Cheapest Car Insurance in North Carolina (2024)
- Expertise: Auto insurance, home insurance and renters insurance
- Education: Sonoma State University (BA in English)
Aaron Besson has worked at LendingTree for more than seven years and has been a staff writer for the last five years. He specializes in producing research-backed content about auto, home and renters insurance. Aaron enjoys the deep dig into insurance data to get the right answers to hard questions. His work has been cited by CBS, iHeart Radio, the Sacramento Bee and Yahoo.
Progressive is usually the best full-coverage option for cheap car insurance in North Carolina, with the lowest average rate at $727 a year. But if you just want minimum liability coverage, Erie offers the cheapest average rate of $317 among the top insurers.
This guide has a list of your least expensive North Carolina car insurance choices for various situations, including young drivers and motorists with a recent speeding ticket.
Cheapest full-coverage car insurance in North Carolina: Progressive
For North Carolina drivers looking for full-coverage car insurance, Progressive offers the cheapest average rate, at $727 a year. State Farm is the next most affordable at $752 a year.
This compares to the average cost for full coverage in North Carolina, which is $1,305 a year.
Cheapest companies for full-coverage car insurance
| Company | Average annual rate |
|---|---|
| Progressive | $727 |
| State Farm | $752 |
| Farm Bureau | $758 |
| Erie | $786 |
| Geico | $1,677 |
| Nationwide | $2,071 |
| Allstate | $2,362 |
Rates are for full-coverage car insurance for a 30-year-old male with a clean driving record.
Full-coverage car insurance combines standard liability coverage with collision and comprehensive coverage.
Collision coverage takes care of damages to your own car after an accident. Comprehensive handles damage from reasons other than an accident, such as falling ice or if you hit an animal.
North Carolina does not require drivers to have full-coverage car insurance, but your lender will probably require it if you financed your vehicle.
Cheapest North Carolina liability-only coverage: Erie
Erie has the cheapest minimum-liability coverage car insurance in North Carolina, at $317 a year on average. Farm Bureau is the next cheapest at $343 a year.
North Carolina’s average minimum-liability car insurance rate is $532 a year.
Cheapest companies for liability car insurance
| Company | Average annual rate |
|---|---|
| Erie | $317 |
| Farm Bureau | $343 |
| State Farm | $349 |
| Progressive | $377 |
| Geico | $696 |
| Nationwide | $730 |
| Allstate | $914 |
Rates are for liability-only car insurance for a 30-year-old male with a clean driving record.
Also known as “minimum car insurance” or “standard car insurance,” liability car insurance takes care of legal, medical and repair costs for others involved in an accident you’re responsible for.
Cheapest rates for young drivers in North Carolina: Erie
Teens in North Carolina find the cheapest minimum-coverage car insurance with Erie, at an average of $694 a year, followed by State Farm.
The average rate of minimum car insurance for North Carolina teens is $1,129 a year.
Cheapest liability car insurance companies for young drivers
| Company | Average annual rate |
|---|---|
| Erie | $694 |
| State Farm | $723 |
| Farm Bureau | $783 |
| Progressive | $813 |
| Geico | $1,125 |
| Nationwide | $1,684 |
| Allstate | $2,079 |
Rates are for liability-only car insurance for an 18-year-old male with a clean driving record.
Teens often pay the most for car insurance of any age group. Young drivers tend to be inexperienced behind the wheel and so are seen as a higher risk for filing a claim.
To lower the rates of a teen driver in your home, you can add them to your own current car insurance. While this will increase your rates, it should still be cheaper than if you had separate policies.
Cheapest rates after a speeding ticket in North Carolina: Progressive
Progressive has the lowest average rate for North Carolina drivers with a speeding ticket or similar traffic violation on their record. Their rates for this group average $961 a year.
For comparison, the average full-coverage rate for North Carolina drivers with a ticket or other violation is $1,799 a year.
Cheapest car insurance companies after a ticket
| Company | Average annual rate |
|---|---|
| Progressive | $961 |
| State Farm | $986 |
| Farm Bureau | $994 |
| Erie | $1,158 |
| Geico | $2,378 |
| Nationwide | $2,732 |
| Allstate | $3,387 |
Rates are for full-coverage car insurance for a 30-year-old male with one speeding ticket.
A speeding ticket in North Carolina usually stays on your record for three years. You can expect higher car insurance rates during that time.
Cheapest rates after an accident in North Carolina: Erie
If you have an at-fault accident on your driving record in North Carolina, Erie has the lowest average rate for you, at $868 a year. Progressive is the next lowest, at $1,137.
After an accident, the average rate for full-coverage car insurance in North Carolina is $2,180 a year.
Cheapest car insurance companies after an accident
| Company | Average annual rate |
|---|---|
| Erie | $868 |
| Progressive | $1,137 |
| Farm Bureau | $1,172 |
| State Farm | $1,174 |
| Nationwide | $3,409 |
| Geico | $3,722 |
| Allstate | $3,777 |
Rates are for full-coverage car insurance for a 30-year-old male with one accident.
Best rates after a DUI in North Carolina: Progressive
Drivers in North Carolina with a DUI (driving under the influence) conviction generally get the cheapest rate for full-coverage car insurance with Progressive, at $2,717 a year on average.
The overall average cost for full-coverage car insurance for North Carolina drivers with a DUI is $5,207.
Cheapest car insurance companies after a DUI
| Company | Average annual rate |
|---|---|
| Progressive | $2,717 |
| State Farm | $2,806 |
| Erie | $3,332 |
| Farm Bureau | $4,237 |
| Geico | $5,686 |
| Nationwide | $7,796 |
| Allstate | $9,875 |
Rates are for full-coverage car insurance for a 30-year-old male with one DUI.
In North Carolina, a misdemeanor DUI charge stays on your driving record for seven years. A felony DUI stays on for 10 years.
You will see higher premiums during this time. Insurers see drivers with a DUI as very high risk. There is a possibility that your policy could be canceled, or that you will be denied coverage after a DUI.
Best North Carolina rates for bad credit: Progressive
North Carolina drivers with poor credit get the cheapest rates with Progressive, at an average of $727 a year. Erie is the next most affordable at $1,151 a year.
Cheapest car insurance with bad credit
| Company | Average annual rate |
|---|---|
| Progressive | $727 |
| Erie | $1,151 |
| Farm Bureau | $1,345 |
| Geico | $2,447 |
| Nationwide | $2,682 |
| State Farm | $3,722 |
| Allstate | $5,184 |
Rates are for full-coverage car insurance for a 30-year-old male with poor credit.
Insurers see a connection between a driver’s credit rating and the chances of that driver filing a claim. Credit-based scoring is still a debated issue, and some states have either prohibited it or limited its use.
North Carolina insurance rates by city
Of North Carolina’s biggest cities, Asheville has the cheapest car insurance, with an average rate of $1,183 a year for full coverage.
Charlotte, NC, has the most expensive average rate of $1,575.
Car insurance rates by city in North Carolina
| City | Average annual rate |
|---|---|
| Apex | $1,223 |
| Asheville | $1,183 |
| Burlington | $1,207 |
| Cary | $1,223 |
| Chapel Hill | $1,213 |
| Charlotte | $1,575 |
| Concord | $1,400 |
| Durham | $1,330 |
| Fayetteville | $1,514 |
| Gastonia | $1,468 |
| Greensboro | $1,318 |
| Greenville | $1,313 |
| Hickory | $1,266 |
| High Point | $1,296 |
| Holly Springs | $1,208 |
| Huntersville | $1,325 |
| Jacksonville | $1,267 |
| Kannapolis | $1,379 |
| Mooresville | $1,315 |
| Raleigh | $1,355 |
| Rocky Mount | $1,312 |
| Wake Forest | $1,365 |
| Wilmington | $1,294 |
| Wilson | $1,355 |
| Winston-Salem | $1,200 |
Rates are for full-coverage car insurance for a 30-year-old male with a clean driving record.
Minimum coverage for car insurance in North Carolina
North Carolina’s required liability car insurance coverage limits are:
- $30,000 bodily injury coverage per person
- $60,000 bodily injury coverage per accident
- $25,000 property damage coverage
- Uninsured/underinsured motorist bodily injury per person: $30,000
- Uninsured/underinsured motorist bodily injury per accident: $60,000
Methodology
LendingTree obtains rates from insurance company filings reported to Quadrant Information Services. Rates shown in this article are based on an analysis of car insurance quotes for sample drivers.
Unless stated otherwise, we used thousands of car insurance quotes from across North Carolina for a 30-year-old man with good credit and no tickets, accidents or DUIs driving a 2015 Honda Civic EX.
For full-coverage policies, the following coverage limits were used:
- Bodily injury liability: $50,000 per person, $100,000 per accident
- Property damage liability: $25,000
- Uninsured motorist: $50,000 per person, $100,000 per accident, where required by law
- Personal injury protection: Minimum limits, where required by law
- Collision: $500 deductible
- Comprehensive: $500 deductible