California Car Insurance Quotes & Rates (2026)

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For a 40-year-old driver with a clean record, California car insurance averages about $332 a month ($3,979 a year) for full coverage, based on the rates insurers had filed with state regulators as of Aug. 31, 2026. That’s 42% above the national average in our data. GEICO has the lowest statewide full-coverage average, at about $199 a month.

Where you live in California changes the price more than almost anywhere else. Among the cities we price, full coverage ranges from about $243 a month in Chico to $476 in Los Angeles for the same driver and car. The company you pick matters even more: statewide, Farmers’ average is more than twice GEICO’s.

The figures come from insurers’ own rate filings, modeled by Quadrant Information Services for one driver across 1,121 California ZIP codes. Use them to see what’s normal, then compare quotes for your own car and address.

_{Cost data comes from the auto rates insurers file with state regulators, priced across 1,121 California ZIP codes, compiled by Quadrant Information Services and updated as new rates are filed.}

How Much Is Car Insurance in California?

Full coverage in California averages $3,979 a year, or about $332 a month, for our benchmark driver. Dropping to 50/100/50 liability while keeping comprehensive and collision averages $3,695 a year ($308 a month).

• Full coverage (100/300/100, $500 deductibles): $3,979 a year ($332 a month)
• 50/100/50 with $500 deductibles: $3,695 a year ($308 a month)
• Minimum liability (15/30/5): $1,460 a year ($122 a month)
• National average: $2,806 a year ($234 a month) for full coverage
• Most expensive county: Los Angeles County, at $5,042 a year ($420 a month)

Cheapest Car Insurance Companies in California

• Cheapest for full coverage: GEICO, at about $199 a month ($2,386 a year).
• Next cheapest statewide in our rate data: State Farm, at about $326 a month ($3,914 a year).
• AAA: AAA Northern California (CSAA) averages $213 a month where it sells, and AAA Southern California (Auto Club) $333. Each covers only its own part of the state, so we don’t rank them statewide.
• Most expensive: Farmers, at about $433 a month, $2,812 a year more than GEICO.

GEICO’s statewide average is 39% below State Farm’s. That’s a wide gap, and every major 2026 California rate study we checked also ranks GEICO cheapest for full coverage. See how we calculated these rates.

See What You’d Pay in California

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Rates change by city and ZIP code across California. Enter yours to compare quotes.

California Car Insurance Rates by City

This table lists minimum-liability and full-coverage averages for 84 California cities in our data, using each city’s own ZIP codes. Search it for your city.

California City Car Insurance Guides

Each city guide has local prices and the cheapest insurers there, and the biggest cities add ZIP-code detail. Chico is the cheapest city we cover and Los Angeles the most expensive, a gap of about $234 a month for the same driver.

California Car Insurance Rates by County

Los Angeles County is the most expensive county in our data, at about $420 a month for full coverage, followed by San Francisco and San Bernardino. Rural Northern California counties such as Siskiyou, Plumas and Shasta are the cheapest, at about $231 to $249 a month.

How Much More Does Better Coverage Cost in California?

Raising liability limits from 50/100/50 to 100/300/100 adds about $284 a year ($24 a month) statewide in our data, with the same $500 deductibles. Higher limits protect your savings if you cause a serious crash, and they cost far less than most drivers expect.

What Car Insurance Is Required in California?

California sets the rules for every driver in California. Since 2025, the minimum liability coverage for a standard auto policy is:

• $30,000 for injury or death of one person
• $60,000 for injury or death of more than one person in one crash
• $15,000 for damage to other people’s property

That’s 30/60/15 coverage, up from the 15/30/5 minimum that applied before 2025. You must carry proof of insurance in the car and show it after a crash or traffic stop. The limits are listed in the California Department of Insurance auto insurance guide and on the California DMV insurance requirements page.

Minimum limits are low next to the cost of a serious crash, which is why we price full coverage at 100/300/100 liability. If money is tight, the state’s California Low Cost Auto Insurance Program offers liability policies to income-eligible drivers with a good driving record and a car worth $25,000 or less.

Coverage of a vehicle is reported by the insurance agency to the state of California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). If your policy is canceled by the insurance provider, you must notify the DMV within 45 days of the new policy number and insurance provider.

If you’re planning to cancel your policy, you’re required to contact the DMV first to prevent the registration of the vehicle from being suspended. Should the vehicle no longer be in use on the roadway, the insured can file an Affidavit of Non-Use (ANU) REG 5090 form.

This form allows the insured to cancel the insurance policy. However, ANU does not provide an exception to registration. The registration of the non-­insured vehicle must be renewed in a timely manner.

How to Lower Your Car Insurance Rate in California

1. Keep your Good Driver discount. California law requires every insurer to give a Good Driver discount of at least 20%. You qualify if you’ve been licensed for three years and have no more than one violation point on your record. California also rates drivers first on their driving record, then on how many miles they drive each year and how many years they’ve been driving, so a clean record matters more here than almost anywhere else.
2. Report your real mileage. Annual miles driven is one of California’s main rating factors, so a shorter commute or remote work can lower your price.
3. Compare at every renewal. Prices for the same driver and car vary by thousands of dollars a year between insurers, and each company changes its rates on its own schedule.
4. Check the Low Cost Auto program. If your household income is limited, the state-sponsored California Low Cost Auto Insurance Program may offer a cheaper liability policy.
5. Insure your car and home together. A multi-policy discount is one of the easiest savings to get, so compare California home insurance rates too.

Compare California Car Insurance Quotes

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Put these tips to work. Enter your ZIP code to compare quotes.

Finding Auto Insurance Resources in California

Residents of California have many resources available at their fingertips for finding information on

insurance requirements and help with auto insurance coverage. The California DMV is a good resource to start with when learning about the requirements and regulations surrounding automobile coverage.

If you need financial assistance with obtaining auto insurance, you can fill out an auto insurance application and submit it to the California Low Cost Auto Insurance Program. This program, which is state sponsored, was created to help uninsured low-­income drivers.

Eligibility requirements to enter this program include evaluation of household income, driving record, and the vehicle value at time of purchase.

If you’re having a hard time getting any insurance company to insure you, you can seek assistance from the California Automobile Assigned Risk Plan (CAARP). This plan allows those marked as “assigned risk” by insurance companies because of their poor driving rating to obtain automobile insurance with the help of the CAARP. The CAARP puts drivers in touch with an insurance company that will offer insurance to them even though they are a risk.

The state of California also provides a mediation service to drivers that need help resolving a claim with their insurance company. The California Department of Insurance offers this low cost service to any auto policyholder that has comprehensive and collision coverage and needs a mediator to help negotiate a disputed claim.

Moving to California: Important Information

If you’re moving to California, you’re required by the DMV to obtain a California driver’s license within 10 days of moving. To obtain a license, an appointment must be made with the local DMV office. You will be required to fill out an application, be fingerprinted, show proof of identity (out-­of-­state license and social security card), take a vision exam, take a written road and sign test, have your photograph taken, and pay a fee.

Out-of-state vehicles must be registered in California within 20 days. To register a vehicle, the following are required:

• All registered owners appearing on the out-­of-­state registration must fill out and sign an Application for Title or Registration (REG 343)
• Last issued out-­of-­state title if there is a change in the registered owner
• Registration certificate or renewal notice for the current year
• Inspection of the vehicle by an authorized employee of the DMV or a licensed vehicle inspection facility
• Smog certification and weight certificate, depending on the vehicle
• Payment of fees and any taxes must be made

Understand the Driving Laws in California

California has many driving laws that are unique, and may confuse out-of-state drivers and new residents.

One law that is enforced swiftly is the use of a cellphone while driving. Drivers in California are required to use hands-­free devices, such as a built-­in Bluetooth through the car audio or a Bluetooth earpiece. Texting while driving is also a big no-­no. If you’re caught talking directly on a cell phone or texting while driving, you’ll face hefty fines by law enforcement.

Driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs (DUI) is unlawful in California and the penalties enforced by California law are some of the strictest in the United States. If you’re caught driving under the influence, you risk jail time, fines, and a suspension of your license. Police will conduct field sobriety tests and request a breathalyzer if they suspect a DUI. While a driver is allowed to refuse the breathalyzer in California, anyone previously convicted of a DUI will be issued jail time for refusal.

More California Car Insurance Breakdowns

Beyond ZIP code and insurer, the car you drive and your age move the price too. The tables in this section come from an additional InsuranceQuotes rate analysis with its own driver profile and assumptions, so compare the categories within each table to see where the biggest differences are.

California Car Insurance Costs by County and Vehicle Type

This breakdown shows how the type of car changes the price in each California county. Across the 58 counties listed, SUV policies cost the least on average and coupe policies the most, about 22% more. Search the table for your county.

Car Insurance Rates for Used Vehicles in California

What you drive matters as much as where you park it. For used vehicles in this breakdown, an SUV is the cheapest to insure with full coverage and a luxury coupe the most expensive, about 71% more. Differences in repair costs and claim rates drive most of that gap.

New Car Insurance Rates in California

A new car costs more to insure because comprehensive and collision have to cover a more valuable vehicle. Across the five vehicle types here, full coverage for a new model runs about 23% more on average than for the same type used. If you’re financing, your lender will require both coverages.

Car Insurance Costs by Age in California

Age is one of the biggest rating factors for young drivers. In this breakdown, a 17-year-old pays about 2.3 times what a 39-year-old pays for full coverage, and prices fall quickly through the early 20s as drivers build a clean record. California insurers must weigh your driving record, annual mileage and years of driving experience most heavily, which is why experience matters so much here.

How We Calculated California 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: 5,605 full-coverage quotes from 6 insurers across 1,121 California ZIP codes.
• Driver: a single 40-year-old male or female driver, licensed 24 years, with no accidents or violations, driving a 2024 Toyota Camry LE they own, for personal use. California doesn’t let insurers use gender to set car insurance rates, so the price is the same for men and women.
• Coverage: full coverage is 100/300/100 liability with $500 comprehensive and collision deductibles. We also price 50/100/50 liability with the same deductibles, and minimum liability at 15/30/5 limits with no comprehensive or collision.
• 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: an insurer is ranked only where it has a price in at least half of the ZIP codes we sample. AAA Northern California (CSAA) and AAA Southern California (Auto Club) each sell in their own half of the state, so statewide they’re shown but not ranked. Prices within 3% of each other are called effectively tied.
• Other insurers: when the Quadrant rate data we analyze doesn’t include an insurer’s rate for this driver, its average is estimated from 2026 published rate studies and scaled to the same driver and coverage. Those insurers aren’t used for our cheapest-insurer 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, annual mileage and discounts.

Coverage requirements come from the California Department of Insurance. We refresh these figures when new rate data is released.

California Car Insurance FAQ