California has an average annual premium of $733 for the state minimum coverage and $2,065 for full coverage, according to 2021 data from Bankrate.com. The cheapest car insurance company in California is Capital, with an average full coverage premium of $1,582 per year.
Your location, among other factors, will impact your insurance rates. In California, drivers who live in Los Osos and Weed have the cheapest car insurance premiums for full coverage, at $1,561 and $1,576 respectively.
Most states, including California, require drivers to carry car insurance. Depending on their budget, drivers may opt to get the state’s required minimum coverage, a policy that provides full coverage, or something in between the two. In this review, we’ll compare the cheapest car insurance in California and some of the factors that determine your insurance rate.
Cheapest Car Insurance in California
Compared to other auto insurers in California, Capital and Wawanesa are the cheapest insurers for full coverage, based on Bankrate’s 2021 data.
| Provider | Average Annual Full Coverage Premium* | Average Annual Minimum Coverage Premium* |
| Capital | $1,582 | $743 |
| Wawanesa | $1,599 | $652 |
| Geico | $1,615 | $521 |
| Mercury | $1,636 | $624 |
| Travelers | $1,794 | $675 |
| Progressive | $1,808 | $668 |
| Infinity | $1,859 | $847 |
| State Farm | $1,943 | $663 |
| Alliance United | $2,115 | $756 |
| Allstate | $2,119 | $801 |
Information accurate as of 01/27/22
* Data provided by Bankrate.com
Cheap Car Insurance in California by City
If you live in the Californian cities of Weed or Trinidad, you may pay among the cheapest insurance rates for minimum coverage. Cities with the cheapest full coverage include Los Osos, Weed, and Cambria.
A number of factors are used to determine a person’s car insurance rate. Location is one of these factors, so people will see a difference in their rates if they live in urban areas. This is largely due to higher vandalism, accident and theft rates in urban areas than those in small or rural towns.
29 cities with the cheapest insurance in California
| City | Average Annual Full Coverage Premium* | Average Annual Minimum Coverage Premium* |
| Los Osos | $1,561 | $566 |
| Weed | $1,576 | $509 |
| Cambria | $1,586 | $552 |
| Mount Shasta | $1,587 | $532 |
| Yreka | $1,604 | $547 |
| Solvang | $1,608 | $587 |
| Buellton | $1,609 | $567 |
| Bishop | $1,613 | $546 |
| Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek | $1,613 | $546 |
| West Bishop | $1,613 | $546 |
| Round Valley | $1,613 | $546 |
| Lompoc | $1,620 | $574 |
| Vandenberg Village | $1,620 | $574 |
| Mission Hills | $1,620 | $574 |
| Avila Beach | $1,626 | $586 |
| Morro Bay | $1,628 | $587 |
| Nipomo | $1,630 | $571 |
| Los Alamos | $1,632 | $560 |
| Arroyo Grande | $1,634 | $588 |
| Callender | $1,634 | $588 |
| Los Ranchos | $1,636 | $611 |
| Big Pine | $1,642 | $528 |
| Pismo Beach | $1,645 | $598 |
| Trinidad | $1,646 | $519 |
| Westhaven-Moonstone | $1,646 | $519 |
| Santa Ynez | $1,652 | $601 |
| San Ardo | $1,653 | $523 |
| Vandenberg AFB | $1,653 | $596 |
| Oceano | $1,657 | $606 |
* Data provided by Bankrate.com
Cheapest Car Insurance Rates in California With a Prior Accident
If you have a previous accident, the cheapest car insurance in California for you might be with Capital or Wawanesa. The companies with the lowest average increases after an accident are Capital and State Farm.
Driving record is one of many factors that determine your car insurance rate. If you are a California driver who has a car accident on your record, even if it is just one, you will likely pay more for insurance than a driver with no accidents on their record would pay.
Average Annual Full Coverage Premiums Before and After an Accident
| Provider | No Accident* | 1 Accident* | Difference |
| Capital | $1,582 | $2,017 | 27% |
| Wawanesa | $1,599 | $2,272 | 42% |
| Geico | $1,615 | $2,377 | 47% |
| Mercury | $1,636 | $2,747 | 68% |
| Travelers | $1,794 | $2,820 | 57% |
| Progressive | $1,808 | $3,813 | 111% |
| Infinity | $1,859 | $3,474 | 87% |
| State Farm | $1,943 | $2,651 | 36% |
| Alliance United | $2,115 | $4,620 | 118% |
| Allstate | $2,119 | $3,975 | 88% |
* Data provided by Bankrate.com
California Car Insurance FAQs
Methodology
Reviews.com reviews products, services and companies based on five criteria to help readers understand how companies compare based on similar metrics. For the best car insurance companies, our editorial team compared affordability, customer support, coverage options, customer satisfaction scores and online resources from each company to determine top providers.
As for average pricing, we used Bankrate.com’s data of car insurance in California, based on the profiles of a 40-year male and female. For full coverage, the details used were the following:
- $100,000 bodily injury liability per person
- $300,000 bodily injury liability per accident
- $50,000 property damage liability per accident
- $100,000 uninsured motorist bodily injury per person
- $300,000 uninsured motorist bodily injury per accident
- $500 collision deductible
- $500 comprehensive deductible
To determine minimum coverage limits, Bankrate used minimum coverage that meets each state’s requirements. Our base profile drivers own a 2019 Toyota Camry, commute five days a week and drive 12,000 miles annually.
These are sample rates and should only be used for comparative purposes.
Incidents: Rates were calculated by evaluating our base profile with the following incidents applied: clean record (base), at-fault accident.
About the Authors
The Reviews.com staff is dedicated to providing you with all the deep-dive details. Our writers, researchers, and editors came together from Charlotte, Seattle, San Juan, Fort Worth, Fort Lauderdale, San Diego, and Chicago to put this review together.