Skip to content NerdWallet Home Page NerdWallet Home Page

Best-Of Awards 2026 Methodologies

Best Budget-Friendly Auto Insurance

How we picked the companies to evaluate:

NerdWallet started with a list of the nation’s 125 largest auto insurance companies (by premiums written), compiled by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners using 2024 market share data. These companies collectively account for 99.3% of the market for private passenger auto insurance in the United States and its territories, according to the NAIC. Some of the providers are NerdWallet partners, but this did not influence our selection of the winner.

We narrowed the list to include only insurers that sell policies in a majority of states, that do not restrict availability based on membership criteria (such as military service) and for which pricing data was available for at least 20 states from Quadrant Information Services as of September 2025. Other companies that did not meet this data threshold may be cheaper for many consumers.

We also eliminated companies that received an above-average rate of complaints to state regulators for 2022-2024. Complaints received by state insurance regulators are reported to the NAIC, which calculates a complaint index each year for each subsidiary, measuring its share of total complaints relative to its size or share of total premiums in the industry. To evaluate a company’s complaint history, NerdWallet calculated a similar index for each insurer, weighted by market shares of each subsidiary over the three-year period.

How we chose the winner:

To determine which widely available insurer had the cheapest rates, we analyzed median rates within each state and Washington, D.C., for the minimum auto insurance coverage required by law within the state.

  • We ranked companies by their median rates for the minimum required coverage for a 2022 Toyota Camry LE for a 35-year-old driver with no incidents on record and a credit-based insurance score considered “good” by each insurer.
  • As a final check, we also compared rates for this profile across the 13 states where companies who met our eligibility criteria are all available. These 13 states were Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee and Wisconsin.


We then selected the insurer that most frequently had the cheapest median rate among the companies that met the "widely available" criteria.

Some carriers excluded due to data or state availability may be cheaper for some consumers. Our “Budget-Friendly” award reflects national, widely available options based on a standardized profile.

In the event of a tie, we directly compare the insurer’s score in NerdWallet’s 2026 star rating rubric for auto insurance. The star rating rubric takes into account financial strength, consumer experience, ease of use and availability of discounts. The company with the higher score in the star rating rubric wins.

How we verified our data:

NerdWallet gets insurance pricing data from Quadrant Information Services. Information about where insurers are available to consumers is verified through direct contact with insurance companies and through data supplied by insurance companies to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Information about complaints is verified through data provided by state insurance regulators to the NAIC.


See all methodologies