Car insurance in the District of Columbia
Drivers in the District of Columbia paid $1,818 a year for full coverage in 2023, 26% above the national average. With prices up since, figure on about $2,150 today. In the District of Columbia, the law asks for at least 25/50/10 liability.
What people pay in the District of Columbia
A typical yearly price today
about $2,150 a year (about $180 a month)
District of Columbia's average full-coverage cost in 2023 was $1,818, 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 $2,150.
That makes the District of Columbia the 4th 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.
the District of Columbia next to its neighbors
A typical policy costs more in the District of Columbia than in both of its neighbors.
| State | Typical price, 2023 | Moving to DC from there |
|---|---|---|
| District of Columbia | $1,818 | Not a move |
| Maryland | $1,602 | About $300 more a year |
| Virginia | $1,238 | About $790 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 the District of Columbia's law asks for
- Liability (per person / per crash / property)
- $25,000 / $50,000 / $10,000
- Personal injury protection (PIP)
- Not required
- Medical payments
- Not required
- No-fault
- Your choice
- Uninsured motorist
- Required
- Underinsured motorist
- Not required
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.
In the District of Columbia, you choose whether no-fault rules apply to you. Under no-fault, your own policy pays for your own injuries first, whoever caused the crash.
Liability-only coverage, the closest NAIC figure to what a minimum policy costs, averaged $891 in the District of Columbia in 2023 (about $1,060 today, brought up the same rough way), the 9th highest of the 50 states and DC. That's about 49% of the full-coverage price; the rest pays to fix or replace your own car.
D.C. requires at least $25,000 per person and $50,000 per crash for injuries, plus $10,000 for property damage. Uninsured-motorist coverage is mandatory, while personal injury protection and underinsured coverage are options. A new law raises the minimums to $50,000/$100,000/$20,000 starting October 1, 2027.
No-fault is your choice here. If you don't choose, ordinary fault rules apply.
Coming October 1, 2027: D.C. Law 26-155 raises the minimums to $50,000/$100,000/$20,000 (and uninsured-motorist coverage to match) for policies from 1 October 2027. Source
Good to know: D.C. is a "choice" no-fault system. PIP is optional, and the limit on lawsuits only applies if an injured person who has PIP chooses PIP benefits. Without PIP, ordinary fault rules apply.
What we couldn’t confirm: We found no way to turn down uninsured motorist coverage in the law, so it's marked required. We marked medical payments coverage not required because we found no law requiring it, not because a law says it's optional.
- Personal injury protection
- Optional. Insurers must offer PIP (medical and rehabilitation, lost work, funeral), and you can buy any or all parts.
- Uninsured and underinsured motorist
- Uninsured motorist coverage is required: $25,000 per person and $50,000 per crash for injuries, and $5,000 for property damage (with a $200 deductible). You can buy up to 100/300/25. Underinsured motorist coverage is optional; insurers must offer it.
- Checked
- September 22, 2026
A new teen driver in the District of Columbia
Adding a 16-year-old to a typical policy
about $1,420 more a year
About $120 a month, on one average car with full coverage. The whole policy with the teen: roughly $2,650–$4,750 a year.
On a policy of their own, with the same kind of car, the same teen would pay about $6,180 a year in the District of Columbia (roughly $4,700–$8,800).
What adding a teen costs comes from California's published prices, so the range is wide, and the District of Columbia may differ. How adding a teen driver works.
Cars that cost the least to add a teen with
In the District of Columbia, 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 $1,270 more a year. At the other end of the same lists, the 2022 Tesla Model 3 costs about $2,140 more a year.
| Car | Added to your policy | On their own policy |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 Subaru Forester | +$1,270 a year | $5,520 a year |
| 2022 Subaru Outback | +$1,270 a year | $5,530 a year |
| 2022 Subaru Crosstrek | +$1,280 a year | $5,550 a year |
| 2022 Honda CR-V | +$1,370 a year | $5,930 a year |
| 2022 Toyota RAV4 | +$1,390 a year | $6,040 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 the District of Columbia (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: the District of Columbia'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.