- The average U.S. household spent $1,993 on vehicle insurance in 2024, up from $778 in 2000—a 156% increase over 24 years.
- The single largest jump came between 2018 and 2019: average spending rose 58% in one year, from $976 to $1,545—a bigger dollar increase ($569) than the entire previous 18 years combined ($198).
- By 2024, average vehicle insurance spending was nearly 5 times average vehicle finance charges ($1,993 vs. $418), and insurance has grown far faster than any other major vehicle ownership cost tracked by BLS since 2000.
- Vehicle insurance now consumes about 1.9% of average pre-tax household income (2024), up from 1.2% as recently as 2018.
01 Introduction
The average U.S. household spent $1,993 on vehicle insurance in 2024, up from just $778 in 2000—a 156% increase over 24 years. Every driver pays for insurance, and almost every driver eventually wonders whether their rate is normal. Most answers to that question come from insurance companies or comparison-shopping sites with an obvious interest in what you conclude. This article uses a different source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Expenditure Survey, which has tracked average household spending on vehicle insurance every year since long before 2000—independent of any insurer, broker, or lead-generation business.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditure Surveys, multi-year tables, 2000–2024The figures below are average annual expenditure per consumer unit (BLS's term for a household), not a quoted premium. See what this number actually measures for how that differs from a typical insurance quote.
02 The Full 25-Year History, 2000–2024
Average household spending on vehicle insurance rose from $778 in 2000 to $1,993 in 2024—more than two and a half times over—though the increase was far from steady. Spending was roughly flat, even dipping some years, through the 2010s before rising sharply starting in 2019.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditure Surveys, multi-year tables ("Vehicle insurance" line item), 2000–2024| Year | Avg. Annual Spending | Index (2000 = 100) |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $1,993 | 256 |
| 2023 | $1,775 | 228 |
| 2022 | $1,592 | 205 |
| 2021 | $1,528 | 196 |
| 2020 | $1,575 | 202 |
| 2019 | $1,545 | 199 |
| 2018 | $976 | 125 |
| 2017 | $967 | 124 |
| 2016 | $1,149 | 148 |
| 2015 | $1,079 | 139 |
| 2014 | $1,112 | 143 |
| 2013 | $1,013 | 130 |
| 2012 | $1,018 | 131 |
| 2011 | $983 | 126 |
| 2010 | $1,010 | 130 |
| 2009 | $1,075 | 138 |
| 2008 | $1,113 | 143 |
| 2007 | $1,071 | 138 |
| 2006 | $886 | 114 |
| 2005 | $913 | 117 |
| 2004 | $964 | 124 |
| 2003 | $905 | 116 |
| 2002 | $894 | 115 |
| 2001 | $819 | 105 |
| 2000 | $778 | 100 |
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Use the Calculator03 The 2019 Turning Point
Between 2018 and 2019, average vehicle insurance spending jumped from $976 to $1,545—a 58% increase in a single year. That one-year, $569 jump is larger in dollar terms than the entire increase across the previous 18 years combined, when spending rose only $198 (from $778 in 2000 to $976 in 2018).
Calculated from BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey multi-year tables: ($1,545 − $976) / $976 = 58.3%; $1,545 − $976 = $569; $976 − $778 = $198Spending has kept climbing since that step-change: from $1,545 in 2019 to $1,993 in 2024, a further 29% increase over the most recent five years alone.
Calculated: ($1,993 − $1,545) / $1,545 = 29.0%04 Insurance vs. Other Vehicle Ownership Costs
BLS tracks several other vehicle-related expenditure categories in the same survey. Comparing them shows that insurance has grown far faster than either vehicle purchases or vehicle financing over the same 24 years.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditure Surveys, multi-year tables, 2000–2024| Year | Vehicle Insurance | Vehicle Purchases (net outlay) | Vehicle Finance Charges |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | $778 | $3,418 | $328 |
| 2010 | $1,010 | $2,588 | $243 |
| 2019 | $1,545 | $4,394 | $252 |
| 2024 | $1,993 | $5,337 | $418 |
| Change, 2000–2024 | +156% | +56% | +27% |
In 2000, average insurance spending was about 23% of average net vehicle-purchase outlay. By 2024, it had grown to about 37%—insurance has gone from a relatively minor line item next to the cost of the vehicle itself to a much larger share of total ownership cost.
Calculated: $778/$3,418=22.8% (2000); $1,993/$5,337=37.3% (2024)05 Insurance as a Share of Household Income
BLS's Consumer Expenditure Survey also reports average pre-tax household income for the years since 2013, making it possible to track vehicle insurance as a share of income over the most recent decade.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditure Surveys, multi-year tables, "Income before taxes" and "Vehicle insurance," 2013–2024| Year | Income Before Taxes | Vehicle Insurance | Insurance Share of Income |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $104,207 | $1,993 | 1.9% |
| 2023 | $101,805 | $1,775 | 1.7% |
| 2022 | $94,003 | $1,592 | 1.7% |
| 2021 | $87,432 | $1,528 | 1.7% |
| 2020 | $84,352 | $1,575 | 1.9% |
| 2019 | $82,852 | $1,545 | 1.9% |
| 2018 | $78,635 | $976 | 1.2% |
| 2017 | $73,573 | $967 | 1.3% |
| 2016 | $74,664 | $1,149 | 1.5% |
| 2015 | $69,627 | $1,079 | 1.5% |
| 2014 | $66,877 | $1,112 | 1.7% |
| 2013 | $63,784 | $1,013 | 1.6% |
Insurance's share of income held fairly steady in the 1.5%–1.7% range through the mid-2010s, dipped to a low of 1.2% in 2018, then jumped alongside the spending increase to about 1.9% by 2019—a level it has stayed near ever since.
Calculated from the table above06 What This Number Actually Measures
This figure is not the same thing as a quoted insurance premium, and understanding the difference matters:
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditure Survey methodology- It's a household average, not a per-vehicle premium. BLS reports average vehicle insurance expenditure per consumer unit (roughly, a household), not per vehicle or per driver. A household with two insured vehicles is averaged the same as a household with one.
- It includes households without a vehicle. Across the full 2000–2024 period, BLS data shows about 87%–89% of consumer units owned or leased at least one vehicle in any given year. The insurance averages above are computed across all consumer units, including the roughly 11%–13% that owned no vehicle and paid no vehicle insurance—which pulls the reported average down slightly relative to what an insured household alone pays.
- It's actual reported spending, not a rate quote. This reflects what households actually paid, aggregated nationally, rather than a premium quote for a specific driver profile, vehicle, or state—the kind of number an insurance comparison site would show you.
07 Data Sources
Every figure in this article comes from a U.S. government source. No proprietary, estimated, or insurance-industry data was used.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Consumer Expenditure Surveys, "Average annual expenditures and characteristics of all consumer units," multi-year tables covering 2000–2005, 2006–2012, 2013–2020, and 2021–2024. bls.gov/cex