Who Has The Cheapest Auto Insurance Quotes in Fresno, CA?
Find Cheap Auto Insurance Quotes in Fresno
The average cost of car insurance in Fresno is $624 per year for minimum coverage and $1,806 for full coverage.
However, drivers can save up to 30% by going with Geico, the cheapest insurer in Fresno. It offered the best rates for both state-minimum and full-coverage insurance policies.
Every driver will find different rates based on their driving history, the car they own and where they live, so the only way to be sure you've found the best price available to you is to get quotes from several insurers.
Cheapest auto insurance in Fresno: Geico
Drivers in Fresno looking for the best value on a minimum-coverage car insurance policy in Fresno should start by looking at Geico, Progressive and AAA of Northern California. These insurers all offered our sample 30-year-old driver a year of minimum coverage for under $500.
Geico was the absolute cheapest, at $437 per year, or about $36 per month. That made it 30% cheaper than the average rate across all insurers, which was $624 annually.
Compare Car Insurance Rates in Fresno, California
Cheapest car insurance in Fresno
Rank | Company | Annual rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Geico | $437 |
| 2 | Progressive | $459 |
| 3 | AAA NorCal | $494 |
| 4 | Mercury | $522 |
| 5 | State Farm | $744 |
| 6 | Allstate | $801 |
| 7 | Farmers | $910 |
Keep in mind that state-minimum coverage only includes basic liability protection and won't pay for any of your own expenses after a crash. We recommend that Fresno drivers consider going beyond the minimum required amount.
Cheapest full-coverage car insurance in Fresno: Geico
Drivers who want a broader suite of protection for their car should look at Geico, which offered our sample driver a typical rate of $1,390 for full-coverage auto insurance. That's 23% cheaper than the citywide average of $1,806, and $66 cheaper per year than Mercury, the second-most affordable option.
Rank | Company | Annual rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Geico | $1,390 |
| 2 | Mercury | $1,456 |
| 3 | Progressive | $1,539 |
| 4 | Allstate | $1,943 |
| 5 | State Farm | $2,022 |
| 6 | AAA NorCal | $2,043 |
| 7 | Farmers | $2,245 |
Full coverage includes the following protections, in addition to legally-required liability coverage:
- Comprehensive coverage: pays for damage to your car from a source other than a collision, such as car theft or a house fire.
- Collision coverage: pays for damage to your car due to a crash, regardless of who was at fault.
Cheap car insurance for drivers with prior incidents
Car insurance companies try to predict how likely you are to get in a crash by using lots of information about you, including your driving history. They've found that drivers who have been involved in an incident in the past are more likely to get into another in the future, so being at-fault in a crash or getting a speeding ticket almost always results in higher rates. Here are the best companies for drivers with less-than-perfect records:
Cheapest car insurance in Fresno after an accident: Mercury
One of the most common causes for increased car insurance rates is having been involved in an accident. While insurers don't directly raise rates in order to recoup their losses, they have found that drivers who have been at fault in one accident are more likely to be involved in another, so the result is the same: your rates go up.
The typical rate for car insurance after an accident in Fresno is $3,602 — about double the price a driver without an accident on their record pays. However, Mercury offered substantially lower rates, with a typical price of $2,189 for Fresno residents. That's $1,413 less than the average rate citywide.
Rank | Company | Annual rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mercury | $2,189 |
| 2 | Geico | $2,533 |
| 3 | Progressive | $3,178 |
| 4 | Farmers | $3,950 |
| 5 | State Farm | $4,017 |
| 6 | AAA NorCal | $4,151 |
| 7 | Allstate | $5,199 |
Cheapest car insurance for drivers with a speeding ticket: Mercury
Getting a speeding ticket tells insurers you're willing to take risks behind the wheel, so they often raise rates for drivers who are caught travelling over the speed limit. In Fresno, you can expect your rates to increase by about 48% after a single ticket.
If you're looking to reduce your rates after a ticket, we recommend Mercury, which offered the cheapest rates for a full-coverage policy: $1,921 per year. That's $752 cheaper than the typical price across all insurers.
After a speeding ticket, you may be able to reduce the rates you pay for insurance by taking a defensive driving class.
Rank | Company | Annual rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mercury | $1,921 |
| 2 | Geico | $2,173 |
| 3 | AAA NorCal | $2,573 |
| 4 | Allstate | $2,823 |
| 5 | Progressive | $2,955 |
| 6 | State Farm | $3,105 |
| 7 | Farmers | $3,161 |
Cheapest car insurance for drivers with a DUI: Mercury
Insurance companies take driving infractions like DUIs very seriously, so you are highly likely to see a big increase in your insurance rates after being convicted of one. On average, insurers increased rates by 181% after a single DUI, to $5,088, for a full-coverage policy.
However, Mercury had more affordable rates than most other insurers for Fresno drivers — $2,403 per year for a full-coverage policy, which is less than half the overall average.
If you're convicted of a DUI, you may struggle to find an insurer that will offer you coverage at all. It's possible that you'll need to buy coverage from a non-standard insurer.
Rank | Company | Annual rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mercury | $2,403 |
| 2 | Geico | $3,504 |
| 3 | Progressive | $3,703 |
| 4 | Farmers | $3,950 |
| 5 | State Farm | $7,137 |
| 6 | AAA NorCal | $7,341 |
| 7 | Allstate | $7,576 |
Cheapest car insurance for married drivers: Geico
Many insurers offer discounts for married drivers because they are less likely to engage in risky driving behaviors. As a result, you might find a lower rate after getting married. We found an 8% savings on average.
Geico offered the best rates for a married Fresno driver, at just $1,187 for a year of full coverage. That's $467 less than the average across all insurers, and a 14% discount when compared to Geico's rate for a single driver.
Note that our sample rates don't account for the lower prices you'll get for sharing a policy with another person or a multi-car discount. You may be able to save even more by qualifying for these special rates.
Rank | Company | Annual rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Geico | $1,187 |
| 2 | Progressive | $1,208 |
| 3 | Mercury | $1,297 |
| 4 | Allstate | $1,759 |
| 5 | State Farm | $2,022 |
| 6 | AAA NorCal | $2,043 |
| 7 | Farmers | $2,058 |
Cheapest car insurance for young drivers: Mercury
Younger drivers typically pay much more for car insurance than older adults because they're less experienced behind the wheel and tend to be involved in accidents more often. Overall, the average price for an 18-year-old is $1,598 for a minimum-coverage policy, or 156% more than a 30-year-old.
For our 18-year-old sample driver, the most affordable option is Mercury, which offered him a year of minimum coverage for $1,290. That would save him $308 compared to the average rate, though Geico and Progressive had affordable rates as well.
Rank | Company | Annual rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mercury | $1,290 |
| 2 | Geico | $1,309 |
| 3 | Progressive | $1,334 |
| 4 | State Farm | $1,430 |
| 5 | AAA NorCal | $1,589 |
| 6 | Farmers | $2,084 |
| 7 | Allstate | $2,148 |
Young drivers can cut down on the high cost of insurance by sharing a policy with an older family member or by qualifying for a .
Average car insurance cost in Fresno by neighborhood
Where you live can have a substantial impact on your car insurance rates, even within a single city. For example, if you live near a busy or narrow road with a lot of crashes, you might pay more for coverage. Prices for insurance varied by up to $333 among Fresno ZIP codes.
ZIP code | Minimum coverage annual cost | Full coverage annual cost |
|---|---|---|
| 93650 | $628 | $1,786 |
| 93701 | $673 | $1,950 |
| 93702 | $636 | $1,872 |
| 93703 | $632 | $1,838 |
| 93704 | $603 | $1,689 |
Auto theft statistics in Fresno
Fresno has a relatively small amount of car theft among major California cities. In 2018, the latest year for which data was available, it experienced the seventh-most car thefts among the 10 largest cities in California, with 4.4 thefts per 1,000 residents. That puts it ahead of Southern California cities like Los Angeles and San Diego, but behind Northern California cities like Oakland and Sacramento.
Rank among 10 largest cities | City | Population | Motor
vehicle thefts 2018 | Thefts per 1,000 residents |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oakland | 430,230 | 5,071 | 11.8 |
| 2 | San Jose | 1,047,305 | 7,704 | 7.4 |
| 3 | Bakersfield | 385,609 | 2,777 | 7.2 |
| 4 | Sacramento | 507,037 | 2,883 | 5.7 |
| 5 | Long Beach | 470,445 | 2,279 | 4.8 |
Motor vehicle theft data was pulled from the FBI 2018 California Crime Report. Fresno is missing from 2019 FBI report.
Methodology
We collected data from eight of the largest insurers in California. Our sample driver was a 30-year-old man who drove a 2015 Honda Civic EX. Unless otherwise stated, the driver had received rates for a minimum-coverage policy.
In instances where our sample driver was comparing rates for a full-coverage policy, the following limitations were used:
Type | California minimum | Full coverage |
|---|---|---|
| Bodily injury liability | $15,000 per person/$30,000 per accident | $50,000 per person/$100,000 per accident |
| Property damage liability | $5,000 per accident | $50,000 per accident |
| Uninsured/underinsured motorist BI | $50,000 per person/$100,000 per accident | |
| Uninsured/underinsured motorist PD | $50,000 per accident | |
| Comprehensive and collision | $500 deductible |
ValuePenguin's analysis used insurance rate data from Quadrant Information Services. These rates were publicly sourced from insurer filings and should be used for comparative purposes only. Your own quotes may be different.
Our statewide analysis of California insurance rates included both AAA of Northern California and AAA of Southern California. However, AAA of Southern California doesn't offer insurance to Fresno residents, so we eliminated it from our city averages and rankings.
Sources: