Car Insurance Rates 2026: South Carolina Tops Costliest States

A new ranking based on what drivers paid

A new study of state car insurance costs is getting attention because it uses a different method from most rankings. On October 29, Freeway Insurance released its list of the most and least expensive states. The company built it from policies its customers actually bought, not from quoted or estimated premiums.2123 South Carolina ranked first at an average of $297.28 per month. New York followed at $276.12 and Rhode Island at $254.01.21 Rhode Island also had the biggest increase among the top ten, about 26.6% above the first half of 2025.22

The rest of the high-cost group was Maryland ($250.47), the District of Columbia ($249.74), Delaware ($247.62), Connecticut ($236.39), Massachusetts ($222.91), Missouri ($212.85) and Nevada ($211.12).5 At the cheap end, Wyoming led at $87.23 a month, then Idaho at $97.80 and Indiana at $101.60.5 The ten priciest locations averaged roughly $245.85 a month, which is more than twice the $103.93 average for the ten cheapest.22 That is a gap of about $142 a month, or about $1,700 a year, based only on where a driver lives.

The ranking is only part of the story. It arrives as new-car prices sit near a record, used-car prices are uneven, and loan rates stay high enough to strain household budgets. To understand the full cost of owning a car in 2026, all of these numbers have to be read together.

Different methods, different winners

The major rate trackers do not agree on which states are the most and least expensive, and that disagreement says something useful. Freeway puts South Carolina first. ValuePenguin's quote-based analysis puts Nevada first at $335 a month for full coverage and Vermont last at $128, against a national average of $208.34 Insurify's mid-2026 report names Washington, D.C. as the most expensive at $3,880 a year, followed by Maryland, Rhode Island, Michigan and Georgia.28 CarInsurance.com says Louisiana is the costliest at $3,999 a year and Vermont the cheapest at $1,660.8 Beinsure, which combines several data sets, has New York at the top at more than $4,000 a year for full coverage.29

The lists also differ on cheap states. Vermont shows up at or near the bottom in the ValuePenguin, CarInsurance.com and Clark rankings.310 In Freeway's data it is only eighth, and its average rose 7.5% year over year.5 Hawaii is on Freeway's low-cost list but rose 26.8%, while Alaska fell 27.5%.5

Our reading is that most of the disagreement comes from method, not from any one source being wrong. Quote-based studies price a standard driver with a fixed coverage package. ValuePenguin, for example, collects filed rates from 55 insurers across every ZIP code.26 A study of purchased policies reflects the coverage people actually chose and the profiles of the customers who bought them. Freeway's averages for cheap states, around $100 a month, sit well below the full-coverage figures in quote studies. That suggests its customers include many who bought less than full coverage. This is our inference; the coverage mix is not published. Readers should treat the Freeway list as a view of what one set of buyers paid, not as a replacement for standardized comparisons.

The common thread is clearer. Dense Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic markets, Rhode Island, Maryland, D.C., Delaware and Connecticut, appear near the top of most lists. Rural states such as Wyoming, Idaho, Vermont and New Hampshire cluster near the bottom.245

Rates have stopped falling but aren't jumping

The national trend is mild compared with recent years. Insurify found that the average full-coverage premium rose 1% in the first half of 2026, to $2,237. Rates went up in 27 states, compared with only nine states that saw increases in the second half of 2025.28 The company expects 32 states to finish the year higher. That would end 2025's unusual run, when average premiums fell about 6%.24 Beinsure also expects about a 1% national increase in 2026, far below the 2024 jump.29

New York shows how much the trackers can differ on a single state. Freeway reports New York down 7.0% year over year.21 Insurify says New York rates fell 13% over twelve months and that the state dropped from fifth to tenth most expensive. It links part of the decline to an 8% drop in fatal crashes in 2025.28 But ValuePenguin's review of rate filings, which take effect at renewal in 2026, shows New York with an estimated 6.02% increase. Only New Jersey (10.46%), Nevada and California were higher.27 One way to square these is timing. Market prices may have dropped over the past year while approved filings point to increases at upcoming renewals. New York drivers who enjoyed the decline should not count on it lasting.

Shopping around still pays off in every state. In Texas, the cheapest insurer in ValuePenguin's data charges $140 a month and the most expensive charges $556. In Connecticut, the range runs from $127 to $642.7 Differences like these within one state are often larger than the differences between states.

New-car prices are near a record and incentives are shrinking

Insurance is only one part of the bill. Kelley Blue Book reported that the average new vehicle sold for $50,562 in September, just $52 below December 2025's record of $50,614.4142 The year-over-year increase was only 0.7%, well below the usual 2% to 4% for September. Cox Automotive says that is because buyers are moving to cheaper segments, not because individual models got cheaper.46 Prices rose faster than the industry average in four of the five best-selling segments. Compact cars, for example, were up 3.2% to $27,977.

Automakers are also discounting less. Incentives averaged 6.6% of the transaction price in September, compared with 7.3% a year earlier. In dollars, the average incentive was $3,359, down 8.8% from a year ago.43 Inventory grew to 2.80 million units, and Kelley Blue Book expects some discounts on leftover 2026 models as 2027 models arrive.42

The best deals are on specific models, not across the market. As of late October, the Chevrolet Silverado 1500, Nissan Murano and Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid offered 0% financing for 60 months.15 The Polestar 4 is the most dramatic case: 0% APR plus an $18,000 rebate, after a policy change that bars the brand from selling cars after the 2027 model year.15

Used-car values are wobbling

The used market is sending mixed signals. The Manheim index of wholesale used-vehicle prices fell 1.1% in September to 205.9. That left it 0.6% below a year earlier, its first full-month annual decline of 2026. Cox then cut its year-end forecast from a 2% gain to about 0.2%.38 Cox chief economist Jeremy Robb blamed the Middle East conflict, record diesel prices and quickly rising interest rates.33 The index recovered 0.7% to 207.4 in the first half of October. Cox's Jonathan Gregory said the rebound came from tighter supply, not stronger demand, and that unadjusted wholesale prices still fell 2%.31

For buyers, retail prices matter more than wholesale ones. The average used-car listing price reached $27,235 in September, the highest since 2022. Fuel economy is driving which cars hold value: wholesale compact-car values were up 5.6% year over year, while pickups stayed soft.35 Kelley Blue Book suggests comparing nearly-new used cars with new-car deals, because once incentives and financing are counted, the two can cost almost the same.

Loan rates add to the gap between states

Financing makes the burden heavier. Bankrate's weekly survey puts the average 60-month new-car loan at 7.06% and the 48-month used-car loan at 7.47%.11 Credit score changes the picture a lot. Experian data show borrowers with super-prime credit paying 4.41% on new cars and 6.29% on used. Deep-subprime borrowers pay 16.11% and 21.62%.13 Still, lenders approved nearly 74% of auto loan applications in September.

Credit affects insurance costs too. Insurify notes that South Carolina has one of the largest gaps between what drivers with poor and excellent credit pay for full coverage: $3,695 versus $2,450 a year.28

What it means for drivers

Taken together, the data show that a driver's location and credit score affect monthly costs more than the price of the car itself. A driver with weak credit in a high-premium state faces both a high loan rate and a high insurance bill. A driver with strong credit in Wyoming or Vermont may pay less for insurance each year than the price differences between models. The coming months may not change much. Insurance pricing looks fairly stable, new-car prices are near their peak but rising slowly, and used-car values depend on fuel prices and interest rates. Drivers have more control over the costs they can shop for: comparing insurance quotes, choosing models with 0% financing offers and improving their credit before borrowing.