Across US, Speeding Tickets Drive Up Insurance Costs by Over $500 a Year

Getting a ticket while driving hurts — and not just because you have to pay a fine. Your auto insurance premiums are bound to go up, too. 

According to this LendingTree study, a speeding ticket for going 11 to 15 mph over the limit raises rates by an average of 22.7%. That breaks down to $524.74 more a year, or $43.73 a month.

Here’s a closer look.

Key findings

Drivers pay 22.7% more on average for auto insurance after speeding

Speeding tickets hurt the wallet in more ways than one. Alongside a likely fine, drivers pay an average of 22.7% more for auto insurance after receiving a speeding ticket for going 11 to 15 mph over the limit. 

By state, drivers in California see the biggest jump, with average rates rising 42.0%, from $2,392.91 to $3,397.64. Michigan follows, with an increase of 35.8% (from $2,462.40 to $3,344.00), while Nevada rounds out the top three at 31.3% (from $2,789.85 to $3,663.39).

On the other end of the list, Florida saw the smallest jump at 12.4%, with rates increasing from $3,411.14 to $3,832.57. Texas (12.5%) and North Carolina and New York (both at 13.4%) followed. 

According to auto insurance expert and licensed insurance agent Rob Bhatt, there are a few reasons your rates will rise after a ticket.

“In the eyes of an insurance company, drivers with a speeding ticket are more likely to get into accidents than those with a clean driving record,” he says. “Higher crash risks translate into higher insurance rates. The rate increase you get for speeding or other moving violations is called a surcharge.”

A rate increase isn’t the only consequence you might face. Some states assign points after a speeding violation, with most states that have a points system adding two to four points to a driver’s license for speeding 10 to 15 mph over the limit. Of note, Hawaii, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, Washington and Wyoming don’t use point systems. Meanwhile, Utah and Illinois use different scales than the rest of the states.

Full rankings: States with biggest % change in auto insurance premiums after speeding ticket

By year, that’s more than $500 extra

By dollars, a speeding ticket adds $524.74 on average to a driver’s annual insurance bill across the U.S. That breaks down to an additional $43.73 a month.

Over three years, the increase adds up to paying a significant $1,574.22 more in premiums.

Generally speaking, a speeding ticket stays on your record for three to five years — meaning it’ll stop affecting your insurance rate after that period has passed. That’s why we chose to highlight the three-year increase here as well.

Annually, rate hikes top $1,000 in Arizona and California

Notably, two Western states see rate increases of more than $1,000 annually. Following a speeding ticket, rates increase by an average of $1,071.41 in Arizona and $1,004.73 in California — the highest by state. They’re also the only states where rates increase by more than $3,000 in the three years after a ticket.

Meanwhile, Vermont ($225.40), Hawaii ($261.58) and Maine ($289.50) are the only states with annual increases below $300. Over a three-year period, just six states see increases of less than $1,000: Vermont, Hawaii, Maine, Wyoming, West Virginia and Texas. 

Full rankings: States with biggest dollar increases in auto insurance premiums after speeding ticket

Younger drivers face biggest rate hikes

By age, the percentage increase is similar across all groups. However, higher base premiums among younger drivers mean this age group pays far more overall. A 20-year-old’s premium jumps an average of $1,183.67 a year, going from $4,092.50 to $5,276.17. That’s a 28.9% increase. 

Comparatively, a driver in their 60s has the lowest dollar increase. Though the percentage increase is a slightly higher 30.7%, their rates go from $1,783.08 to $2,331.17 — a jump of just $548.09. 

Change in auto insurance premiums after speeding ticket by age

Bhatt says this difference likely boils down to how insurance companies determine rates. 

“Insurance companies conduct a lot of research on crash rates,” he says. “Crashes cost insurance companies money in the form of claims payments. They generally account for these costs by charging higher rates to riskier drivers.” 

Recovering from speeding ticket: Top expert tips

If you’re struggling to afford insurance, a speeding ticket can be a big blow. There are several things you can do to lower rates after the fact, though. We recommend the following:  

Methodology

LendingTree uses insurance rate data from Quadrant Information Services based on publicly sourced insurance company filings. Rates reflect an analysis of hundreds of thousands of car insurance quotes for a typical driver and are intended for comparative purposes only. Your rates may vary based on factors such as location, driving history, age, credit profile and insurer.

Unless otherwise noted, quotes represent a full coverage policy for a 30-year-old man with good credit and a clean driving record who drives a 2018 Honda CR-V EX.

Rates were compared before and after the driver received a first-time speeding violation for driving 11 to 15 mph over the posted limit to illustrate the impact of a minor speeding ticket on insurance premiums. The 11 to 15 mph range was selected based on findings from various national and statewide analyses, such as the Washington State Driving Behavior Analysis (2024), the Journal of Safety Research study on speeding behavior and risk factors via ScienceDirect (2021) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). These studies identify driving 10 mph or more over the limit as a common and representative speeding behavior.

We also used the same methodology to analyze how the impact of a speeding ticket varies by driver age before and after a speeding ticket.

Minimum liability policies include only the state’s required minimum coverage limits.

Full coverage policies include collision, comprehensive and liability coverage with the following limits and deductibles:

LendingTree researchers also gathered publicly available data on speeding violations and driver point systems from a variety of state government and traffic safety sources, including Departments of Motor Vehicles, Departments of Transportation and state legislative or administrative code databases. Data was accessed in October 2025.