Car insurance in Pennsylvania
Drivers in Pennsylvania paid $1,273 a year for full coverage in 2023, 12% below the national average. With prices up since, figure on about $1,510 today. In Pennsylvania, the law asks for at least 15/30/5 liability.
What people pay in Pennsylvania
A typical yearly price today
about $1,510 a year (about $125 a month)
Pennsylvania's average full-coverage cost in 2023 was $1,273, 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 $1,510.
That makes Pennsylvania the 25th 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.
Pennsylvania next to its neighbors
A typical policy in Pennsylvania costs more than in Ohio and West Virginia and less than in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and New York.
| State | Typical price, 2023 | Moving to Pennsylvania from there |
|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | $1,273 | Not a move |
| Delaware | $1,569 | About $400 less a year |
| Maryland | $1,602 | About $450 less a year |
| New Jersey | $1,693 | About $570 less a year |
| New York | $1,896 | About $850 less a year |
| Ohio | $1,038 | About $320 more a year |
| West Virginia | $1,227 | About $60 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 Pennsylvania's law asks for
- Liability (per person / per crash / property)
- $15,000 / $30,000 / $5,000
- Personal injury protection (PIP)
- Required
- Medical payments
- Not required
- No-fault
- Your choice
- Uninsured motorist
- Not 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 Pennsylvania, 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 $567 in Pennsylvania in 2023 (about $670 today, brought up the same rough way), the 22nd lowest of the 50 states and DC. That's about 45% of the full-coverage price; the rest pays to fix or replace your own car.
Pennsylvania requires at least $15,000 per person and $30,000 per crash for injuries, plus $5,000 for property damage, and every policy includes a $5,000 medical benefit. Uninsured and underinsured-motorist coverage must be offered to you but is optional. You also choose between 'full tort' and 'limited tort', which affects your right to sue for pain and suffering.
No-fault is your choice here. If you don't choose, ordinary fault rules apply.
Good to know: Pennsylvania is a "choice" state: you pick full tort or limited tort. If you don't choose, the law presumes full tort, which keeps your full right to sue. The required $5,000 medical benefit is shown as PIP; there's no separate medical payments requirement.
- Personal injury protection
- First-party medical benefit of $5,000.
- Uninsured and underinsured motorist
- Insurers must offer uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, but buying them is optional. You can also ask for lower limits.
- Checked
- September 22, 2026
A new teen driver in Pennsylvania
Adding a 16-year-old to a typical policy
about $1,000 more a year
About $85 a month, on one average car with full coverage. The whole policy with the teen: roughly $1,850–$3,300 a year.
On a policy of their own, with the same kind of car, the same teen would pay about $4,330 a year in Pennsylvania (roughly $3,300–$6,150).
What adding a teen costs comes from California's published prices, so the range is wide, and Pennsylvania may differ. How adding a teen driver works.
Cars that cost the least to add a teen with
In Pennsylvania, 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 $890 more a year. At the other end of the same lists, the 2022 Tesla Model 3 costs about $1,500 more a year.
| Car | Added to your policy | On their own policy |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 Subaru Forester | +$890 a year | $3,860 a year |
| 2022 Subaru Outback | +$890 a year | $3,870 a year |
| 2022 Subaru Crosstrek | +$890 a year | $3,890 a year |
| 2022 Honda CR-V | +$960 a year | $4,150 a year |
| 2022 Toyota RAV4 | +$970 a year | $4,230 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 Pennsylvania (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: Pennsylvania'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.