Average Car Insurance Rates by Age and Gender

The cost of car insurance is mainly affected by your age, driving record, location and credit score. While gender is a determining factor, it only makes a significant price difference in young, single drivers under 25. When comparing two 16-year-olds, one male and one female, the male driver pays almost $400 more annually than the female driver. By the time both reach age 25, the average difference in their car insurance costs is just $18 per year.

When calculating car insurance prices, companies consider experience to be one of the most critical factors. Young drivers have less experience and tend to be riskier to insure, so they are charged higher rates than more experienced drivers. Assuming a driver’s record is clean, the cheapest car insurance rates tend to go to middle-aged drivers around 50 years old.

On average, a 16-year-old on their own policy pays $5,318 per year. Once the same driver reaches 19, the average annual rate drops to $2,789. Each year after that, the average costs for car insurance decline by $100 or more until age 25.

Young drivers see significant decreases in car insurance prices each year, but rates level off as they age. The chart below shows sample costs for full coverage car insurance rates for 16- to 18-year-olds. It compares the cost of getting an individual policy with the cost associated with being added to their parents' policy. For additional context, the average cost of an individual policy for a driver age 19 and older is also shown.

Gender is another deciding factor for young drivers' car insurance rates. The table below shows rates for males and females in different age groups. Young males pay hundreds of dollars more per year than young females, though prices flatten around age 25. Males age 30 or older actually pay less. For ages 16 to 18, the number represents the cost of adding a young driver to a family policy, not the cost of the entire policy.

Though age is one of the most important factors in car insurance costs, it’s still one of many, including location. Comparing rates in your state can help you get the best price. In some states, young drivers pay disproportionately more for car insurance, like New York, where 16-year-olds pay almost four times more than what a 30-year-old does.

First-time drivers of any age who have just gotten their license may need to pay higher rates due to their inexperience. But because so many first-time drivers are also young teenagers, this age group will inevitably pay more because, overall, they’re more likely to get into an accident. And the numbers bear that out.

In 2014–2015, drivers aged 16 and 17 had the highest number of crashes per 100 million miles driven at 1,432. The number of crashes went down to 730 for ages 18–19 and 572 for drivers between 20 and 24 years of age. And as drivers enter into their 30s and 40s, the number of crashes decreases even more. Those in their 30s were involved in 328 crashes, and drivers in their 40s were involved in 314.

Young drivers are riskier to insure than older, more experienced drivers, and the same is true for young males compared to young females. According to the CDC, males aged 16–19 are almost twice as likely to be killed in a car accident as females of the same age. As drivers gain more experience, the gap between car insurance costs narrows until only a few dollars separate the genders. At this point, other factors overshadow the importance of age and gender in car insurance pricing, including driving history and location.