BudgetAutoRates How we get our numbers
The short version
- Rate figures currently on this site are illustrative estimates, not quotes
- They exist to give you comparison context, like whether $150/mo is high for a sedan in your state
- Your real price only comes from carriers, through the quote form or directly
What the numbers on this site are
Every dollar figure in our rate tables today is an estimate built from public benchmarks and a cost model. State averages are calibrated to published 2025–2026 premium benchmarks (national full coverage runs roughly $200/mo), then adjusted for the factors that reliably move price: state, coverage level, vehicle type, and driver profile. The result is a reasonable picture of what the market looks like, useful for spotting whether a quote you're holding is high or low.
What these numbers are not: binding quotes, offers, or predictions of what any carrier will charge you. Insurance pricing depends on dozens of personal variables we never see, from your claims history to your credit-based insurance score. Two neighbors with the same car can pay prices $80 apart, and both prices are real.
If you want your actual number, there is exactly one honest way to get it: ask carriers. Our carrier-matching form exists for that.
A special note on state minimums
Our state pages list each state's minimum liability requirements (numbers like Texas's 30/60/25). These are cross-checked against Insurance Information Institute figures and state Department of Insurance sources. But legislatures change these, sometimes with little notice, and a page published in July can be stale by October. Before you buy coverage based on a minimum you read here or anywhere else, verify current minimums with your state's Department of Insurance. Every state DOI publishes them, and it takes 2 minutes.
Where the numbers are headed
Estimates are the starting point, not the destination. The production methodology we are building replaces the model with observed data, in four parts:
- Matched-quote sampling. Periodic rounds of real quote requests across major carriers in each state, using fixed driver and vehicle profiles so every carrier prices the same shopper. Tables then report what carriers actually quoted, not what a model expects.
- Public regulatory and survey data. Carrier satisfaction and complaint figures will come from named public sources: NAIC complaint-index data and J.D. Power auto insurance study results, cited on the page where they appear.
- A refresh cadence. Quote samples re-run on a set schedule, and every rate table will carry the date its data was collected. A number without a date is a rumor.
- A public changelog. The section below records every methodology change, dated, so you can see how a figure was produced at any point in time.
Changelog
| Date | Change |
|---|---|
| July 2026 | State minimums verified against public sources; averages calibrated to published benchmarks. |
| July 2026 | Initial estimates model: rate figures built from public benchmarks and a cost model, published as illustrative estimates. |
Honest questions, honest answers
Are these my real rates?
No. Nothing on this site is a quote. The figures are estimates meant to show how prices compare across carriers, states, and vehicles. Your real rate depends on personal details we never see, and only a carrier can give it to you. The quote form is how you get one.
Why show estimates at all?
Because shopping blind is worse. If you don't know what full coverage on a sedan typically runs, you can't tell whether the $210 quote in your inbox is normal or negotiable. Estimates give you the context to judge real quotes. We'd rather publish a clearly labeled estimate than leave you with no benchmark at all, and we label every one.
Every figure on this site is an illustrative estimate, not a quote; the process on this page is how we make them. Verify current minimums with your state's Department of Insurance.
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