Most insurance comparison sites pull a handful of quotes for a handful of profiles and call it research. Our rate database covers every residential ZIP code in the United States, 70 carriers and driver profiles ranging from 16-year-olds with clean records to 85-year-olds with DUIs. Here is exactly how we build it and why we made the choices we did.
Auto Insurance Review and Cost Analysis Methodology
Updated: May 6, 2026
Advertising & Editorial Disclosure
How We Research Auto Insurance
Where Our Rate Data Comes From
Our rates come from Quadrant Information Services, which collects auto insurance premium data directly from state insurance filing records. In every state, carriers are required by law to file their rates with the state insurance regulator before they can charge them. Those filings are public record. Quadrant aggregates that filed data and provides it to researchers and publishers.
This matters because our rates are not broker estimates or online quote approximations. They are the actual filed rates that carriers have committed to regulators, pulled from every residential ZIP code in all 50 states and Washington D.C. We receive updated data monthly as carriers file rate changes, which means our figures reflect current market conditions rather than rates from six or twelve months ago.
Our Base Driver Profile
All rates use the following profile unless a page specifies otherwise:
- Single 40-year-old male
- 2012 Toyota Camry LE
- Clean driving record
- Excellent credit
- No prior claims
- Valid U.S. driver's license
- 12,000 miles driven annually
Full coverage reflects a 100/300/100 liability policy with a $1,000 deductible for comprehensive and collision. Minimum coverage reflects each state's mandated liability limits only.
These are optimistic rates. A 40-year-old with excellent credit and a clean record pays less than most drivers. Younger drivers, those with violations, lower credit or a newer vehicle will pay more. Every rate table on our site is filterable by age, driving record, credit score and coverage level so you can find figures that match your actual profile.
Why You Can Trust our Baseline Profiles
Why We Use a 2012 Toyota Camry
The average age of a vehicle on U.S. roads is 12.8 years, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. A 2012 Toyota Camry is not arbitrary: it was the best-selling passenger car in America that year, according to Edmunds, which means a 13-year-old Camry is the single most representative vehicle we could choose for a baseline rate. Using the most common vehicle at the most common age produces rates that reflect what a real driver actually pays.
Why We Chose 12,000 miles
The average American drives about 12,200 miles per year, according to Kelley Blue Book. Mileage matters to insurers because more miles driven means more exposure to accidents. Driving 20,000 miles a year pays more than 8,000, all else being equal. Using the national average keeps our baseline rates representative of the typical driver rather than a low-mileage outlier or a high-mileage commercial driver.
Why We Used a Clean Driving Record
A clean driving record is the baseline most drivers actually have. Most violations age off driving records within three to five years in most states. A driver with a ticket from six years ago is rated the same as a driver who never had one. This means the clean record profile captures the majority of the licensed driving population at any given time
Our MoneyGeek Auto Insurer Scoring System
We score carriers on three factors, weighted based on a survey we conducted asking drivers what matters most when choosing insurance:
- 1Affordability: 60% of score
We normalize rates across all carriers within each driver profile. The lower a carrier's rate relative to competitors for a given profile, the higher its affordability score. Scores are calculated separately for each driver profile so a carrier that is cheap for clean-record drivers but expensive for DUI drivers reflects both realities.
- 2Customer Experience: 30% of score
We split customer experience into five components:
- Industry platform ratings (25%): J.D. Power survey results, NAIC Complaint Index scores and AM Best financial strength ratings.
- Agent network ratings (25%): Aggregated Google Business ratings for agencies selling each carrier's policies.
- Google Business ratings (25%): Direct ratings on carrier business profiles and other Google-accessible forums.
- Reddit and forum sentiment (15%): Public forum discussions rated as positive, neutral or negative using a proportional scoring method.
- Volume credibility adjustment (10%): A confidence adjustment based on how much customer data is available for each carrier. Carriers with limited data are scored more conservatively.
For major carriers with large agent networks, agent network data receives increased weighting at 40% because the agent experience is where most customer interactions happen. For carriers with limited data, we use peer benchmarking with similar regional carriers and weight toward professional ratings from AM Best and NAIC. We require at least two independent sources for any score, cross-verify outliers and weight 2024 to 2025 data twice as heavily as older data.
- 3Coverage Options: 10% of score
We score carriers on the number of add-on coverages available (80% of the coverage score) and any included benefits or unique alternative options (20%). More options and rarer coverages produce higher scores.
What Are the Factors and Companies Represented?
We examine the following factors and companies when determining all ratings:
Companies Represented
- AAA
- Acuity
- AIG
- Alfa
- Allstate
- Amica
- American Family
- American Farmers & Ranchers
- American National
- Arbella
- Auto-Owners
- California Casualty
- Central
- Chubb
- Cincinnati
- Co-operative
- COUNTRY Financial
- Cumberland
- Dairyland
- Donegal
- Erie
- Farm Bureau
- Farmers
- Farmers Mutual of Nebraska
- Frankenmuth
- GEICO
- Germania
- Grange
- Grinnell
- Hallmark
- Hastings
- IMT
- Indiana Farmers
- Kemper
- MAPFRE
- Mercury
- Metropolitan Group
- MMG
- Mutual of Enumclaw
- National General
- Nationwide
- NJM
- Norfolk & Dedham
- North Star
- NYCM
- Ohio
- Pekin
- Pemco
- Penn National
- Pioneer State
- Plymouth Rock
- Progressive
- Quincy
- Safe Auto
- Safeway
- Safety
- Selective
- Shelter
- State Farm
- The Hartford
- Travelers
- UAIC
- Union
- USAA
- Utica
- Vermont
- Wawanesa
- West Bend
- Western National
- Westfield
Locations Represented
We represent all ZIP codes across the United States, including all Census-recognized places and other areas excluded from its study due to small populations or data gathering issues. This allows us to find the best and cheapest provider for every location.
Driver Profiles Represented
We gather data on these driver factors:
- Age and gender: All ages 16 to 90 for those who consider themselves male or female. Note: Some states, like Hawaii and Massachusetts, prohibit using age, gender or both in insurance rating.
- Nonbinary disclaimer: For those looking for representation of nonbinary rates, there's minimal variation among those 20 and older (less than 2%), so choosing either male or female in our data will still accurately represent the rate you'll likely receive from providers.
- Driving or violation record: We study driving violations, including DUIs, speeding tickets, accidents with property damage, texting while driving, hit-and-runs, multiple speeding tickets, racing and more. We also apply factors to determine costs for other violations that may result in a suspension, such as not paying fines, missing a court date and other non-driving-related offenses.
- Credit score: We study all levels of credit score from excellent to poor, considering differing standards from company to company, including those with no credit. Note: Credit-based insurance scoring is restricted or prohibited in California, Hawaii, Massachusetts and Michigan.
- Occupation: We create profiles specific to certain occupations, including first responders (police, firefighters, etc.), military, nurses, doctors, pilots, government workers and teachers who qualify for profession-based discounts. Otherwise, we assume another profession other than these for our base.
- License status: We examine rates for valid U.S. driver's licenses, suspended licenses and international licenses or none to represent the wider population (and visitors).
Vehicle-Related Factors Represented
We study the following vehicle-related factors:
- Annual mileage: We assume the national average of around 12,000 miles.
- Vehicles: We study all vehicles sold in the U.S. with model years from 2000 to 2025, including exotic and luxury models often not covered, including, but not limited to, Bugatti, Ferrari, Rolls-Royce and more. We also examine all trims available for greater specificity.
- Vehicle parking status: We study the parking status of covered and uncovered vehicles to obtain more accurate and comprehensive insurance rates.
Coverage Factors Represented
We study all coverage combinations available with all providers for liability limits and deductibles for comprehensive and collision coverage. We also find rates for nonstandard coverages, including non-owner, non-owner SR-22 and traditional SR-22 policies. We also research pay-per-mile insurance rates separately to get insight into the limited options in that market.
Methodology Disclaimer
MoneyGeek rate data reflects filed insurance rates and does not constitute a binding quote. Your actual rate depends on your specific profile, location, vehicle and the carrier's underwriting decisions at the time of application. Get quotes directly from carriers before making a coverage decision. Insurance regulations vary by state. Rate factors including gender and credit score may be prohibited or restricted in certain states. Verify coverage requirements with your state's insurance department. For questions about our methodology, please contact jacob@moneygeek.com.
About Mark Fitzpatrick
Mark Fitzpatrick, a Licensed Property and Casualty (P&C) Insurance Producer in Connecticut, is MoneyGeek's resident insurance expert. He has analyzed the insurance market for almost a decade, first with LendingTree and now with MoneyGeek, conducting original research on hundreds of insurance companies and millions of insurance rates for insurance shoppers.
He writes about economics and insurance on MoneyGeek, breaking down complex topics so people can have confidence in their purchase. Like all MoneyGeek analysts, Mark collects and analyzes independent cost and consumer experience data on insurance companies to provide objective recommendations in our content that are independent of any of MoneyGeek's insurance company partnerships.
His insights on products ranging from car, home and renters insurance to health and life insurance have been featured in The Washington Post, The New York Times and NPR, among others.
Mark holds a master’s degree in economics and international relations from Johns Hopkins University and a bachelor’s degree from Boston College. He started his career working in financial risk management at State Street before transitioning to the analysis of the personal insurance market. He's also a five-time Jeopardy champion!