Minimum car insurance by state, 2026

All 51 jurisdictions: what we read, what we could not

Why your state changes the answer

Three numbers look like a technicality until a crash goes past one of them. Most of the states we read cluster around $25,000 per injured person: 24 of 38. 9 ask for more and 5 ask for less. Property damage varies even more, from $5,000 in Pennsylvania to $50,000 in North Carolina, and it is the number that moves least predictably from one state to the next.

Moving changes things as well. Limits that satisfied one state can fall short in the next, and the shortfall may be on a single number. The two-state comparison gives the figure that meets both.

What a minimum does not cover

Liability limits pay other people: the Texas Department of Insurance describes them as paying other people's injuries and property when you are at fault. Some states we read add required cover of another kind, listed on each state page. Oregon requires $15,000 per person of personal injury protection, North Dakota $30,000 of basic no-fault cover and Delaware $15,000 per person. Texas and Wisconsin both warn that a lender will require more for as long as a car secures a loan.

Limits are also not the only rule. Of the states we read, 26 have a penalty we could cite, and 6 have a reading on a filing such as an SR-22. See the penalties we read and the filings guide.

How to read your own policy

Copy your bodily injury and property damage figures into the tool. If your policy shows one combined figure, it is a combined single limit, which the tool does not model; Kentucky is the state we read that writes one into its minimum, at $60,000. A second check is worth doing before you drop coverage: run the same scenario at your current limits and at the minimum, and the difference in what is left unpaid is what you would be taking on.

Pages by state and by topic

• Compare two states: Two states side by side, and the limits that satisfy both after a move.
• Liability limits explained: What 25/50/25 means, with the per-person and per-accident caps at work.
• No-fault and at-fault: How the two systems differ, with each state whose rule we read on an official page.
• SR-22 filings: What the state texts we read say about these filings, and a count of the months left.
• Driving without insurance: Penalties read state by state, with the rest marked not verified, and a limits check.

Jurisdictions still to verify

Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Rhode Island, Tennessee. Their sites refused our declared reader, did not answer it, showed no liability figure on the page we reached, or carry terms that rule out our use, as checked on November 2, 2026 or November 3, 2026. We do not fill those rows from secondary lists, and we do not try another route to a text whose publisher refused. Indiana's state portal, for example, answered our reader, but its terms of use allow its content for personal use only and not for republication, so Indiana stays unread. Nebraska's insurance department links to terms that forbid robots without written permission, so we removed the Nebraska figure we had first read there.

Sources are listed below, one per state read. Laws change: check the date next to each figure.