This page states the published average, the source it comes from, the profile it describes, and the state rules that shape every North Carolina quote. It does not state what any driver will pay. No per-carrier price is published here, because no free public source publishes per-carrier premiums, and no "cheapest insurer in North Carolina" claim is made anywhere on this page.
What is the published average?
| Figure | North Carolina | United States |
|---|---|---|
| Average expenditure, 2024 | $1,038.44 per year | $1,431.63 per year |
| Average expenditure, 2023 | $930.78 per year | $1,281.61 per year |
| Change, 2023 to 2024 | +11.6% | +11.7% |
| Combined average premium, 2024 | $1,233.32 per year | $1,612.81 per year |
| Combined average premium, 2023 | $1,103.09 per year | $1,438.51 per year |
| Rank, average expenditure (of 51 jurisdictions) | 40th highest | - |
North Carolina sits well below the countrywide average on both measures: its 2024 average expenditure is 27.5% below the national figure, and its combined average premium is 23.5% below it. Its year-on-year rise matched the national rise almost exactly, North Carolina up 11.6% against 11.7% countrywide. For scale, the highest average expenditure in the country in 2024 was Florida at $2,017.97, and the lowest was North Dakota at $907.25.
Source: NAIC 2024 Auto Insurance Database Average Premium Supplement, September 2026, 2024 data, all insured vehicles, 51 jurisdictions (50 states + District of Columbia). Retrieved 2026-11-06. Current as of September 2026.
What does "average expenditure" mean?
Two different averages appear on this page, and they are not the same number.
Average expenditure is what the average insured vehicle costs to insure in a year. It is the NAIC's headline measure: total premiums earned divided by the number of insured vehicles.
Combined average premium is the sum of the three cover averages (liability, collision and comprehensive) for the average insured vehicle. Countrywide in 2024, the three parts were liability $813.27, collision $516.39 and comprehensive $283.15 per year, summing to the combined $1,612.81.
The NAIC itself warns that state-to-state comparisons should be treated with a high degree of caution, because limits, deductibles, laws and demographics differ between states. North Carolina's figure is not directly comparable to another state's figure as a measure of how expensive one state's insurance "is". The mix of cover drivers buy, the limits they choose and the laws they drive under are all different.
Three consequences follow from the definitions, and they matter more than the headline number:
- The average mixes every kind of driver and every level of cover. A driver carrying only the state minimum liability will pay less than the average; a driver with full cover on a new car will usually pay more.
- The average is backward-looking. It describes premiums earned in 2024, published in September 2026. It is not a quote for today, and it does not predict what any carrier will charge next.
- The average says nothing about any one carrier. Two carriers can charge very different prices for the same driver in the same state, and the NAIC average hides that spread entirely.
What does North Carolina require?
North Carolina's minimum auto liability limits are 50/100/50: $50,000 bodily injury per person, $100,000 bodily injury per accident, and $50,000 property damage. The current limits date from 1 July 2025. North Carolina is an at-fault state, and the state requires uninsured and underinsured motorist cover at the same limits.
The minimums are a legal floor, not a recommendation. The state's own rules page sets out the full position for auto, home and health cover: /auto/north-carolina-auto-insurance/. A quote that meets only the minimums leaves the driver exposed to costs above those limits after a serious crash, the minimums cap what the policy pays, not what the driver may owe. North Carolina's minimums are the highest in this set of ten states: 50/100/50 against, for example, 25/50/25 in Ohio and Georgia and 15/30/5 in Pennsylvania. That matters when comparing minimum-liability quotes across states. The same words, "minimum cover", buy very different limits in different states.
Why does North Carolina sit where it does?
No single factor explains a state average, and this page does not pretend one does. The published figures that can be stated are these: North Carolina ranks 40th of 51 jurisdictions on average expenditure, well below the national figure on both measures, with a 2024 rise that matched the national rise. What moves any driver's price, in North Carolina as elsewhere, is the combination of the cover chosen, the deductible, the vehicle, where it is kept and driven, and the driver's history, and the exact factors a carrier may use are set by the carrier and the state regulator, and vary between them.
What can be said with the published data in hand is where North Carolina stands relative to the rest of the country: in the lowest twelve on both measures, 27.5% under the national average expenditure, despite having the highest minimum limits of the ten states on this page. That is a description of the published average, not an explanation of any individual quote.
What is not published here?
- No per-carrier prices. No free public source publishes what any one carrier charges in North Carolina. Any page that prints a per-carrier North Carolina price without a named source and a date is guessing.
- No "cheapest insurer in North Carolina". A cheapest-insurer claim needs per-carrier prices for a stated driver profile. We do not hold them, so we do not make the claim.
- No quote. This page is a published average with its source beside it. A real price comes only from a carrier or a licensed agent, for a stated driver, vehicle and cover level.
- No rating or review score. We do not score carriers. A public-data ratings page, built from the NAIC complaint index and AM Best financial-strength ratings with its method printed on the page, is planned separately. Nothing is rated here.
How do I use this page?
- Compare the published average with a quote you have received, remembering that the average mixes all cover levels and all drivers. A minimum-liability quote will sit below it; a full-cover quote on a newer car will usually sit above it.
- Read the state rules page for the minimums and the uninsured/underinsured motorist requirement: /auto/north-carolina-auto-insurance/.
- See every state's published averages side by side on the magnet page: /compare/average-insurance-costs-by-state/.
- Use the comparison tool to work through cover levels and see published averages beside quote-only carrier entries: /compare/auto/.
- Read how every figure on this site is sourced before it is published: /compare/methodology/.