For a 40-year-old driver with a clean record, car insurance across all six ZIP codes we price in Madera County, including Madera and Chowchilla, averages about $285 a month ($3,421 a year) for full coverage, based on the rates insurers had filed with state regulators as of Aug. 31, 2026. That’s 14% below the California average of $332 a month. GEICO has the lowest full-coverage average of the five major insurers we compared (Allstate, CSAA, Farmers, GEICO and State Farm), at about $182 a month.
Madera, the county seat, averages about $287 a month across its three ZIP codes, and Chowchilla, about 16 miles northwest, about $292, the most of the four Madera County cities and towns we price. In the Sierra foothills, Coarsegold averages $283 and Oakhurst $274, the least of the four.
Across the six ZIP codes, full coverage runs from about $274 a month in 93644, in Oakhurst, to $298 in 93638, in Madera.
Cost data comes from the auto rates insurers file with state regulators, priced across all six Madera County ZIP codes in our data, compiled by Quadrant Information Services and updated as new rates are filed.
Rates as of Aug. 31, 2026. Page reviewed Oct. 7, 2026.
How Much Is Car Insurance in Madera–Chowchilla, CA?
Full coverage in Madera–Chowchilla averages $3,421 a year, or about $285 a month, for our benchmark driver. Liability-only coverage at 15/30/5 limits averages $1,197 a year ($100 a month), and 50/100/50 liability with comprehensive and collision averages $3,199 ($267 a month).
- Full coverage (100/300/100, $500 deductibles): $3,421 a year ($285 a month)
- 50/100/50 with $500 deductibles: $3,199 a year ($267 a month)
- Liability only (15/30/5): $1,197 a year ($100 a month)
- Madera: $3,445 a year ($287 a month) for full coverage
- Chowchilla: $3,508 a year ($292 a month) for full coverage
- California average: $3,979 a year ($332 a month) for full coverage
- ZIP code range: $274 (93644) to $298 (93638) a month for full coverage
Cheap Car Insurance in Madera–Chowchilla: Companies Compared
- Lowest average in our data, full coverage: GEICO, at about $182 a month ($2,182 a year).
- Next lowest among the five major insurers we compared: CSAA (AAA Northern California), at about $203 a month, then State Farm at $291.
- Liability only (15/30/5): CSAA and GEICO, effectively tied at about $45 and $46 a month.
- Also on our list: USAA at about $192 a month, Mercury at $220, Progressive at $226, Travelers at $300 and Nationwide at $312 (USAA sells only to military families).
- Most expensive in our data: Farmers, at about $390 a month, $2,501 a year more than GEICO for the same driver and car.
GEICO has the lowest full-coverage average among the five insurers in our Madera–Chowchilla rate data. Statewide, five of the eight published 2026 California rate studies we reviewed rank GEICO cheapest for full coverage, apart from USAA, which sells only to military families, and a sixth ties GEICO with Progressive. For liability-only coverage at 15/30/5 limits, CSAA and GEICO are effectively tied for the lowest average, at about $45 and $46 a month.
Full-coverage averages by insurer in Madera–Chowchilla
Monthly, for the same driver and car. Insurers marked with an asterisk in the table below aren’t in the chart.
Rates insurers filed with state regulators, compiled by Quadrant Information Services, as of Aug. 31, 2026. Benchmark 40-year-old driver, 100/300/100 with $500 deductibles.
| Insurance Company: | Liability Only 15/30/5 (Yearly): | Liability Only 15/30/5 (Monthly): | Full Coverage (Yearly): | Full Coverage (Monthly): |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GEICO | $555 | $46 | $2,182 | $182 |
| CSAA (AAA Northern California) | $539 | $45 | $2,435 | $203 |
| State Farm | $1,390 | $116 | $3,494 | $291 |
| Allstate | $1,816 | $151 | $4,312 | $359 |
| Farmers | $1,683 | $140 | $4,683 | $390 |
| USAA (military families)* | $875 | $73 | $2,308 | $192 |
| Mercury Insurance* | $1,068 | $89 | $2,645 | $220 |
| Progressive* | $953 | $79 | $2,709 | $226 |
| Travelers* | $1,550 | $129 | $3,602 | $300 |
| Nationwide* | $1,446 | $121 | $3,738 | $312 |
| Madera–Chowchilla average | $1,197 | $100 | $3,421 | $285 |
This table uses Madera County ZIP codes only. See how we calculated these rates. Your own price depends on your car, driving record and coverage, so compare auto insurance quotes before you buy.
Madera–Chowchilla Car Insurance Rates by ZIP Code
Across the six Madera County ZIP codes we price, full coverage for our driver ranges from about $274 a month in 93644 to $298 in 93638, a gap of $290 a year. Madera’s three ZIP codes range from about $277 a month in 93636 to $298 in 93638, and Chowchilla’s 93610 averages $292.
Lowest-priced Madera County ZIP codes
Highest-priced Madera County ZIP codes
Search the table for your ZIP code. The last column shows how far each ZIP code is above or below the Madera County average.
| ZIP Code: | Liability Only 15/30/5 (Yearly): | Liability Only 15/30/5 (Monthly): | Full Coverage (Yearly): | Full Coverage (Monthly): | Full Coverage vs. Madera County Average: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 93610 (Chowchilla) | $1,188 | $99 | $3,508 | $292 | +2% |
| 93614 (Coarsegold) | $1,220 | $102 | $3,399 | $283 | -1% |
| 93636 (Madera) | $1,200 | $100 | $3,321 | $277 | -3% |
| 93637 (Madera) | $1,188 | $99 | $3,437 | $286 | About average |
| 93638 (Madera) | $1,213 | $101 | $3,576 | $298 | +5% |
| 93644 (Oakhurst) | $1,171 | $98 | $3,286 | $274 | -4% |
Your ZIP code matters
How Much More Does Better Coverage Cost in Madera–Chowchilla?
Raising liability limits from 50/100/50 to 100/300/100 adds about $222 a year on average in our Madera–Chowchilla data, with the same $500 deductibles. That’s about $19 a month for double the per-person injury limit, three times the per-crash limit and double the property damage limit, and the full-coverage package also raises uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage to 100/300.
Is Car Insurance Going Up in Madera–Chowchilla?
For our benchmark driver, full coverage isn’t going up. Comparing the four insurers that are in both sets of rates, in the same Madera County ZIP codes, their full-coverage average fell from $3,231 a year nine months earlier to $3,106 in rates as of Aug. 31, 2026, a 3.9% drop. State Farm cut its Madera County average 12.5%, while Allstate’s, CSAA’s and GEICO’s averages were unchanged. Farmers is new in our rates over the past nine months, so it’s left out, which is why these averages differ from the Madera–Chowchilla average above. Liability-only coverage at 15/30/5 limits rose 7.1%, led by State Farm, which raised its liability-only average 25.7%.
What Shapes Car Insurance Costs in Madera County
Madera County averages about $285 a month for full coverage, the 24th-most expensive of the 55 California counties we price, less than both of its neighbors in the valley: Fresno County, to the south, averages $302 and Merced County, to the northwest, $289.
Highway 99 runs through Madera and past Chowchilla, and Highway 41 climbs from Fresno through Coarsegold and Oakhurst toward Yosemite. California insurers price by location as well as by driver and car, so your ZIP code can move your price.
How Madera–Chowchilla Car Insurance Compares With Other California Cities
More California cities and towns are in the California rates by city table, and you can compare states on our car insurance rates by state page.
Fresno, about 22 miles southeast of Madera, averages $305 a month, and Merced, about 33 miles northwest, $289. Hanford, about 50 miles southeast, averages $279.
What Car Insurance Is Required in Madera–Chowchilla?
Drivers in Madera County follow California’s rules. The minimum rose for policies issued or renewed on or after Jan. 1, 2025, and every policy must now carry at least:
- Bodily injury liability of $30,000 per person and $60,000 per crash
- Property damage liability of $15,000 per crash
Our California requirements guide covers uninsured motorist coverage, proof of insurance and the penalties for driving uninsured.
How to Lower Your Car Insurance Rate in Madera–Chowchilla
- Compare GEICO and CSAA first. They have the two lowest full-coverage averages among insurers anyone can buy from in our Madera County data, about $182 and $203 a month.
- Quote several insurers. In our Madera County data, the lowest and highest insurer averages are about $208 a month apart for the same driver and car.
- Check that you get the Good Driver discount. If you’ve been licensed for at least three years in a row and have no more than one point on your record, California law requires your rate to be at least 20% lower than a non-Good Driver’s, according to the California Department of Insurance.
- Compare at every renewal. Over the past nine months, State Farm has cut its Madera County average 12.5%, so the order in our table can shift.
- Ask about discounts and check your deductible. Many insurers lower rates for a clean driving record, paying in full or insuring more than one car, so ask which auto insurance discounts you qualify for. Our full-coverage prices use $500 deductibles. A higher deductible lowers your premium but means you pay more yourself after a claim; see how deductibles affect your rate.
- Insure your car and home together. A multi-policy discount is a common way to save, so check average home insurance rates in California, and compare home insurance quotes alongside your car quotes. Renting? A renters insurance policy can qualify too.
Ready to compare
How We Calculated Madera–Chowchilla Car Insurance Rates
Insurers must file their rates and rating rules with each state’s insurance regulator. Quadrant Information Services uses those filings to calculate what each insurer would charge a specific driver, and InsuranceQuotes analyzes those prices. This page uses rates in effect on Aug. 31, 2026.
- Sample: 30 full-coverage premiums from five insurers across six ZIP codes in Madera County, plus the same number of liability-only and 50/100/50 premiums.
- Area: this page covers all six ZIP codes we price in Madera County, with mailing addresses in Madera, Chowchilla, Coarsegold and Oakhurst.
- Driver: a single 40-year-old driver, licensed 24 years, with good credit and no accidents or violations, driving a 2024 Toyota Camry LE they own, for personal use.
- Coverage: full coverage is 100/300/100 liability with $500 comprehensive and collision deductibles and 100/300 uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. We also price 50/100/50 with the same deductibles, and liability-only coverage at 15/30/5 limits, with 15/30 uninsured motorist coverage and no comprehensive or collision. California’s minimum has been 30/60/15 since Jan. 1, 2025, so our liability-only prices use lower limits than the law requires.
- Calculation: for each insurer we take its lowest eligible price in each ZIP code and average those prices across the ZIP codes. The overall average is the mean of every insurer-and-ZIP price. Monthly figures are annual premiums divided by 12 and rounded.
- Rankings: we name a cheapest insurer only where it’s priced in at least half the ZIP codes and its lead over the next insurer isn’t so wide that it looks like an outlier. Annual prices within 3% of each other are called effectively tied.
- Rate changes: we compare the same insurer in the same ZIP codes, for the same driver and coverage, in rates as of Nov. 30, 2025, and Aug. 31, 2026. Farmers is new in our rates since November 2025, so it’s left out of rate-change comparisons; the other four insurers, Allstate, CSAA, GEICO and State Farm, are in both sets of rates. Rate-change percentages are calculated from the annual premiums shown; other percentages use the rounded monthly figures.
- Insurers marked *: priced from published 2026 California rate studies, scaled to our benchmark driver. They aren’t included in our averages or rankings.
- What this isn’t: a quote. These are modeled prices for one driver profile, calculated from insurers’ rate filings. Your price depends on your ZIP code, vehicle, driving record, coverage choices and discounts.
Coverage requirements come from California law and the California Department of Insurance. We refresh these figures when new rate data is released.
Madera–Chowchilla Car Insurance FAQ
For our benchmark driver, full coverage in Madera–Chowchilla averages about $285 a month ($3,421 a year) and liability-only coverage at 15/30/5 limits about $100 a month, based on the rates insurers had filed with state regulators as of Aug. 31, 2026. Full coverage is 14% below the California average of $332 a month.
GEICO has the lowest full-coverage average in our Madera–Chowchilla rate data, at about $182 a month, followed by CSAA at $203 among insurers anyone can buy from. USAA*, which sells only to military families, is priced at about $192 a month from published rate studies. For liability-only coverage at 15/30/5 limits, CSAA and GEICO are effectively tied for the lowest average in our Madera–Chowchilla data. Statewide, five of the eight published 2026 California rate studies we reviewed rank GEICO cheapest for full coverage, apart from USAA, and a sixth ties GEICO with Progressive. Rates vary by driver, so compare quotes for your own car and ZIP code.
Madera, for our benchmark driver. Madera full coverage averages about $287 a month and Chowchilla about $292, a difference of about $5 a month for the same driver and car.
In our data, 93644, in Oakhurst, has the lowest full-coverage average in Madera County, at about $274 a month, and 93638, in Madera, the highest, at about $298. The ZIP code table on this page lists all six with the town for each.
In our Madera–Chowchilla data, full coverage (100/300/100 with $500 deductibles) averages about $285 a month and liability-only coverage at 15/30/5 limits, below California’s 30/60/15 minimum, about $100, a difference of about $185 a month ($2,224 a year). Liability-only coverage won’t pay to repair or replace your own car after a crash, a theft or a storm. California law doesn’t require full coverage, but a lender or leasing company may.
Not for full coverage, for our benchmark driver. Comparing the four insurers in both sets of rates (Farmers is new over the past nine months), their Madera–Chowchilla full-coverage average fell 3.9%, from about $3,231 to $3,106 a year. That’s lower than the Madera–Chowchilla average of $3,421 because it leaves out Farmers. State Farm cut its Madera–Chowchilla average 12.5%. Liability-only coverage at 15/30/5 limits rose 7.1%.
For our benchmark driver, full coverage in Madera–Chowchilla averages about $285 a month. Nearby, Fresno averages about $305, Merced about $289 and Hanford–Corcoran about $282. Hanford–Corcoran is cheaper; prices depend mostly on ZIP code, so compare quotes for your own address.
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Michael Giusti is a senior insurance analyst, business journalist, and university professor with over 20 years of experience. He serves as department chair at Loyola University New Orleans and contributes to Insurance Thought Leadership, U.S. News, and other leading financial outlets.
