The CAL Blog

What percentage of income are U.S. drivers spending on auto insurance?

Written by The CAL Team | Jul 17, 2023 8:00:10 PM

Original article can be found here
By Brittney Meredith-Miller 

 

Many U.S. drivers are reexamining their auto coverage as they look for ways to cut costs in the midst of inflation and climate-driven price hikes. For some, this stems from the fact that as much as a tenth of their income may be going toward various insurance coverages, depending on the state in which they reside. A recent study from Assurance looked at the data to see exactly how much the cost of coverage in each state stacks up against insureds’ incomes.

The report utilized the latest U.S. Census data to determine the median household income of each state to calculate the percentage that goes toward insurance each month.

Including all types of insurance examined in the study – life, health and auto – Mississippians spend the largest overall percentage of their income on coverage at 11.2%, or $5,501.58 each year. When it comes to who spends the most dollar-wise, New Yorkers have the lead with an average of $8,084 paid annually for auto, life and health insurance. This works out to 10.76% of the state’s median income.

Looking at auto insurance alone, Assurant found the states that spend the lowest percentage of their income on coverage are:

  • Massachussets: 0.9%
  • Idaho: 1.49%
  • Vermont: 1.53%
  • Washington: 1.55%
  • Illinois: 1.6%
  • New Hampshire: 1.69%
  • Utah: 1.69%
  • Maine: 1.7%
  • West Virginia: 1.7%
  • Indiana: 1.82%

In the slideshow above, we’ll look at the ten states Assurance found spend the largest percentage of their annual income on auto insurance.