We've said it before and here we go again: Just as with real estate values, a driver's car insurance...

1. Where Drivers Pay the Most -- And Least -- For Car
Insurance
We've said it before and here we go again: Just as with real estate values, a driver's car insurance
rates can vary greatly according to location. What is already a major long-term auto ownership cost
can become a true burden if a driver is living in a zip code insurance company actuaries deem as
carrying a greater risk of accident, theft or vandalism, or is rated for higher premiums based on a
range of circumstances.
For 2014, the major U.S. metropolitan area in which residents tend to suffer the highest car
insurance rates is Detroit, MI, where policyholders tend to pay 165 percent higher premiums than
the national average. While none approach the stiff toll Detroiters face, other budget-busting burgs
include New York City (36 percent above average), Miami (+34 percent) and Los Angeles (+25
percent).
That's according to a survey of the most populated metro areas in the U.S. conducted by Quadrant
Information Services on behalf of the website insuranceQuotes.com.
Auto insurance coverage can vary by as much as nearly 200 percent, on average, depending in
which of the 25 largest U.S. cities a driver lives. Â (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
By comparison, the study determined residents in the bucolic Charlotte, NC / Concord SC areas
enjoy the lowest auto insurance rates in the country, with premiums at 43 percent below the
national average. Cleveland (31 percent below average), Pittsburgh (-24 percent) and St. Whether
it's a DUI attorney or Car Wreck Lawyer. Dallas has what you need. Louis (-18 percent) were found
to be the next most affordable places to insure a car.
According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, the average annual cost of car

2. insurance nationwide was $797 in 2011 (the most recent data available), which we can assume to be
nearer to the $1,000 mark today. Not only is it bad enough that the average Detroiter probably pays
somewhere around $2,650 a year by that measure spring hill tn to insure a car, but anyone that's
living with the city limits and is unfortunate enough to have multiple accidents and/or moving
violations on their records could well find his or her premiums approaching - perhaps even
exceeding - their car payments.
While one might think Detroit's rough and tumble nature is primarily to blame for driving up rates,
the astonomical cost of insuring a vehicle in the Motor City can largely be attributed to other
factors. "One of the main reasons why car insurance is so expensive in the Detroit area is because
Michigan is the only state where car insurance includes unlimited personal injury protection," says
insuranceQuotes.com senior analyst Laura Adams." In that regard Michigan gives claimants
unprecedented lifetime coverage for injuries resulting from motor-vehicle accidents, which tends to
drive up rates exponentially. What's more, Michigan is a so-called "no fault" state in which each
insurance company compensates its own policyholders for the cost of injuries incurred in an
accident regardless of who's at fault. And that's not all. "Detroit has a very high percentage of
uninsured motorists - as high as 50 percent by some estimates - which unfortunately raises rates for
those who do have car insurance," Adams explains.
According to the study, these are the 10 metro areas that have the most expensive average annual
auto insurance rates in the nation (ranked by percentage above the national average):
Detroit / Warren / Ann Arbor, MI: +165 percent
New York, NY / Newark, NJ: +36 percent
Miami / Fort Lauderdale, FL +34 percent
Los Angeles / Long Beach, CA: +25 percent
Atlanta / Athens, GA: +17 percent
Sacramento / Roseville, CA: +10 percent
San Jose / San Francisco, CA: +10 percent
Philadelphia / Reading / Camden, PA: +10 percent
Houston / The Woodlands, TX: +10 percent
Tampa / St. Petersburg / Clearwater, FL: +9 percent
At the other end of the range, here are the 10 metro areas determined to have the least expensive
average auto insurance rates in the country (ranked by percentage below the national average):
Charlotte, NC / Concord, SC: -43 percent
Cleveland / Akron / Canton, OH: -31 percent

3. Pittsburgh / New Castle, PA: -24 percent
St. Louis / St. Charles, MO: -18 percent
Chicago / Naperville, IL: -16 percent
Denver / Aurora, CO: -12 percent
Phoenix / Mesa / Scottsdale, AZ: -10 percent
Orlando / Deltona / Daytona Beach, FL: -10 percent
Seattle / Tacoma, WA: -10 percent
Washington, DC / Baltimore - Arlington, VA: -6 percent
Indeed, population density, accident and theft statistics, the number of uninsured drivers on the
road, and whether or not state regulations favor insurance companies all affect what the average
driver in a given location will pay for coverage. On top of that, rates are compounded by personal
factors including a driver's age, sex, and marital status and his or her driving record.
Since most of those considerations are unalterable, the easiest way to lower one's insurance
premiums is to change addresses. To that end, insuranceQuotes.com maintains a searchable
database that allows consumers to compare how their car insurance costs might be affected when
relocating, according to every U.S. zip code.
The Fine Print: The above averages are based on a driver with a bachelor's degree who drives
15,000 miles a year and who has had no breaks in coverage, a $500 collision and comprehensive
deductible, state minimum liability coverage and full PIP coverage.
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