Compiled by the Liability Only Car Insurance editorial team · Tables rebuilt · Download the lead table (CSV)
Liability-only car insurance by state: how common it is and what liability costs
An estimated 20.1% of insured vehicles in the United States carried neither collision nor comprehensive in 2023, which is what "liability only" means in practice. The share runs from 4.7% in New Hampshire to 31.3% in New Mexico.
The average liability premium was $737 per insured vehicle for the year. That figure includes everything sold under the liability heading: bodily injury, property damage, uninsured motorist, medical payments and personal injury protection where a state requires it.
| State | Liability-only share (est.) | Vehicles with collision | Average liability premium (year) | Uninsured drivers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Mexico | 31.3% | 66.9% | $624 | 24.1% |
| Arkansas | 31.3% | 66.9% | $539 | 12.1% |
| Oklahoma | 31.3% | 68.0% | $566 | 12.0% |
| Texas | 31.2% | 68.8% | $798 | 14.5% |
| Kansas | 29.2% | 69.3% | $483 | 12.0% |
| Nebraska | 28.3% | 70.2% | $484 | 9.5% |
| Wyoming | 27.8% | 68.5% | $390 | 6.7% |
| Montana | 27.8% | 69.1% | $472 | 7.2% |
| South Dakota | 27.6% | 70.3% | $378 | 9.4% |
| Alabama | 25.7% | 72.2% | $576 | 16.8% |
| Kentucky | 25.5% | 70.1% | $633 | 14.1% |
| Georgia | 25.3% | 71.7% | $1,046 | 19.0% |
| Mississippi | 24.9% | 73.7% | $637 | 28.2% |
| North Carolina | 24.0% | 72.4% | $448 | 11.8% |
| Louisiana | 23.5% | 74.4% | $1,052 | 11.7% |
| California | 23.1% | 73.8% | $660 | 20.4% |
| North Dakota | 23.0% | 74.3% | $332 | 10.6% |
| Missouri | 22.8% | 75.7% | $614 | 20.7% |
| Nevada | 22.7% | 74.5% | $1,040 | 11.1% |
| Colorado | 22.0% | 75.6% | $782 | 19.7% |
| Tennessee | 21.5% | 74.5% | $542 | 21.3% |
| South Carolina | 21.2% | 75.2% | $879 | 10.3% |
| Iowa | 20.9% | 75.9% | $387 | 11.4% |
| Idaho | 20.6% | 75.0% | $482 | 6.4% |
| West Virginia | 20.5% | 74.5% | $523 | 7.8% |
| Arizona | 20.3% | 76.1% | $793 | 10.6% |
| Rhode Island | 20.2% | 75.4% | $984 | 12.4% |
| Utah | 19.2% | 77.5% | $746 | 6.2% |
| Virginia | 17.5% | 78.4% | $627 | 12.9% |
| Florida | 17.0% | 80.7% | $1,294 | 20.6% |
| Indiana | 16.6% | 79.3% | $485 | 14.0% |
| Hawaii | 16.1% | 78.1% | $464 | 9.6% |
| New Jersey | 15.5% | 80.9% | $1,033 | 14.1% |
| Alaska | 15.0% | 73.3% | $624 | 12.5% |
| Delaware | 15.0% | 81.2% | $962 | 17.6% |
| Minnesota | 14.7% | 79.6% | $542 | 11.3% |
| Maryland | 14.2% | 81.7% | $869 | 16.9% |
| Oregon | 14.1% | 78.7% | $751 | 14.7% |
| New York | 13.7% | 79.5% | $1,116 | 8.6% |
| Pennsylvania | 13.6% | 81.5% | $567 | 11.0% |
| District of Columbia | 13.0% | 83.9% | $891 | 23.1% |
| Ohio | 12.9% | 81.8% | $485 | 18.5% |
| Illinois | 12.5% | 82.6% | $598 | 15.2% |
| Washington | 11.9% | 82.9% | $708 | 19.1% |
| Connecticut | 11.9% | 80.4% | $854 | 11.8% |
| Wisconsin | 11.0% | 83.3% | $447 | 15.6% |
| Massachusetts | 10.6% | 87.0% | $710 | 7.9% |
| Maine | 10.1% | 84.2% | $425 | 5.7% |
| Michigan | 8.5% | 81.0% | $765 | 22.3% |
| Vermont | 7.0% | 86.7% | $381 | 11.8% |
| New Hampshire | 4.7% | 90.4% | $482 | 10.0% |
| United States | 20.1% | 76.5% | $737 | 15.4% |
Calculator
Should you drop full coverage? 10× rule calculator
Starts at the 2023 U.S. average for the two coverages. Use the figure from your declarations page.
Under the 10× guideline: dropping collision and comprehensive is worth pricing.
- Your 10× threshold is $7,000; the car is worth $6,000.
- The most a total-loss claim could pay is $5,500 (value minus deductible).
- That equals 7.9 years of what the two coverages cost you.
How it is worked out: threshold = 10 × yearly collision and comprehensive premium; largest payout = car value − deductible.
A lender or lessor usually requires both coverages until the loan is paid off, whatever the guideline says. Dropping them means paying for your own car after an at-fault crash, theft or weather loss.
Average premium: NAIC. The 10× guideline is the Insurance Information Institute's. State-by-state figures are on our data page.
The calculator uses averages or your estimates. Quotes show your actual price.
When to drop full coverage: the 10× threshold by state
The Insurance Information Institute's guideline is that collision and comprehensive may not be cost-effective once a car is worth less than ten times what they cost per year. At the 2023 countrywide average of $702 a year for the two coverages, that threshold is a car worth about $7,000.
Because the two coverages cost more in some states, the threshold moves: about $5,000 in Idaho and $9,300 in Texas. These are averages across every insured vehicle. Your own threshold is ten times your own collision and comprehensive premium.
| State | Collision + comprehensive (year) | 10× threshold: car value |
|---|---|---|
| Texas | $929 | $9,300 |
| District of Columbia | $928 | $9,300 |
| Louisiana | $927 | $9,300 |
| Colorado | $873 | $8,700 |
| Michigan | $807 | $8,100 |
| Wyoming | $790 | $7,900 |
| New York | $780 | $7,800 |
| South Dakota | $779 | $7,800 |
| Oklahoma | $759 | $7,600 |
| Arkansas | $758 | $7,600 |
| Mississippi | $758 | $7,600 |
| California | $757 | $7,600 |
| Maryland | $733 | $7,300 |
| Rhode Island | $725 | $7,300 |
| Montana | $712 | $7,100 |
| Arizona | $712 | $7,100 |
| Missouri | $708 | $7,100 |
| Pennsylvania | $706 | $7,100 |
| West Virginia | $704 | $7,000 |
| Massachusetts | $703 | $7,000 |
| Georgia | $700 | $7,000 |
| Nebraska | $700 | $7,000 |
| Florida | $699 | $7,000 |
| Kansas | $698 | $7,000 |
| Alabama | $693 | $6,900 |
| Minnesota | $681 | $6,800 |
| New Mexico | $677 | $6,800 |
| Tennessee | $670 | $6,700 |
| New Jersey | $660 | $6,600 |
| Illinois | $659 | $6,600 |
| Connecticut | $655 | $6,500 |
| North Carolina | $649 | $6,500 |
| Alaska | $638 | $6,400 |
| South Carolina | $637 | $6,400 |
| North Dakota | $630 | $6,300 |
| Iowa | $623 | $6,200 |
| Virginia | $612 | $6,100 |
| Delaware | $607 | $6,100 |
| Vermont | $576 | $5,800 |
| Kentucky | $576 | $5,800 |
| Nevada | $560 | $5,600 |
| Wisconsin | $553 | $5,500 |
| Ohio | $553 | $5,500 |
| New Hampshire | $550 | $5,500 |
| Indiana | $546 | $5,500 |
| Utah | $538 | $5,400 |
| Hawaii | $534 | $5,300 |
| Washington | $527 | $5,300 |
| Oregon | $517 | $5,200 |
| Maine | $501 | $5,000 |
| Idaho | $499 | $5,000 |
| United States | $702 | $7,000 |
Where the numbers come from
Where the premium figures come from. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners collects written premiums and written exposures for private passenger auto insurance from statistical agents and state insurance departments. Its 2023 Auto Insurance Database supplement, published in June 2025, covers 2019 to 2023. It is the most recent edition. Unlike rate surveys built from sample quotes, it reflects premiums that were actually written.
Average premium for a coverage is that coverage's written premium divided by its written exposures. An exposure is one car insured for one year. Average expenditure is the premium for liability, collision and comprehensive together, divided by liability exposures, so it reflects the fact that some vehicles carry liability only.
What we calculate. Three figures on this page are our arithmetic on the NAIC tables and are not published by the NAIC. The full-coverage multiple is the sum of the three average premiums divided by the liability average. The liability-only share is 100% minus the larger of the collision and comprehensive exposure counts as a share of liability exposures; it assumes a vehicle with the less common of those two coverages also carries the more common one, and it counts insured car-years, not people. The 10× threshold is ten times the average collision plus comprehensive premium, rounded to the nearest $100.
Limits of the data. Averages cover every driver, vehicle, limit and deductible in a state, so they describe a state's market and not what any one driver will be quoted. The NAIC cautions that state-to-state comparisons need care because laws, traffic density, coverage choices and repair costs differ. California's 2022 and 2023 figures are preliminary, and Texas comprehensive exposures are estimated by the NAIC from collision data. Liability premiums include uninsured motorist, medical payments and personal injury protection.
Uninsured drivers. The Insurance Research Council estimates the uninsured share from the ratio of uninsured-motorist claim frequency to bodily-injury claim frequency. The 2023 figures are the latest published.
Updates. These tables are rebuilt when a source publishes a new edition, and the change is logged on the updates page. Every figure was checked against the published tables when it was transcribed; if you find a discrepancy, tell us.
Questions & answers
What is the average cost of car insurance?
U.S. drivers paid an average of $1,281.60 per insured vehicle in 2023, the latest year the NAIC has published. A policy with liability, collision and comprehensive averaged $1,438.
How much has car insurance gone up?
Average expenditure rose 19.2% between 2019 and 2023, from $1,075.08 to $1,281.60 per insured vehicle.
What percentage of drivers have liability-only car insurance?
An estimated 20.1% of insured vehicles carried neither collision nor comprehensive in 2023. 76.5% carried collision and 79.9% carried comprehensive.
Why will my own quote differ from these averages?
A state average blends every driver, vehicle, coverage limit and deductible. Your price depends on your record, vehicle, mileage, address and the coverage you pick, and insurers weigh those differently, which is why comparing several quotes for the same coverage is the only way to see your own number.
Sources and references
Legal figures on this page (minimum limits, filing periods, statutory benefits) are checked against the primary law or the state insurance regulator listed below. Links and figures last verified Nov 2026.
- 2023 Auto Insurance Database: average premium supplement — National Association of Insurance Commissioners (2025)Statistical dataState tables, 2019–2023, of written premiums, written exposures (insured car-years) and average premiums for liability, collision and comprehensive. Countrywide 2023: average expenditure $1,281.60; liability $737, collision $463.69, comprehensive $238.21 per insured vehicle. NAIC cautions that state-to-state comparisons need care.
- Facts + Statistics: Uninsured motorists — Insurance Information Institute (2025)Statistical dataInsurance Research Council estimates of uninsured drivers: 15.4% countrywide in 2023 (11.6% in 2019); by state in 2023: Mississippi 28.2%, New Mexico 24.1%, D.C. 23.1%, Michigan 22.3%, Florida 20.6%, California 20.4%, Texas 14.5%; lowest Maine 5.7%.
- Nine ways to lower your auto insurance costs — Insurance Information InstituteConsumer guidanceShop at least three quotes; raising a deductible from $200 to $500 can cut collision/comprehensive cost 15–30%, $1,000 can save 40%+; drop physical damage on cars worth under 10× the premium; bundling, low-mileage and good-student discounts.
Practical guidance on this page is original editorial work. Cited sources support factual statements and do not endorse this site. Dollar ranges described as typical or illustrative are editorial estimates, not figures from these sources.