Car insurance in California
Drivers in California paid $1,418 a year for full coverage in 2023, about the same as the national average. With prices up since, figure on about $1,680 today. In California, the law asks for at least 30/60/15 liability.
What people pay in California
A typical yearly price today
about $1,680 a year (about $140 a month)
California's average full-coverage cost in 2023 was $1,418, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). Car insurance prices nationally have risen about 18% since then (government price index, August 2026), so we start from about $1,680.
That makes California the 17th most expensive of the 50 states and DC. Nationally, the average was $1,439.
It's an average across every kind of driver and car, not your price. Your car, your driving record, and how much coverage you carry move it up or down.
California next to its neighbors
A typical policy in California costs more than in Oregon and less than in Arizona and Nevada.
| State | Typical price, 2023 | Moving to California from there |
|---|---|---|
| California | $1,418 | Not a move |
| Arizona | $1,505 | About $120 less a year |
| Nevada | $1,600 | About $250 less a year |
| Oregon | $1,268 | About $210 more a year |
| National average | $1,439 | Not a move |
The move is the What-if page's starting example: a 40–64-year-old with a clean record and a 2020 Toyota Camry, full coverage, in the suburbs, with nothing else changed. Only the two states' typical prices make the difference, so a real move can come out differently.
The least insurance California's law asks for
- Liability (per person / per crash / property)
- $30,000 / $60,000 / $15,000
- Personal injury protection (PIP)
- Not required
- Medical payments
- Not required
- No-fault
- No
- Uninsured motorist
- Included unless you decline in writing
- Underinsured motorist
- Included unless you decline in writing
Liability pays for injuries and damage you cause to others, up to these limits. A minimum is the least the law allows, not a recommendation, and it doesn't pay to fix your own car.
Liability-only coverage, the closest NAIC figure to what a minimum policy costs, averaged $661 in California in 2023 (about $780 today, brought up the same rough way), the 21st highest of the 50 states and DC. That's about 47% of the full-coverage price; the rest pays to fix or replace your own car.
California requires at least $30,000 per person and $60,000 per crash for injuries, plus $15,000 for property damage, for policies issued or renewed since January 1, 2025. Uninsured and underinsured-motorist coverage is included unless you sign a form removing it. The minimums are set to rise again in 2035.
Coming January 1, 2035: Vehicle Code 16056(d) raises each minimum by $20,000/$40,000/$10,000, to $50,000/$100,000/$25,000, for policies issued or renewed from 1 January 2035. Source
Good to know: You can also meet California's requirement with a bond, a cash deposit, or self-insurance instead of a policy. Uninsured motorist coverage in California includes underinsured drivers, so if you keep one you have both.
What we couldn’t confirm: We marked medical payments coverage not required because we found no law requiring it, not because a law says it's optional.
- Uninsured and underinsured motorist
- Uninsured motorist coverage comes with every policy that has injury liability, unless you remove it by signing the state's form. You can also agree to lower limits, but not below the state minimums. Any policy with this coverage must also include underinsured motorist coverage.
- Checked
- September 22, 2026
A new teen driver in California
Adding a 16-year-old to a typical policy
about $1,110 more a year
About $95 a month, on one average car with full coverage. The whole policy with the teen: roughly $2,100–$3,700 a year.
On a policy of their own, with the same kind of car, the same teen would pay about $4,820 a year in California (roughly $3,650–$6,900).
What adding a teen costs comes from California's published prices, so the range is wide. How adding a teen driver works.
Cars that cost the least to add a teen with
In California, the 2022 Subaru Forester and Outback come out the same, the least of the 33 cars on the site's popular lists to add a teen with: about $990 more a year. At the other end of the same lists, the 2022 Tesla Model 3 costs about $1,670 more a year.
| Car | Added to your policy | On their own policy |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 Subaru Forester | +$990 a year | $4,300 a year |
| 2022 Subaru Outback | +$990 a year | $4,310 a year |
| 2022 Subaru Crosstrek | +$1,000 a year | $4,330 a year |
| 2022 Honda CR-V | +$1,070 a year | $4,630 a year |
| 2022 Toyota RAV4 | +$1,080 a year | $4,710 a year |
The order is the same in every state, because our car data is national. What changes from state to state is the price level.
Why these cars cost less, and what this doesn't cover.
“Try it with your own car” opens your own situation in California (a 2020 Toyota Camry if you haven't set one) with a new 16-year-old. It starts from that car, not an average one, so its figure can differ from the one above.
Where these numbers come from
- Typical prices: National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), 2022/2023 Auto Insurance Database Report, 2023 data, brought up to today with the government's price index for car insurance.
- The law: California's own statute or insurance department, listed above with the date we checked it.
- Teen drivers and cars: the same math as the rest of the site. Here's how we got these, and every source.
This is an estimate to help you plan, not a quote. We don't sell insurance, and we never pass your info to anyone. Only an insurer can give you a real price.