These Cities Have the Best Drivers in 2022

Everyone wins when motorists follow the rules of the road. These cities can take a victory lap for having the best drivers in the nation.

With reckless driving behavior and traffic fatality rates on the rise ever since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, drivers should take extra precaution when traveling now more than ever.^[1] Despite this recent increase in dangerous driving incidents, it’s still crucial to recognize that not all drivers are following this unfortunate trend. In fact, the large majority of motorists in the U.S. obey traffic laws and are considerate of other drivers, making the road a safer place for everyone.

Safe driving is always its own reward, but it actually pays to be good, too. Insurify’s 2022 Insuring the American Driver report found that having just one prior traffic offense on record increases a driver’s insurance premium on average by 35%.^[2] Depending on the incident, one offense can cost a driver hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars per year. Drivers who practice safe habits save not only lives but some serious money, too.

Curious to see where drivers actually accrue traffic infractions at the lowest rates, the data science team at Insurify turned to their database of over 4.6 million car insurance applications to identify the city in each state with the best drivers in 2022.

Insights

• National average. Across the U.S., 82.9% of drivers have no at-fault traffic violations on record. For perspective, this is about the same proportion of U.S. men standing 5′6″ or taller and U.S. women standing 5′1″ or taller.^[3]

• Michigan sets an example for safe driving. A whopping 5 of the 10 best driving cities in the country are in Michigan, which also has the highest share of drivers with a clean record — 88.1% — of any state in the country. Michigan has the highest insurance premiums in the nation, too, so it’s possible that motorists there are driving extra carefully to avoid additional costs. The Wolverine State also has a storied history of automobile manufacturing, so perhaps it’s no surprise that Michigan drivers display excellent competency behind the wheel. In fact, 90.5% of drivers in Dearborn, MI — global headquarters of the Ford Motor Company — have a clean driving record, meaning the town is the second-best driving city in the nation.

• Battle of the boroughs: who drives the best? Though plenty of New York City residents don’t own a car, those who do drive have a reputation for being brash. Yet a full 88.3% drivers in The Bronx, NY, have a clean driving record, which is not only 7% higher than the national average but, more importantly, a higher share than any other borough in New York. Living up to its reputation, Staten Island has the worst drivers in the city, but its 84.4% clean driving rate is actually higher than the national average.

Methodology

Researchers at Insurify, a car insurance comparison platform, turned to their database of over 4.6 million car insurance applications to identify the U.S. cities with the best drivers in 2022. For every U.S. city with at least 50,000 residents — the U.S. Census Bureau’s definition of an urban area — Insurify’s data scientists compared the number of drivers with a clean driving record against the overall driving population. The city in each state with the largest share of drivers without any at-fault violations on record was deemed the best driving city in its respective state in 2022. For states with fewer than three cities with a population greater than 50,000, the state’s three largest cities were considered in this analysis. Due to insufficient city-level data, Hawaii, Maine, North Dakota, and Vermont were excluded from this analysis.

Population data for each metro area was gathered from the United States Census Bureau.^[4]

The findings in this article represent statistical trends found in Insurify’s analysis of over 4.6 million car insurance applications. The findings of this study are not meant to imply the direction nor necessarily the existence of a causal relationship. Rather, this is a presentation of statistical correlations of public interest.

City in Each State With the Best Drivers (2022)

Alabama: Mobile

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 82.2%

Alaska: Juneau

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 80.5%

Arizona: Yuma

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 86.0%

Arkansas: North Little Rock

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 86.2%

California: San Mateo

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 86.4%

Colorado: Pueblo

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 84.8%

Connecticut: Waterbury

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 89.7%

Delaware: Wilmington

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 86.2%

Florida: The Villages

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 91.6%

Georgia: Alpharetta

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 82.5%

Idaho: Idaho Falls

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 79.5%

Illinois: Peoria

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 85.9%

Indiana: Gary

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 84.6%

Iowa: West Des Moines

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 78.6%

Kansas: Topeka

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 82.2%

Kentucky: Louisville

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 86.9%

Louisiana: Shreveport

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 85.6%

Maryland: Dundalk

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 83.2%

Massachusetts: Boston

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 87.1%

Michigan: Dearborn

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 90.5%

Minnesota: St. Paul

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 82.8%

Mississippi: Jackson

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 86.7%

Missouri: Florissant

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 84.5%

Montana: Great Falls

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 82.1%

Nebraska: Omaha

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 79.3%

Nevada: Las Vegas

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 87.8%

New Hampshire: Concord

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 81.8%

New Jersey: Newark

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 88.5%

New Mexico: Albuquerque

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 86.8%

New York: New York City

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 86.5%

North Carolina: Cary

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 84.9%

Ohio: Youngstown

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 76.8%

Oklahoma: Enid

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 85.2%

Oregon: Eugene

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 82.0%

Pennsylvania: Bethlehem

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 86.2%

Rhode Island: Providence

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 85.8%

South Carolina: Rock Hill

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 78.1%

South Dakota: Rapid City

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 79.9%

Tennessee: Franklin

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 83.3%

Texas: Mission

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 89.6%

Utah: West Jordan

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 82.6%

Virginia: Arlington

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 82.3%

Washington: Bellevue

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 83.5%

West Virginia: Huntington

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 85.5%

Wisconsin: Kenosha

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 80.0%

Wyoming: Cheyenne

• Share of drivers with a clean record: 79.5%

If you have any questions or comments about this article or would like to request the data, please contact insights@insurify.com.