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Updated
The average liability insurance rate of $203 per month for Texas teens is higher than the national average of $183. Age has a significant effect on your insurance premiums, but insurance companies consider many other factors as well, like your driving record and home address.[1]
Here’s what you should know about car insurance costs for 17-year-olds in Texas and how teen drivers can lock in the cheapest car insurance rates.
The average cost of car insurance for 17-year-old drivers in Texas is $343 per month. Rates often vary by age; for instance, 16-year-olds pay $390 per month, and 18-year-olds pay $312 per month.
Teens should see a decrease in rates as they get older, so long as they keep a clean driving record. For example, teens pay an annual premium of $4,836 for full-coverage insurance, while Texan drivers with a clean record and more years of experience pay an average of $2,462 per year.
Multiple factors affect rates in Texas, which is why it’s important to compare quotes from car insurance companies for adding a teen to a parent’s policy and taking out a separate policy for a 17-year-old. Factors that affect teens’ rates are:
Gender, as male drivers tend to pay more than female drivers
Credit history (if they have a credit card)
Driving history, including having traffic tickets, at-fault accidents, and DUIs
Driving habits, such as those monitored and measured by telematic programs
Liability quotes for teens start at $88/mo.
Finding the best car insurance rates for younger drivers in Texas at an affordable price can be difficult, but it’s not impossible.
Review the table below to see the cheapest companies for Texas teens. Keep in mind that in order for a 17-year-old to get their own policy, they need written consent from their parent or guardian.
Insurance Company | Average Monthly Quote: Full Coverage | Average Monthly Quote: Liability Only |
|---|---|---|
| State Farm | $170 | $88 |
| Progressive | $228 | $125 |
| Allstate | $243 | $124 |
| Mercury | $263 | $164 |
| Root | $263 | $159 |
| GEICO | $273 | $129 |
| USAA | $289 | $148 |
| Clearcover | $299 | $171 |
| Mile Auto | $302 | $135 |
| GAINSCO | $334 | $173 |
| Elephant | $346 | $223 |
| Alinsco | $347 | $177 |
| Safeco | $352 | $239 |
| Bristol West | $354 | $183 |
| Direct Auto | $358 | $227 |
| The General | $374 | $168 |
| National General | $398 | $240 |
| Mendota | $404 | $207 |
| Commonwealth Casualty | $408 | $187 |
| AssuranceAmerica | $410 | $224 |
| First Acceptance | $413 | $170 |
| Lone Star | $427 | $183 |
| Loop | $429 | $230 |
| Sun Coast | $433 | $215 |
| Dairyland | $436 | $186 |
| Covercube | $447 | $195 |
| Liberty Mutual | $490 | $335 |
| Chubb | $548 | $279 |
| 21st Century | $552 | $282 |
| Trexis One | $556 | $267 |
Texas auto insurance rates are higher for teens regardless of whether parents add a teen to their policy or if a teen has a separate policy. Still, it’s important to compare insurance quotes from multiple companies to determine which insurer can offer you and your teen the best coverage at the lowest rate. Let’s look at the benefits and disadvantages of each option.
Benefits of adding a teen to a parent’s policy include:
Teens often get the lowest rates when added to a parent’s policy compared to a separate policy.
Parents can help teens get familiar with how insurance works.
Teens can gain driving experience without negatively affecting their status as a first-time policyholder.
Parents can benefit from teen-specific discounts.
Disadvantages of adding a teen to a parent’s policy include:
Teen driver mistakes can negatively affect a parent’s insurance history.
Teens with limited driving experience may be more expensive to insure.
Benefits of a separate policy:
Teens choose exactly which coverage options they need.
Teens establish independent insurance history with a company.
Disadvantages of a separate policy:
It’s typically more expensive than being listed on a parent’s policy.
Teens have to choose between spending more for comprehensive coverage or paying for repair costs out of pocket.
Teens may not have a suitable credit history to positively affect their rates.
Teens still need a parent’s or guardian’s approval to get their own policy.
Look at the table below to compare how rates change for parents and teens alike.
Drivers | Liability Only | Full Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| Two parents and a 17-year-old driver | $358 | $725 |
| Two parents | $190 | $382 |
| 17-year-old driver on their own policy | $223 | $450 |
Full-coverage quotes in Texas start at $169/mo.
All drivers in Texas must maintain these minimum-coverage levels of liability insurance:[4]
$30,000 of coverage for bodily injury per person
$60,000 of coverage for bodily injury per accident
$25,000 of coverage for property damage
This minimum level of liability coverage may not be enough to cover an accident, which is why insurance professionals recommend increasing these amounts. Crash rates for teenagers are four times higher than for drivers 20 and older, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
Texas police will verify a teen’s insurance coverage if they’re pulled over or involved in an accident. Teens will also need to show proof of insurance or a statement affirming that they don’t own a vehicle when applying for a driver’s license.[5]
Driving without a license can have penalties, including receiving a traffic ticket, paying a fine, and the state suspending your driver’s license. But in Texas, not all 17-year-olds have to have insurance at first.
The Texas Graduated Driver License program states that teens with a learner’s license don’t have to have insurance coverage. Drivers with a provisional license can’t use a cell phone, can’t drive between midnight and 5 a.m., and can’t drive with more than one passenger younger than 21 who isn’t a family member.
Teens are eligible for a full license in Texas when they complete the following:
All requirements of their learner’s license and provisional license
Show proof of an Impact Texas Drivers certificate
Pass the Driver Education course and vision test
Pass a written knowledge exam and practical driving skills test
Parents need to add a teen driver to their insurance policy once the teen receives a provisional license, hardship license, or standard driver’s license. Parents should notify their insurance company immediately when their teen receives a learner’s license, according to the Texas Department of Insurance.
Texas law doesn’t require teens with a learner’s license to have insurance, which can help parents keep premiums lower. Limiting teens to a learner’s license before they get their own policy can help families lower out-of-pocket costs.
When your 17-year-old receives any type of driving license, follow these steps to ensure they receive appropriate coverage:
Contact your insurance company. Texas doesn’t require 17-year-old learner-licensed drivers to have insurance, but you need to let your agent know that you have a supervised driver using your vehicle.
Consider what coverage options you need. When your 17-year-old gets a provisional or standard driver’s license, ask for insurance quotes for both liability-only and full-coverage policies.
Compare how policy changes affect your rates. Bundling multiple insurance products, choosing a higher deductible, and enrolling your teen in a driver’s education course can help you secure cheap car insurance even when adding a new driver.
Protect your teen and your wallet
Teen drivers receive higher premiums based on crash reports and statistics from the Texas Department of Insurance. But a teenage driver can still reduce their monthly rates. Insurance companies offer discounts, academic-related programs, and other incentives specifically for young drivers.
Here are a few tips for lowering the average cost of a 17-year-old’s car insurance policy.
It’s always important to shop around for car insurance quotes, but even more so when you’re adding a teen driver. Every insurer weighs age differently, so you may be able to find a cheaper rate in a few minutes.
Cars with the latest safety features cost less to insure than a sports car. Similarly, a liability-only policy generally costs less than a policy with comprehensive and collision coverage.
Many companies offer car insurance discounts, like good student discounts, that reduce rates for maintaining good grades in high school and college.
Some insurance companies offer physical devices and mobile apps that reward safe driving habits.
Many insurance companies offer reduced rates for teens who successfully complete a defensive driving course.
Insurers may offer discounts if your teen is going to college a minimum distance away. If a teen is starting at a Louisiana college and won’t be taking their car with them, for instance, tell your insurance company that they won’t be using their vehicle.
All 17-year-old drivers in Texas must meet minimum insurance requirements unless they hold a learner’s permit. Whether alone or on a parent’s policy, use the information below to help identify affordable car insurance options.
State Farm offers the cheapest liability car insurance rates for 17-year-old drivers in Texas. Its average monthly premium of $88 is significantly lower than the average statewide rate of $240 for liability-only coverage.
In Texas, 17-year-old drivers pay a monthly average of $240 for liability insurance and $447 for a full-coverage auto insurance policy. Teen drivers may be eligible for discounts that can reduce rates.
Car insurance is expensive for Texas teens because they have the least amount of experience and engage in riskier driving behaviors. Nationwide, 1 out of every 13 crashes involving teen drivers between 2019 and 2023 occurred in Texas, according to a study by AAA. Only 16-year-olds have higher crash-per-mile rates than 17-year-olds nationwide, which is another reason car insurance is so pricey.[6]
A parent or guardian’s full-coverage car insurance costs will rise approximately 96%, on average, if they add a 17-year-old driver to their existing policy, according to Insurify data. Two adults without a teen on their policy pay $382 per month, on average. Adding a teen increases the full-coverage rate to $725 per month. Adults should expect higher rates when insuring young drivers.
Texas drivers pay an overall average of $158 per month for car insurance, according to Insurify data.
Insurify data scientists analyzed more than 250 million quotes served to car insurance applicants in Insurify’s proprietary database to calculate the premium averages displayed on this page. These premiums are real quotes that come directly from Insurify’s 500+ partner insurance companies in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Quote averages represent the median price for a quote across the given coverage level, driver subset, and geographic area.
Unless otherwise specified, quoted rates reflect the average cost for drivers between 20 and 70 years old with a clean driving record and average or better credit (a credit score of 600 or higher).
Liability-only premium averages correspond to policies with the following coverage limits:
Quotes for Allstate, Farmers, GEICO, State Farm, and USAA are estimates based on Quadrant Information Services’ database of auto insurance rates.
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6+ years writing about insurance, travel, and personal finances
Contributor to brands like Credible
Featured in
Licensed auto and home insurance agent
4+ years experience in insurance and personal finance editing
NPN: 20564519
Featured in
25 years teaching risk management and insurance course
Former commercial lines underwriter
At Insurify, our goal is to help customers compare insurance products and find the best policy for them. We strive to provide open, honest, and unbiased information about the insurance products and services we review. Our hard-working team of data analysts, insurance experts, insurance agents, editors and writers, has put in thousands of hours of research to create the content found on our site.
We do receive compensation when a sale or referral occurs from many of the insurance providers and marketing partners on our site. That may impact which products we display and where they appear on our site. But it does not influence our meticulously researched editorial content, what we write about, or any reviews or recommendations we may make. We do not guarantee favorable reviews or any coverage at all in exchange for compensation.
