Cheapest car insurance in Pennsylvania for 2024

Pennsylvania drivers pay an average cost of $537 for minimum coverage and $2,455 for full coverage, which includes collision and comprehensive insurance. These averages aren't far from the national averages, which are $678 for minimum and $2,458 for full coverage. If you live in the Keystone State, you're probably looking for the cheapest car insurance in Pennsylvania. Bankrate's insurance editorial team, which includes three licensed agents with real-world experience, did the legwork to find the companies offering the most affordable rates, so you can make a good decision for your own policy.

Key takeaways

• Cheapest company for minimum coverage: Auto-Owners
• Cheapest company for full coverage: Geico
• Cheapest company for drivers with prior incidents: Auto-Owners and Erie
• Cheapest company for young drivers: Geico

Like most states, Pennsylvania has certain requirements for minimum coverage, and your policy needs to meet these requirements for you to drive legally in the state. Pennsylvania's requirements include liability coverage, along with personal injury protection (PIP) coverage. Bankrate's research showed that Auto-Owners offers some of the lowest average rates for minimum coverage.

Minimum coverage requirements for Pennsylvania drivers

Pennsylvania requires that all drivers maintain at least the following minimum liability coverage:

• $15,000 bodily injury liability per person
• $30,000 bodily injury liability per accident
• $5,000 property damage liability per accident
• $5,000 personal injury protection (PIP, called “First-Party Benefits” or “FPB” in Pennsylvania)

Your Pennsylvania insurance company must also offer uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage to all drivers, although these options can be declined in writing. Pennsylvania is a no-fault state, but drivers can choose between two “tort” options. Limited tort gives drivers the right to sue an at-fault party for medical expenses but not pain, suffering or any nonmedical expenses. Full tort means that drivers can sue for both medical and nonmedical costs associated with injuries in an accident.

Although purchasing the minimum amount of required car insurance will allow you to legally drive, you may want to purchase higher liability limits to better protect your finances if you cause an accident. Keep in mind, for example, the fact that $5,000 in property damage liability might not cover much if you cause an accident that totals another car—and you would be liable for any additional costs out-of-pocket.

You could also consider collision and comprehensive insurance to provide coverage for damage to your own vehicle. This is called full coverage car insurance and is generally a requirement if you have a loan or lease on your vehicle.

Full coverage car insurance consists of liability insurance and PIP along with collision and comprehensive coverage, which will pay for repairs to your own car following an at-fault accident or other vehicle mishap. To find cheap car insurance in Pennsylvania for full coverage, we gathered average rates for the insurers writing policies in the state. Geico stood out as the company with the most affordable rates for full coverage.

Generally, individuals with a clean driving record will earn the lowest rates for car insurance. Insurers reason that those who have had infractions are more likely to file claims, making them a higher risk to insure. But if you have a ticket or other infraction on your record, you may still be able to find cheap auto insurance in Pennsylvania. If this is the case for you, it can be a good idea to take your time and shop around before settling on a policy — asking for quotes from several companies may lead you to a bargain price.

• Cheapest car insurance for drivers with a ticket: Auto-Owners
• Cheapest car insurance for drivers with an at-fault accident: Auto-Owners
• Cheapest car insurance for high-risk drivers: Progressive

Cheapest insurance companies for drivers in Pennsylvania with a speeding ticket: Auto-Owners

Speeding ticket convictions are common, but they still increase the cost of car insurance. Getting a speeding ticket in Pennsylvania takes the average full coverage premium up to $2,765 per year and the average minimum coverage premium to $611 per year. Each company listed below, though, has far lower-than-average premiums for both minimum and full coverage, even when a speeding ticket is factored in. Auto-Owners's average rates were the lowest of any company on our list.

Cheapest car insurance for drivers in Pennsylvania with an at-fault accident: Auto-Owners

Car insurance rates increase after even a single at-fault accident. If you’ve caused one accident, insurers view you as more likely to cause more in the future, which may result in claims. Your rate will depend on the severity of your accident, the rest of your driving history and your other personal rating factors, but below are the five cheapest car insurance companies in Pennsylvania with a single at-fault accident factored into the rates. Based on our research, Auto-Owners offered the cheapest average rate for minimum coverage, while Nationwide came in on top with its average rate for full coverage.

Cheapest rates in Pennsylvania for high-risk drivers: Progressive

There are a lot of ways to be deemed a high-risk driver in Pennsylvania, including having numerous moving violations, at-fault accidents or a combination of the two. A single major violation, like a DUI or reckless driving conviction, is also likely to peg you as a high-risk driver. To find cheap insurance, Pennsylvania drivers with high-risk profiles may want to shop around. Keep in mind that not all companies will write high-risk coverage, though, so be sure to talk to a representative to discuss your eligibility. Below are five companies that offer cheap auto insurance in Pennsylvania for drivers with a single DUI conviction. Progressive's rates were the lowest.

Age is another factor that impacts your auto insurance premium in Pennsylvania. Generally, your rate will start out fairly high when you are young and will gradually decrease as you age and gain more experience behind the wheel. Your rate, in most cases, will continue to decline until you reach about the age of 70, when it may start to increase slightly again to reflect the higher rate of accidents among senior citizens. However, Pennsylvania does not allow insurance providers to take gender into account when calculating insurance premiums (even though most other states do), so you should not experience a difference in insurance rates based on that.

• Cheapest car insurance for insuring a teen driver: Geico
• Cheapest car insurance for teens with a ticket: Erie
• Cheapest car insurance for teens with an at-fault accident: Erie and Erie
• Cheapest car insurance for young drivers with a DUI: Progressive

Cheapest Pennsylvania car insurance for insuring a teen driver: Geico

Teen drivers have less experience on the road, which leads to a greater likelihood of accidents. Because of this, car insurance companies tend to charge higher rates for younger drivers. When looking for cheap car insurance, Pennsylvania drivers with teens on their policy may want to request quotes from several companies. Student discounts and other discounts for young drivers can help lower your rate. Shopping around may help you find the company that charges the lowest rates for your family.

Cheapest Pennsylvania car insurance for teens with a ticket: Erie

Even teens with a clean driving record pay elevated car insurance premiums compared to older drivers. When you add a speeding ticket to the mix, their rates are likely to be even higher. Erie topped our list of insurers offering affordable insurance for teens with a speeding conviction on their license.

Cheapest Pennsylvania car insurance for teens with an at-fault accident: Erie

Once you've been deemed at fault in an accident, insurers are likely to look very seriously at the rate you're paying for car insurance. Although teens who have been convicted of an at-fault accident are probably going to pay high rates, we found good options for savings with insurers such as Erie if you are looking for minimum coverage, while Erie had the best average rate for full coverage.

Cheapest Pennsylvania car insurance for young drivers with a DUI: Progressive

No matter your age, a DUI may be the most serious driving-related infraction in Pennsylvania. Penalties can include license suspension, prison time and fines. Plus, a DUI conviction will almost certainly result in higher insurance rates, and insurers sometimes categorize such drivers as high-risk, which can make it more difficult to secure coverage. Below, we’ve pinpointed some of the companies that may offer the best rates to young PA drivers with DUIs.

If you’ve spent time researching how to save on car insurance in Pennsylvania, you’ve likely run across the advice to take advantage of car insurance discounts. Discounts are one of the best ways to get Pennsylvania car insurance savings, and most companies offer at least a few ways to save. Some common discounts in Pennsylvania include:

• Military discount: If you are stationed at Tobyhanna, Mechanicsburg or one of Pennsylvania's other military facilities, you may want to see if your insurer offers a discount to active and retired military members and their families. With some insurers, this discount increases if you are deployed and keeping your car in storage.
• Telematics discount: Many insurers offer telematics programs that help you improve your driving skills while also offering the possibility of a discount. To participate, you install a small device in your car or download an app that monitors your driving in real time.
• Billing discounts: these easy-to-earn discounts kick in when you agree to receive your policy documents digitally rather than by postal mail, or when you set up an electronic payment plan for your premiums. Some insurers also offer a paid-in-full discount if you are able to pay the full year's (or six-month, depending on your policy) premium at the beginning of the term, rather than through monthly installments.

These are sample rates and should only be used for comparative purposes.