Cheap Wisconsin Low-Income Car Insurance for Families and Individuals

Car insurance companies do not use your income when calculating your premium in Wisconsin or any other state. The factors that most affect how much you’ll pay for your auto insurance include your age and adding a teen driver to your policy. MoneyGeek calculated the price of car insurance for low-income individuals and families, with both a poor credit score and a good one.

There is no government car insurance program in Wisconsin to help low-income families and individuals cover the car insurance cost. Even with car insurance required by law, approximately 13.3% of all drivers in the state are uninsured, many of whom can’t afford the high cost of insuring their vehicles.

For people looking to buy low-income car insurance in Wisconsin, the best option is to consider minimum coverage that meets the minimum state requirements. You can also choose pay-per-mile insurance coverage, which may be a good option for those who only drive occasionally.

Wisconsin does not have a government assistance program to support low-income drivers. You can compare quotes from several auto insurance companies in Wisconsin when seeking the cheapest car insurance that meets your needs. In this guide, MoneyGeek lists the most affordable car insurance companies for low-income families in Wisconsin to help drivers looking for savings on their car insurance costs.

Insurance companies do not consider your income when determining car insurance rates. However, they do take into account factors that tend to be related to income, such as your age and possibly your credit score.

The cheapest car insurance in Wisconsin is a policy with minimum coverage, although that provides you with the least protection. MoneyGeek finds that AAA and GEICO are the cheapest car insurance companies in Wisconsin for low-income drivers.

In addition to credit scores, MoneyGeek has evaluated the cheapest minimum coverage car insurance for low-income families and individuals in Wisconsin based on the driver's age.

While auto insurance rates in Wisconsin aren’t affected by your income, your credit score has a large impact on your annual premium. Our sample single parents with a teen driver and poor credit pay approximately $1,277 per year more than if they had good credit. Similarly, couples with one teen driver and poor credit pay an average of $1,892 per year more than their counterparts with a good credit score.

The two cheapest insurance companies in Wisconsin for a couple with a teen driver and poor credit score are:

• AAA: $2,674
• Progressive: $2,728

USAA has the cheapest car insurance in Wisconsin for this driver profile at an average of $1706 per year; however, the insurer exclusively serves current and retired members of the military and their families.

For single parents with a teen driver and poor credit scores in Wisconsin, the two cheapest car insurance companies are:

• AAA - $1,627
• GEICO - $1,873

If you are a current or retired member of the military, then you can opt for USAA. It has the cheapest car insurance for single parents with a teenage driver and poor credit at around $1,149 per year.

A low income doesn’t automatically mean you have a poor credit score, of course. The table below can help you find the cheapest option for your profile.

Our sample 40-year-old individual driver in Wisconsin will pay about $435 per year more with a poor credit score than a good one. The two cheapest companies in Wisconsin for low-income drivers with poor credit are:

• GEICO: $607
• AAA: $615

If you are a current member of the military or have served in the past, you can opt for car insurance through USAA, the cheapest provider in Wisconsin. Its most affordable car insurance for this driver profile is $393 per year.

You can have good credit, even if you’re a low-income individual. For low-income drivers with good credit, car insurance from GEICO costs $321 per year on average and $325 from AAA.

Since young student drivers lack experience in driving, they are deemed riskier to insure. While most students and recent graduates may be low-income, that has nothing to do with the higher insurance premiums they’re usually charged — it’s their driving inexperience that’s to blame.

The two cheapest companies for young student drivers in Wisconsin with poor credit scores are:

• GEICO: $1,549
• AAA: $1,571

Although USAA has the cheapest car insurance at $1,003 per year on average in Wisconsin for this driver profile, it is exclusive to members of the military.

You may have a low income and still have good credit. If that’s the case, your cost for car insurance will be significantly lower. GEICO charges an average of $818 per year for student drivers with good credit, with AAA coming in at $830.

Compared to middle-aged drivers, senior drivers tend to pay somewhat more for car insurance. This is because worsening health conditions and factors like reduced vision, impaired hearing and slower motor reflexes can impair your driving ability. And your cost of insurance will go up if you have a poor credit score, too.

For instance, car insurance for low-income seniors in Wisconsin with poor credit costs $490 per year more than good credit. The two cheapest car insurance companies for low-income seniors with poor credit scores in Wisconsin are:

• Erie: $697
• State Farm: $727

Although USAA has the cheapest car insurance in Wisconsin for senior drivers at a yearly cost of $473, it is only available to military members and their families.

If you have a low income, you don’t automatically have a poor credit score. With good credit, a low-income senior driver can purchase car insurance through Erie at $368 per year on average and through State Farm at $384.

Auto insurance companies do not use your income as a factor in determining your car insurance rates in Wisconsin. However, there may be factors tangentially related to income that affect your rates.

For instance, young drivers are charged more for insurance not because of their typically low incomes but because they are considered more likely to get into accidents. Similarly, low-income drivers may make more claims than high-income drivers because they can’t afford to pay for repairs out-of-pocket. Insurers charge more for those with a history of claims.

MoneyGeek analyzed how various factors affect car insurance rates in Wisconsin. The most significant are:

• Your age.
• Your credit score.
• Adding a teen driver to your policy.

Other factors, including the coverage level you select, your driving record and your car model, are important too.

MoneyGeek calculated the cost of car insurance for low-income drivers in Wisconsin using quotes sourced in partnership with Quadrant Information Services. The sample driver is either a 40-year-old male, a single 40-year-old parent with a 16-year-old child, an adult couple each 40 years old or a couple with a 16-year-old child. The individual or family drives a 2010 Toyota Camry LE. The driver buys the minimum car insurance required in Wisconsin.

Costs for poor and good credit scores were extrapolated based on MoneyGeek’s dataset of credit score rate adjustments by score categorization.