For a 40-year-old driver with a clean record, St. Joseph car insurance averages about $192 a month ($2,309 a year) for full coverage, based on the rates insurers had filed with state regulators as of Aug. 31, 2026. That’s 5% below the Missouri average of $203 a month. Shelter has the lowest full-coverage average among the five major insurers we compared (American Family, GEICO, Progressive, Safeco and Shelter), at about $140 a month.
St. Joseph is priced below the Missouri average for our benchmark driver: about $11 a month less than the state average and about $34 a month less than Kansas City.
Our data covers six ZIP codes with a St. Joseph mailing address, all within a few dollars of each other, from about $189 a month in 64507 to $198 in 64504.
Cost data comes from the auto rates insurers file with state regulators, priced across all six St. Joseph 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 St. Joseph, MO?
Full coverage in St. Joseph averages $2,309 a year, or about $192 a month, for our benchmark driver. Liability-only coverage at 25/50/10 limits averages $690 a year ($58 a month), and 50/100/50 liability with comprehensive and collision averages $2,390 ($199 a month).
- Full coverage (100/300/100, $500 deductibles): $2,309 a year ($192 a month)
- 50/100/50 with $500 deductibles: $2,390 a year ($199 a month)
- Liability only (25/50/10): $690 a year ($58 a month)
- Buchanan County: $2,309 a year ($192 a month) for full coverage
- Missouri average: $2,431 a year ($203 a month) for full coverage
- ZIP code range: $189 (64507) to $198 (64504) a month for full coverage
Cheap Car Insurance in St. Joseph: Companies Compared
- Lowest average among the five major insurers we compared, full coverage: Shelter, at about $140 a month ($1,683 a year).
- Next lowest: Progressive, at about $158 a month, then Safeco and GEICO, effectively tied at $201 and $206.
- Lowest liability-only average (25/50/10): Progressive, at about $39 a month, then Shelter at $46.
- State Farm (Nov. 2025 rates)*: about $227 a month for full coverage, from its November 2025 rates.
- Also on our list: USAA at about $98 a month, Travelers at $138, Missouri Farm Bureau at $199 and Nationwide at $209 (USAA sells only to military families).
- Most expensive in our data: American Family, at about $257 a month, $1,402 a year more than Shelter for the same driver and car.
Shelter has the lowest full-coverage average among the five insurers in our St. Joseph rate data. The recent published statewide Missouri rate studies we reviewed most often rank Travelers cheapest for full coverage: four of the six put it first, one ranks Shelter and one Nationwide, apart from USAA, which sells only to military families. For liability-only coverage at 25/50/10 limits, Progressive has the lowest average among these five insurers, at about $39 a month, followed by Shelter at $46.
Full-coverage averages by insurer in St. Joseph
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 25/50/10 (Yearly): | Liability Only 25/50/10 (Monthly): | Full Coverage (Yearly): | Full Coverage (Monthly): |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shelter | $549 | $46 | $1,683 | $140 |
| Progressive | $470 | $39 | $1,892 | $158 |
| Safeco | $788 | $66 | $2,416 | $201 |
| GEICO | $718 | $60 | $2,467 | $206 |
| American Family | $926 | $77 | $3,085 | $257 |
| State Farm (Nov. 2025 rates)* | $695 | $58 | $2,720 | $227 |
| USAA (military families)* | $306 | $26 | $1,171 | $98 |
| Travelers* | $536 | $45 | $1,655 | $138 |
| Missouri Farm Bureau* | $492 | $41 | $2,384 | $199 |
| Nationwide* | $1,073 | $89 | $2,512 | $209 |
| St. Joseph average | $690 | $58 | $2,309 | $192 |
This table uses St. Joseph ZIP codes only. See how we calculated these rates. Your own price depends on your car, driving record and coverage, so compare car insurance quotes before you buy.
St. Joseph Car Insurance Rates by ZIP Code
Across the six St. Joseph ZIP codes we price, full coverage for our driver ranges from about $189 a month in 64507 to $198 in 64504, a gap of $113 a year. 64507, on the east side, is the least expensive ZIP code in our data, and 64504, on the south side, the most expensive.
Lowest-priced St. Joseph ZIP codes
Highest-priced St. Joseph ZIP codes
Search the table for your ZIP code. The last column shows how far each ZIP code is above or below St. Joseph’s average.
| ZIP Code: | Liability Only 25/50/10 (Yearly): | Liability Only 25/50/10 (Monthly): | Full Coverage (Yearly): | Full Coverage (Monthly): | Full Coverage vs. City Average: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 64501 | $707 | $59 | $2,293 | $191 | -1% |
| 64503 | $698 | $58 | $2,281 | $190 | -1% |
| 64504 | $673 | $56 | $2,381 | $198 | +3% |
| 64505 | $676 | $56 | $2,298 | $192 | About average |
| 64506 | $726 | $61 | $2,332 | $194 | +1% |
| 64507 | $662 | $55 | $2,268 | $189 | -2% |
Your ZIP code matters
Does Better Coverage Cost More in St. Joseph?
Full coverage at 100/300/100 limits costs less on average than 50/100/50 in our St. Joseph data: $2,309 a year compared with $2,390, with the same $500 deductibles. The full-coverage package doubles the per-person injury limit, triples the per-crash limit and doubles the property damage limit, and it raises uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage to 100/300. American Family, Safeco and Shelter charge less for 100/300/100 than for 50/100/50 for our benchmark driver.
Is Car Insurance Going Up in St. Joseph?
Not for our benchmark driver. Comparing the four insurers that are in both sets of rates, in the same St. Joseph ZIP codes, their full-coverage average fell from $2,853 a year nine months earlier to $2,282 in rates as of Aug. 31, 2026, a 20.0% drop. Progressive’s St. Joseph average fell 30.7%, American Family’s 30.1% and Shelter’s 7.5%, but GEICO’s rose 0.8%. Safeco is new in our rates over the past nine months, so it’s left out, which is why these averages differ from the St. Joseph average above. State Farm’s latest rates are from November 2025, so it’s left out of this comparison. Liability-only coverage at 25/50/10 limits fell 8.0%, led by American Family, which cut its liability-only average 16.9%.
What Shapes Car Insurance Costs in St. Joseph
Buchanan County averages about $192 a month for full coverage, the 32nd-most expensive of the 79 Missouri counties we price.
All of the Buchanan County ZIP codes in our data have a St. Joseph mailing address, so the city and county averages are the same. Missouri insurers group drivers into rating territories that are generally based on claims experience, according to the Department of Commerce and Insurance.
How St. Joseph Car Insurance Compares With Other Missouri Cities
More Missouri cities and towns are in the Missouri rates by city table, and you can compare states on our car insurance rates by state page.
Kansas City, about 50 miles south, averages $226 a month, and Independence $215.
What Car Insurance Is Required in St. Joseph?
Drivers in St. Joseph follow Missouri’s rules. Every policy must include at least:
- Bodily injury liability of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per crash
- Property damage liability of $25,000 per crash
- Uninsured motorist coverage of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per crash
Our Missouri requirements guide covers the details and the penalties for driving uninsured.
How to Lower Your Car Insurance Rate in St. Joseph
- Compare Shelter and Progressive first. They have the two lowest full-coverage averages among the five major insurers we compared in St. Joseph, about $140 and $158 a month.
- Quote several insurers. Among the five major insurers we compared in St. Joseph, the lowest and highest averages are about $117 a month apart for the same driver and car.
- Know how credit is used. Missouri insurers can use credit information, but under RSMo 375.918 they can’t deny or drop you based on credit alone.
- Compare at every renewal. Over the past nine months, Progressive has cut its St. Joseph average 30.7%, American Family 30.1% and Shelter 7.5%, while GEICO has raised its average 0.8%, 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 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 car insurance deductibles work.
- Bundle your car and home insurance. Many insurers discount both policies when you buy them together. Check Missouri home insurance rates, and compare homeowners insurance quotes before you shop. Renters can often bundle a renters insurance policy too.
Ready to compare
How We Calculated St. Joseph 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 St. Joseph ZIP codes, 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.
- 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 25/50/10 limits, with 25/50 uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage and no comprehensive or collision. Missouri’s minimum has been 25/50/25 since July 1, 2019, 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. Safeco isn’t in the November 2025 rates and State Farm isn’t in the August 2026 rates, so they’re left out of rate-change comparisons; the other four insurers 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 recent published Missouri rate studies, scaled to our benchmark driver. They aren’t included in our averages or rankings. The State Farm row shows its November 2025 rates, so it isn’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 Missouri law and the Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance. We refresh these figures when new rate data is released.
St. Joseph Car Insurance FAQ
For our benchmark driver, full coverage in St. Joseph averages about $192 a month ($2,309 a year) and liability-only coverage at 25/50/10 limits about $58 a month, based on the rates insurers had filed with state regulators as of Aug. 31, 2026. Full coverage is 5% below the Missouri average of $203 a month.
Shelter has the lowest full-coverage average in our St. Joseph rate data, at about $140 a month, followed by Progressive at $158. For liability-only coverage at 25/50/10 limits, Progressive has the lowest average, at about $39 a month. Four of the six recent published statewide Missouri rate studies we reviewed rank Travelers cheapest for full coverage, apart from USAA. Rates vary by driver, so compare quotes for your own car and ZIP code.
St. Joseph, for our benchmark driver. St. Joseph full coverage averages about $192 a month and Kansas City about $226, a difference of about $34 a month for the same driver and car.
In our data, 64507 has the lowest full-coverage average in St. Joseph, at about $189 a month, and 64504 the highest, at about $198. The ZIP code table on this page lists all six.
In our St. Joseph data, full coverage (100/300/100 with $500 deductibles) averages about $192 a month and liability-only coverage at 25/50/10 limits about $58, a difference of about $134 a month ($1,619 a year). Liability-only coverage won’t pay to repair or replace your own car after a crash, a theft or a storm. Missouri law doesn’t require full coverage, but a lender or leasing company may.
Not for our benchmark driver. Comparing the four insurers in both sets of rates (Safeco is new over the past nine months), their St. Joseph full-coverage average fell 20.0%, from about $2,853 to $2,282 a year. That’s lower than the St. Joseph average of $2,309 because it leaves out Safeco. Progressive cut its St. Joseph average 30.7%, American Family 30.1% and Shelter 7.5%, while GEICO raised its average 0.8%. Liability-only coverage at 25/50/10 limits fell 8.0%.
For our benchmark driver, full coverage in St. Joseph averages about $192 a month. Nearby, Kansas City averages about $226, Independence about $215 and Blue Springs about $194. St. Joseph is the least expensive of these; prices depend mostly on ZIP code, so compare quotes for your own address.
- About the Author
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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.
