Texas auto insurance rates continue to climb, with the state's rising population and risk factors like hail, new data shows. "Car insurance rates are at an all-time high nationwide, and rates are rising especially fast in the Dallas/Fort Worth area," The Zebra, an Austin-based comparison site, says.
Texas" average annual car insurance premium was $1,809.62 in 2017, and Dallas" was $1,867.10, The Zebra said. In Texas, premiums are nearly 3 percent higher than in 2015 and more than 44 percent higher than they were six years ago, The Zebra said.
"Texas in general is a state hit by a variety of severe weather events: hurricanes, hail, storms," Adam Lyons, The Zebra's CEO, says. "Additionally, many cities in Texas are growing rapidly. The weather events, combined with more people on the road and increasing population density, mean more cars damaged by weather, more claims filed from accidents, therefore leading to increased premiums."
The good news: Rates are cheaper over on the west side of the Metroplex, according to The Zebra's data. The 10 most expensive zip codes and average annual premium in 2017:
- 76010 Arlington: $1,986
- 76002 Arlington: $1,946
- 76014 Arlington: $1,919
- 76011 Arlington: $1,911
- 76018 Arlington: $1,904
- 76015 Arlington: $1,898
- 76164 Fort Worth: $1,896
- 76119 Fort Worth: $1,895
- 76105 Fort Worth: $1,886
- 76106 Fort Worth: $1,880
Average annual premium from other selected zip codes:
- 76104 Fort Worth: $1,865
- 76107 Fort Worth: $1,819
- 76110 Fort Worth: $1,796
- 76109 Fort Worth: $1,781
- 76132 Fort Worth: $1,777
- 76063 Mansfield: $1,767
- 76092 Southlake: $1,740
- 76028 Burleson: $1,700
- 76126 Benbrook: $1,754
And the western Metroplex's cheapest auto insurance rates:
- 76205 Denton: $1,639
- 76201 Denton: $1,645
- 76209 Denton: $1,658
- 76008 Aledo: $1,668
- 76085 Weatherford: $1,673
The Zebra, which bills itself as the largest car insurance comparison marketplace in the U.S., recently released the results of a national study exploring factors impacting car insurance rates. The firm says it used pricing data from the past six years and explored "millions of car insurance premiums" and risk factors such as state, ZIP code, age, gender, financial behaviors, and specific vehicles.
The Zebra ran its reports using a base risk profile of a 30-year-old single male driving a 2013 Honda Accord EX.
