North Carolina has one of nation's lowest car insurance rates, but it's rising
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Car insurance prices dipped last year in most of the country, but not in North Carolina, a new Insurify report finds.
Why it matters: North Carolina has one of the lowest rates in the country — it's one of only a handful of states where full-coverage premiums average below $1,300 a year — but rates are slowly ticking up to keep pace with the cost of repairs.
Context: Nationwide, car insurance costs rose 46% from 2022 to 2024, "partially due to risky driving behavior following the pandemic," said Insurify, an insurance-comparison platform.
- That raised insurers' margins high enough that they can now afford to soften prices as they compete for customers.
By the numbers: The average annual full-coverage premium fell 6% nationally from 2024 to 2025, to $2,144.
- North Carolina held steady last year at around $1,278, but the state's insurance commission approved a 5% increase that has begun to take effect, as WRAL reported. Auto insurers had requested far higher — 22.6%.
What they're saying: Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey said in a news release that the increase was due to "distracted driving, excessive speeding and increased automobile repair costs putting upward pressure on insurance rates."
- The state has fewer accidents, less severe injury claims and lower attorney involvement and litigation expenses than average, according to the American Property Casualty Insurance Association.
What's next: North Carolina insurers began upping rates Oct. 1, though a spokesperson for the N.C. Rate Bureau tells Axios insurers aren't seeking another increase in 2026.
- Nationwide, average premiums will rise 1% this year, the report predicted — though U.S. tariff policy poses a "potential wrinkle" in such forecasting.