiliated drivers.

MoneyGeek ranked the best car insurance companies in Portland, Oregon, to help you find a provider that balances affordability and service quality.

MoneyGeek found the cheapest minimum coverage car insurance providers in Portland are:

• State Farm: $599 per year
• Country Financial: $614 per year

Conversely, Dairyland is the priciest among the city’s insurers, offering minimum coverage for roughly $2,566 per year.

State Farm is also the cheapest car insurance company in Oregon as of October 2022, but its statewide average is lower at approximately $380 per year. This highlights the influence of location and population density on auto insurance prices.

Oregon state law requires that auto insurance policies include the following coverages with at least the following limits:

• $25,000 bodily injury liability per person
• $50,000 bodily injury liability per accident
• $20,000 property damage liability per accident
• $25,000 uninsured motorist coverage per person
• $50,000 uninsured motorist coverage per accident
• $15,000 personal injury protection

If you're at fault in an accident and have this minimum coverage policy, your insurer will only cover medical expenses for the other driver and their passengers up to $25,000 per person (with a maximum of $50,000 per accident). Should the cost of medical care exceed those amounts, you’ll have to pay the remaining costs out of pocket.

MoneyGeek’s research shows that the most affordable full coverage car insurance companies in Portland are:

• State Farm: $1,008 per year
• Country Financial: $1,035 per year

Among the insurers we surveyed, Dairyland has the highest rates for full coverage policies at $4,022 per year.

Meanwhile, Nationwide offers the cheapest full coverage auto insurance in Oregon, averaging $909 per year as of October 2022. The difference between the city and state averages shows the impact of location on car insurance costs.

You’ll only have liability coverage, uninsured motorist and personal injury protection with a minimum coverage policy in Portland. Meanwhile, a full coverage policy adds comprehensive and collision insurance to protect your vehicle.

• Collision insurance: Covers the cost of repairing or replacing your car if you cause an accident, including collisions with other vehicles and objects such as trees, fences and light poles. It also covers rollover accidents.
• Comprehensive insurance: Pays for your car's repairs or replacement after covered damage from non-collisions, like theft, vandalism, fire and weather hazards.

A full coverage car insurance policy can offer you enhanced protection. It could be a good option if you have a newer car or live in an area where you may need this extra coverage, for instance. But, if you have an old car or live in a low-risk location, full coverage may not be worth the higher price.

If you have a driving violation, you could find the cheapest car insurance in Portland from the following:

• Speeding ticket: State Farm ($1,140 per year)
• At-fault accident: State Farm ($1,345 per year)
• DUI: State Farm ($1,140 per year)

Meanwhile, these companies have the highest prices for motorists with violations:

• Speeding ticket: Dairyland ($4,971 per year)
• At-fault accident: Dairyland ($5,419 per year)
• DUI: Dairyland ($4,971 per year)

Driving offenses can significantly increase your car insurance costs. This means you may end up paying more for insurance from an otherwise cheap company than you would if you had no violations and opted for an otherwise expensive insurer.

Generally, the more serious the driving violation, the greater the increase in car insurance premiums. And infractions typically generate surcharges on your policy for 3-5 years. In Portland, receiving a speeding ticket can bump your average annual rate by $394. At the same time, a DUI can result in an additional $745.

Nonetheless, you can still find affordable car insurance despite having a poor driving history by shopping around and using discounts.

These insurance providers present the cheapest car insurance for teens on a family policy in Portland:

• Nationwide: $2,027 per year for female teens; $2,174 per year for male teens
• Allstate: $2,241 per year for female teens; $2,341 per year for male teens

On the other hand, CIG has the most expensive rates for teens on a family policy, costing $4,705 for female teens and $4,513 for male teens.

Car insurance is often less expensive for female teens than male teens because male teens are often considered higher risk. In Portland, this is shown by Nationwide and Allstate’s extra costs for male teens of $147 and $100, respectively.

However, this gender-based price gap slowly fades away as early adulthood approaches.

Teenagers seeking affordable auto insurance are generally better off being added to a family policy than buying an individual one — you could pay up to five times more for an individual policy versus being on a family policy. And for a teen to get a policy under age 18, a parent or guardian must co-sign it.

In Portland, full coverage for a 16-year-old male on a family policy costs around $2,468 per year. Meanwhile, getting the same coverage separately for the same teenager costs $5,795 annually.

In addition, families can increase their savings by shopping around for affordable car insurance for teens and taking advantage of student-specific discounts.

MoneyGeek’s analysis shows the cheapest car insurance options for military-affiliated drivers in Portland are:

• USAA: $990 per year
• State Farm: $1,008 per year

If you're looking for minimum coverage, USAA and State Farm also offer the lowest rates at roughly $584 and $599 per year.

GEICO is another great choice for military-affiliated drivers because it offers exclusive discounts to them that can lower auto insurance costs considerably.

The best way to find the cheapest car insurance for you is by comparing online quotes from several providers. This takes about 15 minutes per company and involves typing in some personal details on each site.

Luckily, MoneyGeek's car insurance calculator can provide a quick estimate for several providers based solely on your age, driving record, car and desired coverage levels.

MoneyGeek found that young adults can find cheap car insurance in Portland from:

• State Farm: $1,345 per year
• Country Financial: $1,631 per year

At around $4,410 per year, Dairyland has the city's most expensive car insurance for young adults.

If you're a younger adult, you can expect higher car insurance premiums than older drivers. In Portland, you'll pay approximately $229 more for full coverage car insurance if you're in your 20s than in your 40s.

Senior drivers can find the cheapest car insurance in Portland from these providers:

• State Farm: $941 per year
• Country Financial: $1,009 per year

Dairyland is the most expensive option for older adults in the city at approximately $3,895.

It's normal for seniors, due to a slight uptick in higher accident frequency, to pay more than middle-aged adults for auto insurance. But MoneyGeek found that in Portland, seniors pay less than drivers in their 40s. On average, a 40-year-old driver in Portland pays $1,560 per year, while a 65-year-old pays a slightly lower rate at $1,532 per year.

If you have bad credit, MoneyGeek found that these providers offer the cheapest auto insurance in Portland:

• Nationwide: $1,688 per year
• Country Financial: $1,790 per year

Dairyland has the most expensive premiums for drivers with bad credit at approximately $5,386 per year.

Generally, drivers in Portland with low credit scores pay around 59% more for car insurance than those with good credit. This results in an additional $917 per year.

However, it's possible to find cheap car insurance despite having bad credit by shopping around.

Car insurance companies perceive drivers with bad credit as high risks, which can lead to higher premiums.

You can lower your insurance costs in a few ways, such as by qualifying for discounts, bundling policies and getting quotes from multiple providers. Improving your credit score over time may also lead to reduced rates.

These companies offer the cheapest car insurance for sports car drivers in Portland:

• State Farm: $1,117 per year
• Travelers: $1,144 per year

On the other hand, Dairyland is the most expensive for sports car owners, with an average annual rate of $3,656.

Your car's type can affect your insurance premium. In Portland, you’ll pay $1,560 per year if you’re driving a standard vehicle and $1,537 per year for a Mustang. Sports cars typically have higher insurance costs, but that isn’t necessarily the case in this city.