For a 40-year-old driver with a clean record, car insurance in Hilo, on the Big Island, costs about $162 a month ($1,944 a year) for full coverage, based on the rates insurers had filed with state regulators as of Aug. 31, 2026. That’s 9% above the Hawaii average of $148 a month. GEICO has the lowest full-coverage average of the five major insurers we compared (21st Century, Allstate, GEICO, Liberty Mutual and State Farm), at about $105 a month.
Our Hilo figures are for ZIP code 96720, the ZIP code at the center of Hilo on the Census Bureau’s maps. The Hilo census-designated place counted 44,186 residents in the 2020 census on about 53.6 square miles of land.
Every Big Island ZIP code we price averages $1,944 a year for full coverage, from Hilo and Keaau on the east side to Kailua-Kona and Waikoloa on the west, the highest figure of the four Hawaii counties we price.
Cost data comes from the auto rates insurers file with state regulators, priced in Hilo’s ZIP code, 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 Hilo, HI?
Hilo car insurance costs $1,944 a year, about $162 a month, for full coverage for our benchmark driver. Liability-only coverage at 20/40/10 limits averages $562 a year ($47 a month), and 50/100/50 liability with comprehensive and collision averages $1,868 ($156 a month).
- Full coverage (100/300/100, $500 deductibles): $1,944 a year ($162 a month)
- 50/100/50 with $500 deductibles: $1,868 a year ($156 a month)
- Liability only (20/40/10): $562 a year ($47 a month)
- Hawaii County (Big Island): $1,944 a year ($162 a month) for full coverage
- Hawaii average: $1,773 a year ($148 a month) for full coverage
Cheapest Car Insurance in Hilo, HI: Companies Compared
GEICO has the lowest full-coverage average of the insurers anyone can buy from in Hilo, about $105 a month, 23% below 21st Century. USAA, which sells only to military families, averages about $118.
- Lowest average in our data, full coverage: GEICO, at about $105 a month ($1,263 a year).
- Next lowest any driver can buy: 21st Century, at about $137 a month, then State Farm at $183.
- Military families: USAA averages about $118 a month, but only for eligible members.
- Liability only (20/40/10): about $27 to $60 a month across the five insurers anyone can buy from.
- Also on our list: Farmers at about $144 a month, Progressive at $150 and Island Insurance at $156.
- Most expensive in our data: Liberty Mutual, at about $237 a month, $1,581 a year more than GEICO for the same driver and car.
Six of the seven published 2026 statewide Hawaii rate studies we reviewed also rank GEICO cheapest for full coverage, apart from USAA, which sells only to military families; one ranks Progressive first. For liability-only coverage at 20/40/10 limits, averages run from about $27 to $60 a month; the lowest is far enough below the rest that we don’t name a cheapest insurer for that coverage level.
Full-coverage averages by insurer in Hilo
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 20/40/10 (Yearly): | Liability Only 20/40/10 (Monthly): | Full Coverage (Yearly): | Full Coverage (Monthly): |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GEICO | $326 | $27 | $1,263 | $105 |
| USAA (military families) | $425 | $35 | $1,411 | $118 |
| 21st Century | $559 | $47 | $1,641 | $137 |
| State Farm | $701 | $58 | $2,193 | $183 |
| Allstate | $724 | $60 | $2,309 | $192 |
| Liberty Mutual | $634 | $53 | $2,844 | $237 |
| Farmers* | $636 | $53 | $1,732 | $144 |
| Progressive* | $701 | $58 | $1,794 | $150 |
| Island Insurance* | $549 | $46 | $1,870 | $156 |
| Hilo average | $562 | $47 | $1,944 | $162 |
This table uses Hilo’s ZIP code only. See how we calculated these rates. Your own price depends on your car, driving record and coverage, so compare free car insurance quotes before you buy.
Your ZIP code matters
How Much More Does Better Coverage Cost in Hilo?
Raising liability limits from 50/100/50 to 100/300/100 adds about $76 a year on average in our Hilo data, with the same $500 deductibles. That’s about $6 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. USAA charges less for 100/300/100 than for 50/100/50 for our benchmark driver.
Is Car Insurance Going Up in Hilo?
Yes, for our benchmark driver. Comparing the five insurers that are in both sets of rates, in the same Hilo ZIP code, their full-coverage average rose from $1,736 a year nine months earlier to $1,763 in rates as of Aug. 31, 2026, a 1.6% increase. USAA raised its average 4.9%, GEICO 2.5% and State Farm 1.8%, while 21st Century’s and Allstate’s averages were unchanged. Liberty Mutual is new in our rates over the past nine months, so it’s left out, which is why these averages differ from the Hilo average above. Liability-only coverage at 20/40/10 limits rose 13.0%, led by GEICO, which raised its liability-only average 22.1%.
What Shapes Car Insurance Costs in Hilo
Five of the six insurers charge our driver more in Hilo than in most of Oahu: Liberty Mutual $414 a year more, Allstate $379 and GEICO $194. USAA is the exception, at $14 a year less.
Liability-only coverage runs the other way: at 20/40/10 limits it averages $562 a year in Hilo, a little less than Oahu’s $583, so the gap with Oahu is in full coverage, not liability-only coverage.
Safety Checks and Proof of Insurance in Hilo
Hawaii County’s safety inspectors ask for your insurance identification card at the safety check, according to the County of Hawaii, so keep a current card in the car or on your phone.
How Hilo Car Insurance Compares With Other Hawaii Cities
More Hawaii cities and towns are in the Hawaii rates by city table, and you can compare states on our car insurance rates by state page.
Kailua-Kona, about 60 miles west across the island, has no guide of its own but averages $162 a month, the same as Hilo. On Maui, Kahului and Kihei average $143, and on Oahu, Honolulu averages $147.
What Car Insurance Is Required in Hilo?
Drivers in Hilo follow Hawaii’s rules. For new and renewal policies effective on or after Jan. 1, 2026, every policy must include at least:
- Liability coverage of $40,000 per person and $80,000 per crash for injuries and $20,000 for property damage (40/80/20)
- Personal injury protection of $10,000 per person for your own medical and rehabilitation costs, whoever caused the crash
- Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage at your bodily injury limits, unless you reject it in writing
Our liability-only prices use 20/40/10 limits, the minimum before 2026, with 20/40 uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, so a policy that meets today’s 40/80/20 minimum will generally cost more than our liability-only figures. Our Hawaii requirements guide covers proof of insurance, the no-fault rules and the penalties for driving uninsured.
A conviction-based license suspension has a lasting cost: Hawaii won’t issue the license again until the driver files and keeps proof of financial responsibility, under HRS § 287-20.
How to Lower Your Car Insurance Rate in Hilo
- Compare GEICO and 21st Century first. They have the two lowest full-coverage averages among insurers anyone can buy from in our Hilo data, about $105 and $137 a month.
- Quote several insurers. In our Hilo data, the lowest and highest averages among insurers anyone can buy from are about $132 a month apart for the same driver and car.
- Bring your insurance card to the safety check. Hawaii County’s safety inspectors ask for your insurance identification card, according to the County of Hawaii, so keep a current card in the car or on your phone.
- Compare at every renewal. Over the past nine months, USAA has raised its average 4.9%, GEICO 2.5% and State Farm 1.8%, 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 car 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 your deductible works.
- Price a bundle. Pairing your auto policy with a home or renters policy usually earns a multi-policy discount. See home insurance costs in Hilo, then compare free home insurance quotes.
Ready to compare
How We Calculated Hilo 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: six full-coverage premiums from six insurers in Hilo’s ZIP code, plus the same number of liability-only and 50/100/50 premiums.
- 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. Hawaii law bars insurers from basing rates on age, sex, marital status, length of driving experience or credit.
- 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 20/40/10 limits, with 20/40 uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage and no comprehensive or collision. Hawaii’s minimum has been 40/80/20 for new and renewal policies effective on or after Jan. 1, 2026, so our liability-only prices use lower limits than the law requires. Every Hawaii policy must also include at least $10,000 per person in personal injury protection; the requirements section of this page explains what it pays.
- Calculation: for each insurer we take its lowest eligible price in Hilo’s ZIP code. The overall average is the mean of those prices, including USAA. Monthly figures are annual premiums divided by 12 and rounded.
- Rankings: we name a cheapest insurer only where it’s priced in that ZIP code and its lead over the next insurer isn’t so wide that it looks like an outlier. USAA sells only to the military community, so it’s shown but not ranked. Annual prices within 3% of each other are called effectively tied.
- Rate changes: we compare the same insurer in the same ZIP code, for the same driver and coverage, in rates as of Nov. 30, 2025, and Aug. 31, 2026. Liberty Mutual is new in our rates since November 2025, so it’s left out of rate-change comparisons; the other five insurers, including USAA, 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 Hawaii 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 Hawaii law and the Hawaii Insurance Division. We refresh these figures when new rate data is released.
Hilo Car Insurance FAQ
For our benchmark driver, full coverage in Hilo averages about $162 a month ($1,944 a year) and liability-only coverage at 20/40/10 limits about $47 a month, based on the rates insurers had filed with state regulators as of Aug. 31, 2026. Full coverage is 9% above the Hawaii average of $148 a month.
GEICO has the lowest full-coverage average in our Hilo rate data, at about $105 a month, followed by 21st Century at $137 among insurers anyone can buy from. USAA, which sells only to military families, averages about $118 a month. For liability-only coverage at 20/40/10 limits, averages run from about $27 to $60 a month. Six of the seven published 2026 statewide Hawaii rate studies we reviewed rank GEICO cheapest for full coverage, apart from USAA; one ranks Progressive first. Rates vary by driver, so compare quotes for your own car and ZIP code.
They’re the same in our data. Hilo (96720) and Kailua-Kona (96740) both average $1,944 a year ($162 a month) for full coverage for our benchmark driver, like every other Big Island ZIP code we price.
In our data, five of the five major insurers we compared charge more there. Liberty Mutual charges our benchmark driver $2,844 a year in Hilo, compared with $2,430 in most of Oahu, and Allstate $2,309 compared with $1,930. That puts every Big Island ZIP code we price about 9% above the Hawaii average.
In our Hilo data, full coverage (100/300/100 with $500 deductibles) averages about $162 a month and liability-only coverage at 20/40/10 limits about $47, a difference of about $115 a month ($1,382 a year). Liability-only coverage won’t pay to repair or replace your own car after a crash, a theft or a storm. Hawaii law doesn’t require full coverage, but a lender or leasing company may.
Drivers in Hilo follow Hawaii law: for new and renewal policies effective on or after Jan. 1, 2026, at least $40,000 per person and $80,000 per crash for injuries and $20,000 for property damage (40/80/20), plus $10,000 per person in personal injury protection. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage comes with the policy unless you reject it in writing, and you must keep your insurance card in the car or on your phone.
Yes, for our benchmark driver. Comparing the five insurers in both sets of rates (Liberty Mutual is new over the past nine months), their Hilo full-coverage average rose 1.6%, from about $1,736 to $1,763 a year. That’s lower than the Hilo average of $1,944 because it leaves out Liberty Mutual. USAA raised its average 4.9%, GEICO 2.5% and State Farm 1.8%. Liability-only coverage at 20/40/10 limits rose 13.0%.
For our benchmark driver, full coverage in Hilo averages about $162 a month. Nearby, Kihei averages about $143, Kahului about $143 and Kailua about $147. Kihei, Kahului and Kailua are 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.
