Car insurance in North Carolina
Drivers in North Carolina paid $1,097 a year for full coverage in 2023, 24% below the national average. With prices up since, figure on about $1,300 today. In North Carolina, the law asks for at least 50/100/50 liability.
What people pay in North Carolina
A typical yearly price today
about $1,300 a year (about $110 a month)
North Carolina's average full-coverage cost in 2023 was $1,097, 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 $1,300.
That makes North Carolina the 11th least 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.
North Carolina next to its neighbors
A typical policy costs less in North Carolina than in all four of its neighbors.
| State | Typical price, 2023 | Moving to North Carolina from there |
|---|---|---|
| North Carolina | $1,097 | Not a move |
| Georgia | $1,746 | About $890 less a year |
| South Carolina | $1,517 | About $570 less a year |
| Tennessee | $1,212 | About $160 less a year |
| Virginia | $1,238 | About $190 less 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 North Carolina's law asks for
- Liability (per person / per crash / property)
- $50,000 / $100,000 / $50,000
- Personal injury protection (PIP)
- Not required
- Medical payments
- Not required
- No-fault
- No
- Uninsured motorist
- Required
- Underinsured motorist
- 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.
Liability-only coverage, the closest NAIC figure to what a minimum policy costs, averaged $448 in North Carolina in 2023 (about $530 today, brought up the same rough way), the 8th lowest of the 50 states and DC. That's about 41% of the full-coverage price; the rest pays to fix or replace your own car.
Since July 1, 2025, North Carolina requires at least $50,000 per person and $100,000 per crash for injuries, plus $50,000 for property damage. Every policy must also include uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, which by default match your liability limits.
What we couldn’t confirm: The 2024 law shows the old and new start dates side by side; following North Carolina's usual strike-and-insert style, we read July 1, 2025 as the start. We marked medical payments coverage not required because we found no law requiring it.
- Uninsured and underinsured motorist
- Uninsured motorist coverage for injuries starts at your highest injury liability limit (up to $1 million). You can choose less, but not below $50,000/$100,000. Its property damage part starts at your property damage limit. Underinsured motorist coverage must match your uninsured coverage for injuries.
- Checked
- September 22, 2026
A new teen driver in North Carolina
Adding a 16-year-old to a typical policy
about $860 more a year
About $70 a month, on one average car with full coverage. The whole policy with the teen: roughly $1,600–$2,850 a year.
On a policy of their own, with the same kind of car, the same teen would pay about $3,730 a year in North Carolina (roughly $2,850–$5,300).
What adding a teen costs comes from California's published prices, so the range is wide, and North Carolina may differ. How adding a teen driver works.
Cars that cost the least to add a teen with
In North Carolina, the 2022 Subaru Forester, Outback, and Crosstrek come out the same, the least of the 33 cars on the site's popular lists to add a teen with: about $770 more a year. At the other end of the same lists, the 2022 Tesla Model 3 costs about $1,290 more a year.
| Car | Added to your policy | On their own policy |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 Subaru Forester | +$770 a year | $3,330 a year |
| 2022 Subaru Outback | +$770 a year | $3,340 a year |
| 2022 Subaru Crosstrek | +$770 a year | $3,350 a year |
| 2022 Honda CR-V | +$820 a year | $3,580 a year |
| 2022 Toyota RAV4 | +$840 a year | $3,640 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 North Carolina (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: North Carolina'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.