Auto Insurance Cost by Age and Driving Record Calculator

How age and driving record actually move your premium

Two factors move a car insurance quote more than almost anything else an insurer considers: how old you are and what your driving record looks like. Age acts as a proxy for experience and statistical claims risk, while your driving record is a direct history of the risk you have already demonstrated.

Together they explain most of the difference between the cheapest and most expensive quotes on the market for an otherwise identical driver.

The age curve is steep at the start and flattens out fast. According to CarInsurance.com's 2026 rate data, a 16-year-old pays an average of $10,387 a year for full coverage, more than four times the national baseline.

That figure drops by more than half by age 20, keeps falling through the early twenties, and largely levels off from the mid-twenties through the early sixties, the cheapest stretch of a driver's life for insurance.

Rates then tick back up modestly after 65, reflecting age-related risk factors insurers track statistically, though nowhere near teen-driver levels.

Driving record moves the price in a different way: it is not a smooth curve, it is a series of surcharges triggered by specific events. Per Insurance.com's 2025 violation data, even a minor speeding ticket (1-10 mph over the limit) raises the average premium by about 30%.

CarInsurance.com's 2026 data shows one at-fault accident raising rates by about 61%. A first DUI conviction is the steepest of all, per Insurance.com's data it raises the average premium by about 103%, more than doubling it, and a second DUI raises it further still.

These surcharges are not permanent. Most insurers look back three to five years for a standard violation and five years or more for a DUI, so the increase gradually fades as the incident ages off your record, provided you stay violation-free in the meantime.

Shopping around after a rate increase is one of the most effective things you can do, since insurers weigh the same violation differently, and a company that heavily surcharges DUIs might barely move the needle for a single speeding ticket.

This calculator uses a national baseline, not a state-specific one. Actual premiums vary significantly by state due to different minimum coverage requirements, accident rates, and regulatory environments, so treat this as a way to understand the relative size of the age and driving-record impact, then get an actual quote in your state for the real number.