If Batman ever let Robin drive the Batmobile, it’s only because billionaire Bruce Wayne could afford to insure the teen driver.
Face it, teenagers are expensive. They eat a lot, they need a lot of clothes, they’re involved in lots of activities. According to the USDA, families in a higher income range (above $107,400 a year) spend about $23,380 a year on a 17-year-old.
Thanks to their notorious immaturity, lack of skills, and lack of experience, teen drivers have a higher rate of fatal crashes, according to the the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration. They speed, they text, they make mistakes, they give friends rides. But if that’s not enough to scare the wits out of you, just look at the cost of adding a teenager to your car insurance policy.
To find the average costs of car insurance for a teenager, Bankrate turned to 2021 data from Quadrant Information Services to analyze rates for ZIP codes from the 25 biggest metros and insurance carriers in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.
The rates are based on the additional cost of a 16-year-old male and female teen driver added to their 40-year-old parents’ policy (with clean driving records, good credit where applicable and the following full coverage limits):
- $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
Bankrate used minimum coverages that meet each state’s requirements. The sample assumes a 2019 Toyota Camry, commuting five days a week and driving 12,000 miles annually.
Here is the average annual cost of full coverage car insurance in the 25 largest cities in the U.S. for married couples and a teen:
