(The Center Square) – Auto insurance prices are expected to continue to go up in 2026 in Nevada, but have cooled off from the skyrocketing prices in recent years.
A Lending Tree report found that auto insurance rates will creep up around 1% this year. In Nevada, rates are expected to stay the highest in the country after another year of rising prices.
“Insurance companies spent the last few years rapidly raising rates to catch up with higher claim costs from inflation, expensive vehicle repairs and elevated accident severity,” auto insurance analyst Lindsay Bishop at LendingTree told The Center Square. “As those costs level off, companies no longer need to raise rates as aggressively.”
The less than 1% national increase in auto insurance prices is the lowest since 2022. Since then, drivers across the country have experienced insurance price shock. Averages of 11.57% (2023), 17.13% (2024) and 7.56% (2025) make 2026 look tame by comparison. Today, the average full coverage car insurance is $208 per month in the U.S., according to a report by Lending Tree’s Value Penguin.
But not all states are created equal when it comes to auto insurance. Southwestern states (Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah) were all more expensive than the national average for auto insurance in 2026.
From rapid population growth to large metro areas with fewer uninsured drivers and above average traffic fatalities, Bishop said, “Southwestern states tend to face a mix of factors that push insurance costs higher.”
While New Mexico ($212) Utah ($224) and Arizona ($236) were closer to the national average, Colorado ($272) and Nevada ($335) were among the most expensive for insured drivers. The Lending Tree report named Nevada the most expensive state for the average full coverage plan.
“Nevada’s auto insurance costs are well above average because the state has a lot of severe accidents, high theft rates in urban areas and a large number of uninsured drivers,” said Bishop. “These factors led to large rate increases in 2023 and 2024 because they created significant losses for insurance companies in the state.”
Nevada drivers were also most likely in the country to see their insurance rates go up – 6.42% in 2026 according to the Lending Tree report. For the two years prior in 2024 (27.93%) and 2025 (13.65%), the Silver State easily outstripped the U.S. average for rate increases as well.
“The slower 6% increase projected for 2026 suggests that Nevada’s auto insurance market may be stabilizing,” said Bishop. “It doesn’t mean rates are coming down yet, but it does indicate that the most extreme increases may be behind us, assuming claims trends continue to improve.”
But drivers in Nevada and other expensive insurance markets are not powerless, according to Lending Tree’s research. In Nevada, switching car insurance companies can save consumers up to $287 per month. The 139% difference from the most expensive ($493) to the cheapest full-coverage rate in the state ($206) could count for $3,444 in annual savings.
“The biggest takeaway for consumers is that shopping around matters more now than it has in years,” said Bishop. “Price gaps between insurance companies can be huge.”
Bishop also said a wide variety of insurance companies are expected to reduce rates for 2026. “Consumers should make a point of comparing quotes from companies that may not have had the cheapest rates for them in the past, because those same companies may have lower rates moving forward.”
