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State-run auto insurance price comparison tools and shopper's guides
Some state insurance departments publish sample auto premiums by insurer. How those tables are built, what they omit, and how to check a quote against them.
Some states do publish a neutral price comparison, but many do not, and the ones that do all work the same way: the state asks insurers to price a handful of imaginary drivers and posts the answers. As of November 2026, California, Texas, Maryland and South Carolina each run an online tool of this kind. New Jersey's insurance department publishes shopping guides and complaint ratios, but I did not find a sample-premium table on its auto page. If your state has a table, it is a good way to see which insurers tend to price a driver like you high or low. It is not a quote.
Four kinds of official shopping help
State insurance departments tend to offer some mix of four things. Only the first two put dollar amounts in front of you.
| Kind of tool | What it shows | Example verified for this article |
|---|---|---|
| Interactive sample-rate tool | You enter a few facts; it returns annual premiums by insurer for the closest imaginary driver | Texas (HelpInsure.com), South Carolina, California |
| Static or scenario table | A fixed set of scenarios by county or ZIP code | Maryland's 22 scenarios |
| Complaint ratios | Complaints per 1,000 insured cars, by insurer | New Jersey's Auto Insurance Consumer Information Report |
| Shopper's guide or workbook | Explains coverage choices and gives you a worksheet for recording quotes | New Jersey's buyers' guide and shopping workbook |
The last two do not tell you what anyone will charge you. They tell you what to buy and which companies draw complaints, which matters as much as price.
Rules and tools differ by state. Your state regulator's website is the place to check what exists where you live; the what your state insurance department does guide explains what each department does, and the NAIC's consumer insurance search page points to each state's insurance department.
What four states actually publish
California
The California Department of Insurance says it surveys insurers licensed in the state and asks them for annual premiums on several personal lines, and that the companies it surveys represent more than 90% of their markets. Its "Compare Insurance Premiums" page, when I opened it in November 2026, listed a 2026 automobile survey for private passenger cars and motorcycles. The department states plainly that the results are not premium quotes, that the survey does not factor in discounts or surcharges, and that the department, as a regulator, cannot provide quotes. The department's page says the surveys are run "in accordance with" California Insurance Code sections 12959, 10234.6 and 10192.20.
A companion page describes the profiles. The auto survey uses several hypothetical risks built from the most common rating variables, and insurers priced basic liability-only and "standard" coverage for cars; the page was marked updated February 2026. Insurers can add footnotes and a list of credits and discounts available on request, which is where you find out what the table leaves out.
Texas
Texas runs the most documented version. HelpInsure.com is run by the Texas Department of Insurance with the Office of Public Insurance Counsel. After you answer a few questions it shows the policies sold in your area, their rates and coverage types, and a notice that the results are for information only and do not replace a final quoted rate or the actual policy language.
The Texas Department of Insurance's commissioner bulletins explain where the numbers come from. The 2024 data call cites Texas Insurance Code section 32.102 as the requirement that the department provide this information, and asked insurers for rates effective June 1, 2024, with responses due June 21, 2024. The 2025 call is dated June 5, 2025, with responses due July 11, 2025. Insurers in one of the top 25 national groups with more than $1 million in Texas direct written premium must respond; other companies may take part voluntarily.
Maryland
The Maryland Insurance Administration's Interactive Auto Insurance Rate Guide lists the companies writing the most auto policies in the state. You answer five questions about your household to find which of 22 scenarios is closest, then pick your county or city and the nearest ZIP code. The page notes that for counties under 500,000 people only one ZIP code is represented, that rates are total annual premiums, and that the figures come from the insurers and can change. It does not account for discounts, other vehicles or other age brackets in the household. The page I opened did not state an update date.
South Carolina
The South Carolina Department of Insurance price comparison tool asks for your county and ZIP code, gender, marital status, an age band (under 25, 25 to 65, 66 and older), a credit rating (good, average, bad), one of three liability limits, car or truck, use, and a three-year driving record. It says the top 25 insurer groups by national premium volume with more than $1 million in South Carolina premiums were required to submit sample rates, and others submitted voluntarily. Its estimates are described as illustrations, not quotes. When I opened it, the page said the estimates were based on a 2011 Toyota Camry and a 2011 Ford F-150, which shows how a table can age if no one refreshes the profile.
New Jersey, and what it publishes instead
New Jersey's insurance department lists, on its auto insurance page, an auto insurance purchasing planner, a buyers' guide, a shopping guide workbook and a complaint report. The 2024 report ranks insurers by complaint index, calculated for companies with at least 10,000 autos. If you live in New Jersey, the department's page is the one to check for whether a premium table has been added.
How the sample drivers are built
The Texas instructions to insurers are the clearest public description of how a sample driver is constructed, so they make a good model for reading any state's table. For the June 2024 data call, the department told insurers to price:
- Two vehicles: a 2023 Toyota Camry sedan with a 2.5 liter four-cylinder engine and a 2023 Ford F-150 regular-cab truck with a 5.0 liter V8, each identified by a VIN pattern.
- Marital status and sex: single and married; male and female.
- Ages: 18, 30 and 65.
- Liability limits: 30/60/25 (the state minimum), 50/100/50 and 100/300/100.
- Use: 10,000 miles a year mostly for pleasure, or 18,000 miles mostly for commuting.
- Credit tier: below-average, average and above-average risk, defined as the middle rate level of each group of the insurer's own credit tiers.
- Driving record: one at-fault accident in 36 months, one speeding ticket in 36 months, or no violations.
- Coverage: bodily injury and property damage liability only. The department said sample rates for other coverages were not required.
Two details matter to a reader. First, each insurer prices the profile with its own rating plan, using the policy form it is most likely to offer new customers, and with only the discounts and surcharges named in the profile. Second, the department asked for 314 specific ZIP codes for auto, not every ZIP code in the state. I could not confirm how the tool treats an address outside that list, and Maryland's page says openly that not all ZIP codes are available, so check how your state's tool handles yours.
All of this is the insurer's own answer to a defined question. In Texas, after the insurer files its sample rates, the department spot-checks them and the insurer certifies them before they are posted. In other states the process may be lighter. California's description says insurers reported their sample premiums for specific coverages, profiles, records and vehicles, with explanations in a footnotes report.
How often the tables change
Update frequency is the weakest point of most state tools. Texas shows the best-documented rhythm: a data call in the spring or summer with rates effective on a stated date, and a vehicle model year refreshed. The 2024 bulletin says the sample-rate criteria were unchanged from the 2023 call except for the make and model year of the two vehicles. California's profile page was updated in February 2026, and its comparison page lists a 2026 auto edition. Maryland's page states no date, and South Carolina's describes vehicles from 2011.
The practical test is to look for an effective date on the results page. If there is none, treat the table as a ranking guide only. Rates have moved a lot in recent years, so a table a year or more old can have its order of insurers shuffled even if its method is sound. The How to read a car insurance rate filing on SERFF article explains how to see current rate changes in filings.
What a sample price cannot tell you
A sample table answers the question "who tends to charge a person like this more or less." It does not answer what you will pay. Reasons:
- You are not the sample. The Texas profile has no vehicle other than a Camry and an F-150, no comprehensive or collision, no household with several drivers and no bundling discount. Your car, your ZIP code and your claims history will move the price.
- Discounts and surcharges. California says its survey leaves them out. Texas told insurers to include only the ones named in the profile.
- Credit tiers are coarse. Texas asked for three bands; an insurer may have many more, and your credit-based insurance score may land between two of them.
- Coverage is thin. Many tables price only liability, so they say nothing about the cost of collision and comprehensive, where deductible choices matter.
- New business only. Texas told insurers to use the policy form most likely offered to new customers. A renewal price for an existing customer can be higher or lower.
- Not every insurer is in the table. Some tools make the top insurers mandatory and everyone else optional, as Texas and South Carolina do. California says its survey covers over 90% of the market, which means some insurers are missing.
The why your final price differs from the online quote article covers the same gap for private quotes, and average expenditure vs average premium vs quoted rate covers why the published averages differ from each other.
Using the table to calibrate a private quote
A table is most useful as a yardstick against the quotes you actually collect. Here is a method, with made-up numbers.
- Find the closest sample driver. Pick the profile that matches your age band, record, liability limits and use. Note the table's annual premium for each insurer that also quotes you.
- Get quotes for the same limits. Use the same liability limits as the sample driver so you compare like with like. The car insurance quote comparison worksheet helps you keep limits, deductibles and fees consistent.
- Divide each quote by its table price. The result is a ratio that shows how your situation differs from the imaginary driver.
- Look for outliers. Ratios that cluster are expected. One that is far off deserves a question.
Say you are a 30-year-old with a clean record and 50/100/50 liability, and the table shows these annual prices (invented for the example):
| Insurer | Table price | Your quote | Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | $1,020 | $1,150 | 1.13 |
| B | $1,180 | $1,320 | 1.12 |
| C | $1,460 | $1,630 | 1.12 |
| D | $1,610 | $2,490 | 1.55 |
| E | $1,300 | $1,000 | 0.77 |
Insurers A, B and C all come in about 12% above the table, which probably reflects things the profile left out, such as your car, or the physical-damage coverage you asked for. D's ratio of 1.55 means something is unusual: perhaps a surcharge for a violation the table did not include, or a different vehicle class or limit. Ask the agent what drove the gap. E's ratio of 0.77 is the one to be careful with. Check that the limits match, that the quote includes the same fees and billing terms, and that it is not a short introductory price. A quote that is far below the table may be a different, thinner policy.
The same ratio test also helps you decide whether to keep shopping. If your current insurer's renewal price is well above its own table price for a driver like you, ask why before you pay it.
Complaint indexes next to price tables
Price tells you half the story. A cheap insurer that fights claims is not a bargain. Some departments publish complaint data alongside shopping tools for that reason.
New Jersey's report defines a valid complaint as one where the insurer violated a law, regulation or policy term, or where the complaint and the insurer's response together show the insurer was in error. The complaint ratio is valid complaints per 1,000 insured autos, computed for companies with at least 10,000 autos. The complaint index compares each insurer's ratio with all the others, with 1.00 as the average and a figure above 1.00 worse. In the 2024 report, the indexes ran from above 4 down to 0.000. A ratio based on a few complaints at a small insurer can swing from year to year; the small-numbers problem in insurer complaint ratios explains why, and the The NAIC complaint index: how to look up an insurer guide shows how to find the NAIC's national version.
Read the price table and the complaint report together. If an insurer is among the cheapest in the table and has a complaint index well above 1.00, that is a reason to read its claim reviews and ask more about its claims process, not a reason to rule it out automatically.
If your state publishes nothing
Not every state has a tool, and a tool that does exist may be years old. You can still build your own table:
- Start with the department. Check your state department's auto insurance page for guides, complaint data and the list of insurers licensed to sell in the state. The NAIC consumer insurance search page links to each state's department so you can confirm a company is licensed.
- Collect at least four quotes at identical limits, deductibles and driver details, from a mix of direct writers, captive agents and an independent agent. The how to compare car insurance quotes apples to apples guide walks through it.
- Look at the filings. Many states post rate filings, which show how an insurer rates a given class. How to read a car insurance rate filing on SERFF explains how to read one.
- Use the department's complaint process. Your department can tell you whether complaints against a company are rising. why two insurers quote the same driver very different prices explains why quotes spread so widely even when the underlying data is similar.
You can look up your own state's minimum limits with the state car insurance requirements lookup tool before you build that comparison.
Common questions
Are the prices in a state table real quotes?
No. Every state that publishes one says so. The prices are the insurers' own estimates for an imaginary driver. Your quote can be higher or lower, and the table is useful for ranking and for catching outliers.
Why does my state's table list only a few insurers?
Because the state sets which insurers must report. Texas and South Carolina require the top 25 national groups with more than $1 million in premium in the state, with others optional. Smaller regional insurers, and any that choose not to report, may be missing. Ask an independent agent about companies not on the list.
Does a low price in the table mean the insurer is the best choice?
No. The table covers price for one profile, usually liability, for new customers. It says nothing about claim service, financial strength or the price after your first renewal. Check the complaint data and the insurer's financial rating alongside it.
How recent is a state's table likely to be?
It varies. Texas collects new rates each year, and California's profiles were updated in February 2026. Other states' pages state no date, so confirm the effective date before trusting the ranking.
Key takeaways
- As of November 2026, California, Texas, Maryland and South Carolina run official sample-premium tools; many states publish none, and the New Jersey page I reviewed offers guides and complaint ratios instead of a premium table.
- Sample rates are insurers' own answers for imaginary drivers. Texas, for example, priced a 2023 Camry and F-150 at three ages and three limits, liability only.
- Check the effective date and the profile before using a table; some are updated every year and some show old vehicles.
- Divide each real quote by the table price for the same profile. Ratios that cluster are normal; an outlier needs an explanation.
- Pair price tables with complaint data, and if your state has neither, build your own table from four or more quotes at identical limits.