For a 40-year-old driver with a clean record, Wilmington car insurance averages about $143 a month ($1,716 a year) for full coverage, based on the rates insurers had filed with state regulators as of Aug. 31, 2026. That’s 7% below the North Carolina average of $154 a month. Progressive and State Farm are effectively tied for the lowest full-coverage average among the five major insurers we compared (Allstate, GEICO, NC Farm Bureau, Progressive and State Farm), at about $84 and $86 a month.
Wilmington is the least expensive of the 10 North Carolina cities we publish guides for. Our benchmark driver pays about $11 a month less here than the state average and about $35 a month less than in Charlotte.
Our data covers six ZIP codes with a Wilmington mailing address, from about $141 a month in 28405, 28409, 28411 and 28412 to $153 in 28401.
Cost data comes from the auto rates insurers file with state regulators, priced across all six Wilmington 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 Wilmington, NC?
Full coverage in Wilmington averages $1,716 a year, or about $143 a month, for our benchmark driver. Liability-only coverage at 30/60/25 limits averages $666 a year ($56 a month), and 50/100/50 liability with comprehensive and collision averages $1,744 ($145 a month).
- Full coverage (100/300/100, $500 deductibles): $1,716 a year ($143 a month)
- 50/100/50 with $500 deductibles: $1,744 a year ($145 a month)
- Liability only (30/60/25): $666 a year ($56 a month)
- New Hanover County: $1,737 a year ($145 a month) for full coverage
- North Carolina average: $1,848 a year ($154 a month) for full coverage
- ZIP code range: $141 (28405, 28409, 28411 and 28412) to $153 (28401) a month for full coverage
Cheap Car Insurance in Wilmington: Companies Compared
- Lowest averages among the five major insurers we compared, full coverage: Progressive and State Farm, effectively tied at about $84 and $86 a month.
- Next lowest: GEICO at $145, then NC Farm Bureau at $158.
- Lowest liability-only average (30/60/25): State Farm, at about $37 a month, then Progressive at $41.
- Also on our list: Erie at about $62 a month, Nationwide at $132, Farmers at $144, Penn National at $145 and Utica National at $180.
- Most expensive in our data: Allstate, at about $242 a month, $1,894 a year more than Progressive for the same driver and car.
Progressive and State Farm are effectively tied for the lowest full-coverage average among the five insurers in our Wilmington rate data. Of the six published 2026 statewide North Carolina rate studies we reviewed, the one whose figures are also built from Quadrant rate data ranks Erie Insurance cheapest for full coverage. Four of the other five rank Progressive first, and only one of those five includes Erie. For liability-only coverage at 30/60/25 limits, State Farm has the lowest average among these five insurers, at about $37 a month, followed by Progressive at $41.
Full-coverage averages by insurer in Wilmington
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 30/60/25 (Yearly): | Liability Only 30/60/25 (Monthly): | Full Coverage (Yearly): | Full Coverage (Monthly): |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Progressive | $490 | $41 | $1,010 | $84 |
| State Farm | $441 | $37 | $1,037 | $86 |
| GEICO | $639 | $53 | $1,740 | $145 |
| NC Farm Bureau | $672 | $56 | $1,890 | $158 |
| Allstate | $1,086 | $91 | $2,904 | $242 |
| Erie Insurance* | $495 | $41 | $743 | $62 |
| Nationwide* | $661 | $55 | $1,582 | $132 |
| Farmers* | $854 | $71 | $1,733 | $144 |
| Penn National* | $660 | $55 | $1,737 | $145 |
| Utica National* | $1,089 | $91 | $2,164 | $180 |
| Wilmington average | $666 | $56 | $1,716 | $143 |
This table uses Wilmington 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.
Wilmington Car Insurance Rates by ZIP Code
Across the six Wilmington ZIP codes we price, full coverage for our driver ranges from about $141 a month in 28405, 28409, 28411 and 28412 to $153 in 28401, a gap of $147 a year. Most Wilmington ZIP codes are within a dollar or two of each other in our data, and downtown 28401 costs more.
Lowest-priced Wilmington ZIP codes
Highest-priced Wilmington ZIP code
Search the table for your ZIP code. The last column shows how far each ZIP code is above or below Wilmington’s average.
| ZIP Code: | Liability Only 30/60/25 (Yearly): | Liability Only 30/60/25 (Monthly): | Full Coverage (Yearly): | Full Coverage (Monthly): | Full Coverage vs. City Average: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28401 | $700 | $58 | $1,835 | $153 | +7% |
| 28403 | $664 | $55 | $1,700 | $142 | -1% |
| 28405 | $659 | $55 | $1,694 | $141 | -1% |
| 28409 | $659 | $55 | $1,691 | $141 | -1% |
| 28411 | $654 | $55 | $1,688 | $141 | -1% |
| 28412 | $657 | $55 | $1,689 | $141 | -1% |
Your ZIP code matters
Does Better Coverage Cost More in Wilmington?
Full coverage at 100/300/100 limits costs a little less on average than 50/100/50 in our Wilmington data: $1,716 a year compared with $1,744, 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. Allstate and GEICO charge less for 100/300/100 than for 50/100/50 for our benchmark driver.
Is Car Insurance Going Up in Wilmington?
Not for our benchmark driver. Comparing the same insurers in the same Wilmington ZIP codes, full coverage averaged $1,809 a year nine months earlier and $1,716 in rates as of Aug. 31, 2026, a 5.1% drop. In Wilmington, average rates fell 7.8% at Allstate, 5.1% at Progressive, 5.0% at State Farm, 3.0% at GEICO and 2.8% at NC Farm Bureau. Liability-only coverage at 30/60/25 limits fell 8.0%, led by State Farm, which cut its liability-only average 9.4%.
What Shapes Car Insurance Costs in Wilmington
New Hanover County averages about $145 a month for full coverage, the 72nd-most expensive of the 93 North Carolina counties we price.
Leland, across the river in Brunswick County, averages about $152 a month. North Carolina insurers price by location as well as by driver and car, so your ZIP code can move your price.
How Wilmington Car Insurance Compares With Other North Carolina Cities
More North Carolina cities and towns are in the North Carolina rates by city table, and you can compare states on our car insurance rates by state page.
Fayetteville, about 80 miles northwest, averages $169 a month, and Raleigh, about 115 miles north, $156.
What Car Insurance Is Required in Wilmington?
Drivers in Wilmington follow North Carolina’s rules. Policies issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2025, must include at least:
- Bodily injury liability of $50,000 per person and $100,000 per crash
- Property damage liability of $50,000 per crash
- Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, which every North Carolina policy must include
Our North Carolina requirements guide covers the details and what happens if your coverage lapses.
How to Lower Your Car Insurance Rate in Wilmington
- Compare Progressive and State Farm first. They have the two lowest full-coverage averages among the five major insurers we compared in Wilmington, about $84 and $86 a month.
- Quote several insurers. Among the five major insurers we compared in Wilmington, the lowest and highest averages are about $158 a month apart for the same driver and car.
- Protect your driving record. Under North Carolina’s Safe Driver Incentive Plan, insurance points raise your premium from 40% for one point to 340% for 12 points, and since July 1, 2025, violations worth four or more points, other than speeding, count for five years instead of three.
- Compare at every renewal. Over the past nine months, Allstate has cut its Wilmington average 7.8%, Progressive 5.1%, State Farm 5.0%, GEICO 3.0% and NC Farm Bureau 2.8%, 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 North Carolina 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 Wilmington 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 Wilmington 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 30/60/25 limits, with 30/60 uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage and no comprehensive or collision. North Carolina’s minimum has been 50/100/50 since July 1, 2025, so our liability-only prices use lower limits than the law requires. Our 50/100/50 prices also include comprehensive and collision, so they aren’t liability-only prices at the new minimum. Liability-only figures for insurers marked * are scaled from published minimum-coverage prices, most of them at the 50/100/50 minimum, so they don’t match our 30/60/25 package exactly.
- 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. All five 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 published 2026 North Carolina 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 North Carolina law and the North Carolina Department of Insurance. We refresh these figures when new rate data is released.
Wilmington Car Insurance FAQ
For our benchmark driver, full coverage in Wilmington averages about $143 a month ($1,716 a year) and liability-only coverage at 30/60/25 limits about $56 a month, based on the rates insurers had filed with state regulators as of Aug. 31, 2026. Full coverage is 7% below the North Carolina average of $154 a month.
Progressive and State Farm are effectively tied for the lowest full-coverage average in our Wilmington rate data, at about $84 and $86 a month. GEICO’s average is next, at $145. For liability-only coverage at 30/60/25 limits, State Farm has the lowest average, at about $37 a month. The one published 2026 North Carolina study we reviewed whose figures are also built from Quadrant rate data ranks Erie Insurance cheapest for full coverage, while most of the others, which mostly don’t include Erie, rank Progressive first. Rates vary by driver, so compare quotes for your own car and ZIP code.
Compared with the rest of North Carolina, yes. For our benchmark driver, Wilmington full coverage averages about $143 a month, 7% below the North Carolina average.
In our data, 28405, 28409, 28411 and 28412 share the lowest full-coverage average in Wilmington, at about $141 a month, and 28401 the highest, at about $153. The ZIP code table on this page lists all six.
In our Wilmington data, full coverage (100/300/100 with $500 deductibles) averages about $143 a month and liability-only coverage at 30/60/25 limits about $56, a difference of about $87 a month ($1,050 a year). Liability-only coverage won’t pay to repair or replace your own car after a crash, a theft or a storm. North Carolina law doesn’t require full coverage, but a lender or leasing company may.
Not for our benchmark driver. Comparing the same insurers and ZIP codes, Wilmington full coverage fell 5.1% over the past nine months, from about $1,809 to $1,716 a year. Allstate cut its Wilmington average 7.8%, Progressive 5.1%, State Farm 5.0%, GEICO 3.0% and NC Farm Bureau 2.8%. Liability-only coverage at 30/60/25 limits fell 8.0%.
For our benchmark driver, full coverage in Wilmington averages about $143 a month. Nearby, Fayetteville averages about $169, Raleigh about $156 and Cary about $146. Wilmington 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.
