Nationwide and Farmers are top insurance companies with long-established histories. Both companies are well-known for selling car insurance along with other types of insurance, including homeowners insurance, life insurance, and more.
Nationwide provides car insurance everywhere in the U.S. except for Alaska, Hawaii, Louisiana, and Maine. Farmers’ auto insurance coverage options are slightly more limited, offering coverage in 42 states.
If you’re trying to decide whether Nationwide or Farmers is a better fit for your car insurance needs, it’s important to compare rates, customer service reputation, discount opportunities, coverage options, and other factors.
Nationwide’s average rates are $95 per month for liability insurance, and Farmers’ average rates are $110 for the same coverage.
Both insurance companies offer several discounts to reduce your car insurance rates, but Farmers offers more discounts than Nationwide.
Nationwide and Farmers both earn high Insurify Quality (IQ) Scores of 9.0 and 8.5 out of 10, respectively.
Nationwide vs. Farmers: The verdict
Nationwide will be the better choice for most drivers. Nationwide’s average car insurance rates are lower in every driver category, including for teen drivers, people with clean driving records, drivers with tickets, senior drivers, and people with bad credit. And while neither insurer offers coverage in every U.S. state, Nationwide offers car insurance to drivers in more states than Farmers.
But Farmers outshines Nationwide in one area: discounts. If you can qualify for multiple auto insurance discounts from Farmers, it might be worth considering a policy from this insurance company because you may be able to find coverage at a more affordable rate.
It’s worth the effort to compare quotes from both companies to see which insurance company can offer you the best rate. The table below can also show you some key features that Nationwide and Farmers have to offer.
Our editorial team spent more than 350 hours developing the Insurify Quality (IQ) Score and scoring insurance companies. The IQ Score objectively analyzes and calculates a score for insurers using more than 15 crucial criteria. The team weighted criteria by importance to the consumer — factors such as customer reviews and affordability influence the score more than availability and third-party ratings.
We rate each company on a 1 to 10 scale based on five categories: financial ratings, customer satisfaction, affordability, customer support and transparency, and availability. Insurify updates ratings once a year or as more recent information becomes available.
- Third-party financial ratings: Insurify uses data from AM Best, S&P, Moody’s, and more to compare insurance companies’ credit and ability to pay out future claims.
- Customer satisfaction: To calculate this score, Insurify analyzed more than 55,000 customer reviews across 155 car insurance companies. We also consider third-party ratings from J.D. Power, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, and Trustpilot.
- Affordability: Our data scientists analyzed more than 90 million real-time auto insurance rates from our partners across the U.S., as well as available discounts, to calculate an affordability score.
- Customer support and transparency: This measures coverage options, ease of claims filing, and the insurer's transparency surrounding discounts, coverages, and claims process.
- Availability and reach: Insurify scores availability and reach by identifying the number of states in which insurers offer coverage and company size by market share.
Nationwide
Nationwide is one of the largest insurance companies in the U.S. In 2022, it was the 10th-largest insurance company, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).1
Farmers
Farmers has a slightly larger market share than Nationwide, holding the No. 9 spot among the top 25 insurance companies.1
Nationwide SmartRide vs. Farmers Signal
Both Nationwide and Farmers offer telematics programs that reward safe driving behavior. Both require you to download a mobile app to your smartphone. Once you install the app, it’ll track a variety of driving behaviors — positive and negative — and price your coverage according to your driving habits.
For example, if you’re someone who frequently speeds, brakes hard, or drives often during rush hour or in the evening, you might pay more for insurance coverage. But if you pay attention to speed limits, drive fewer miles, and don’t drive while distracted (using your mobile phone while operating a vehicle), you may qualify for discounts.
Eligible Farmers Signal customers could qualify for up to $100 worth of rewards per month for focused driving. Nationwide SmartRide customers earn a 10% discount for signing up and could be eligible for up to 40% in discounts based on their driving habits.
Nationwide vs. Farmers: Which is the cheapest?
Overall, Nationwide’s average rates are cheaper than Farmers. But it’s important to remember that the insurance company you choose is just one important factor that affects your final car insurance premium costs. Other details that may affect the price you pay for auto insurance include your driving record, age, ZIP code, credit history, gender, and more.
You can see how Nationwide and Farmers compare for different driver profiles in the sections below.
Nationwide: Cheapest for drivers with a clean driving record
If you’re a safe driver with a blemish-free driving record, Nationwide has more affordable rates. Farmers customers pay nearly 25% more for the same type of coverage, on average.
Nationwide: Cheapest for drivers with a speeding ticket
If you have a speeding ticket on your driving record, Nationwide’s car insurance rates are cheaper than Farmers.
Nationwide: Cheapest for teen drivers
Nationwide offers significantly lower rates to teen drivers. But remember that young drivers pay higher insurance premiums because their lack of driving experience leads to an increased risk of filing claims.
Nationwide: Cheapest for drivers with bad credit
In many states, you’ll pay more for car insurance if you have bad credit. Drivers with poor credit pay lower average car insurance premiums with Nationwide than they do with Farmers.
Nationwide: Cheapest for senior drivers
Nationwide offers cheaper insurance rates to senior drivers compared to Farmers.
Compare coverages: Nationwide vs. Farmers
Nationwide and Farmers offer a similar suite of insurance coverage options. Both insurance companies provide drivers with standard liability car insurance, uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, personal injury protection (PIP), medical payments coverage, collision coverage, and comprehensive coverage.
Both insurance companies also offer an assortment of add-ons you can consider for your car insurance policy. You can see the offerings for Nationwide and Farmers in the table below.
Compare discounts: Nationwide vs. Farmers
Farmers offers more discounts than Nationwide. In some cases, this might make up for the fact that Farmers has higher average insurance rates.
Here’s a look at some of the different types of discounts available from each insurer.
Nationwide vs. Farmers FAQs
Nationwide or Farmers might be a good fit for your car insurance needs depending on your specific situation. As you search for the best car insurance company for you, consider this additional information about these two popular insurance companies.
Is Nationwide a strong insurance company?
Yes. Overall, Nationwide is a strong insurance company. The company earns a high IQ Score of 9.0 out of 10 based on a combination of factors, including low rates, strong financial stability, a variety of discounts, and numerous auto insurance options.
Nationwide also has an A+ (Superior) financial strength rating from AM Best, indicating a strong ability to pay claims.
Does Farmers or Nationwide typically offer lower premiums?
Nationwide offers car insurance coverage at a lower cost, on average, when compared to Farmers.
The average rate for liability car insurance with Nationwide is $95 per month. Farmers customers pay an average of $110 per month for liability car insurance.
Full-coverage car insurance costs an average of $179 per month with Nationwide versus $214 per month with Farmers.
What are the key differences between Nationwide and Farmers insurance?
Perhaps the biggest difference between Nationwide and Farmers is the rates that the two insurance companies charge their customers. If cheaper rates are your priority, Nationwide offers lower insurance premiums in every category.
But Farmers gives its customers more opportunities to earn discounts. If you’re eligible to stack multiple discounts together with Farmers, you might want to consider it in certain situations.
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