Located north of Atlanta, Gainesville has an overall average monthly car insurance cost of $184. Not to be confused with the city of the same name in Florida, Gainesville, Georgia, is a smaller town off of Interstate 985 with a population of fewer than 50,000 people.
Despite having few residents, Gainesville car insurance costs are cheaper than the state average of $207 and more expensive than the national average of $144. However, drivers in the area may find the cheapest car insurance rates with companies like Auto-Owners, COUNTRY Financial, and State Farm. Comparing car insurance rates can help you find the best coverage at the right price for you.
3 of the cheapest car insurance companies in Gainesville
The best way to find the cheapest car insurance in Gainesville is to identify the insurer that can meet your insurance needs as well as your budget. Insurers take various factors into account when deciding on rates, including age, location, vehicle, credit history, and driving record. Consider comparing prices with insurers like Auto-Owners, State Farm, and COUNTRY Financial, all of which have affordable rates.
Best insurer for liability-only coverage: Auto-Owners
Best insurer for families: State Farm
Best insurer for bundling: COUNTRY Financial
How to get the cheapest car insurance in Gainesville
From marital status and age to ZIP codes and vehicle type, many factors influence your premium. To potentially lower your monthly bill and find the cheapest car insurance in Gainesville, consider these tips:
Look for discounts. Insurers offer discounts that drivers can take advantage of. Look for companies that have discounts for attending college away from home, taking a defensive driving course, vehicle safety features, paying premiums in full, and more.
Bundle policies. Many insurers have discounts when you buy more than one insurance product from them. For example, you can bundle auto insurance with home insurance, boat insurance, life insurance, renters insurance, and more to save money on both policies.
Improve your credit. Your credit history can affect your car insurance rates, so improve your credit by paying credit cards and loans on time and keeping your credit utilization ratio below 30%.
Cheapest liability-only car insurance in Gainesville: Progressive
If you’re searching for the cheapest car insurance in Gainesville, liability-only policies typically have the lowest rates. Liability-only insurance doesn’t cover your injuries or vehicle damages. Instead, it provides bodily injury and property damage liability insurance that cover the damages and injuries you cause another person in an at-fault accident. Gainesville drivers can find liability-only coverage at an average cost of $151 per month.
Here are the cheapest companies for liability insurance in Gainesville.
Cheapest full-coverage car insurance in Gainesville: Auto-Owners
No matter if you speak to an independent insurance agency or call an insurance agent representing a national brand, you likely won’t receive an industry-standard definition of full-coverage car insurance.
In most cases, full-coverage car insurance includes liability coverage and combines it with coverage options that protect your vehicle, such as collision and comprehensive insurance. It can also include medical payments (MedPay) or personal injury protection (PIP), which cover your medical expenses after an accident, regardless of fault. Drivers in Gainesville pay an average of $217 per month for full-coverage insurance.
Here are Gainesville’s cheapest full-coverage car insurance companies.
Car insurance requirements in Georgia
Georgia is an at-fault state, unlike its neighbor Florida, which is a no-fault state. At-fault states require basic types of insurance under their tort systems: bodily injury liability insurance, property damage liability insurance, and sometimes uninsured motorist coverage. Georgia doesn’t require uninsured motorist coverage, but the state recommends it for people concerned about uninsured drivers on the road.
Georgia state law requires that all Gainesville drivers maintain the following minimum levels of auto insurance coverage:1
Gainesville drivers can also purchase as much additional coverage as they desire to protect themselves and their property from injuries and damage. Consider these optional coverages:
Georgia House Bill 221
Overpaying for car insurance can hamper your finances and make it difficult to afford the coverage you need to have the right protections while driving. Unfortunately, some companies raise rates frequently to compensate for overall losses.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp passed legislation in May 2023 that gave the state’s insurance and safety fire commissioner the ability to review all car insurance rate filings before it raises Georgia policyholders’ premiums.2
On July 1, 2023, this legislation went into effect, now preventing insurers from exploiting a loophole that allowed them to raise auto insurance rates up to 25% during a single filing.
Cheapest car insurance for drivers with an incident
If you received a speeding ticket or caused an accident with another driver, it’s likely your insurance premiums increased. Speeding tickets, driving under the influence, certain moving violations, and at-fault accidents are all incidents that can cause insurers to increase your rates.
Here are average monthly quotes from car insurers in Gainesville, based on driving record.
Cheapest car insurance for drivers with a speeding ticket: Mile Auto
With I-985 cutting through Gainesville, it may be easy to pull off the highway and forget to slow to the city’s lower speed limits. Unfortunately, a speeding ticket could increase your car insurance rate. Speed is a common factor in fatal car accidents, and insurers consider speeding to be a risky behavior.3
The average cost of car insurance for drivers with a speeding ticket in Gainesville is $265 per month for full coverage and $185 for liability only.
If you want affordable car insurance after a speeding ticket in Gainesville, check out the table below, which shows liability-only quotes from the cheapest insurers.
Cheapest car insurance for drivers with an at-fault accident: Progressive
Maybe you’re rushing to make your flight out of Lee Gilmer Memorial Airport, or you backed into a parked car at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. Mistakes happen to many Gainesville drivers, but these incidents can be costly. At-fault traffic accidents often trigger a rate increase, even if it’s your first one.
While some auto insurance coverage policies include an accident-forgiveness component, many don’t. Rates will likely increase because your accident caused your insurer to pay for the damages or injuries.5 In Gainesville, the average cost of car insurance for drivers with an accident is $290 per month for full coverage and $202 for liability only.
Here are the cheapest liability-only auto quotes in Gainesville for drivers with an at-fault accident on their records.
Cheapest car insurance for drivers with a DUI: Mile Auto
Between 2017 and 2020, more than 2,000 drivers received a DUI conviction in Georgia’s Hall County.6 Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs can lead to some of the highest auto insurance rates, as well as your insurance company not renewing your policy at the end of its term. Georgia may even require you to file SR-22 insurance and maintain its coverage for three years.
Gainesville drivers can expect to pay an average of $349 per month for full coverage and $243 for liability only after a DUI conviction.
Here are the most affordable car insurance companies offering minimum coverage for Gainesville drivers with a DUI.
Cheapest car insurance for seniors: Mile Auto
As drivers age, their experience earns them cheaper car insurance rates, starting around age 35. Unfortunately, fatal crash rates increase substantially for drivers after age 70, which then leads to an increase in rates around the age of 75. Health problems and an increased susceptibility to injury increase the likelihood of causing an accident and sustaining major injuries in an accident.7
Senior drivers often have lower-than-average premiums compared to many other age groups. The average cost of car insurance for senior drivers in Gainesville is $191 per month for full coverage and $133 for liability only.
The table below shows the cheapest auto insurers for older adults in Gainesville.
Cheapest car insurance for teens: Progressive
Rates for teen drivers skew much higher than adults because young drivers lack the experience to recognize and react to road hazards. Between 2015 and 2019, speeding was a factor in 43% of U.S. teen driver and passenger car-crash fatalities.8
Not only do teen drivers have higher death rates, but they also increase the risk of injury or death for their passengers, other drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists. Young drivers should practice safe driving habits, drive safe vehicles, and seek discounts or policy incentives on their parents’ plans to get the cheapest rates in Gainesville.
Teen drivers in Gainesville pay an average of $387 per month for full coverage and $270 for liability only.
Gainesville car insurance quotes by credit tier
Even with a clean driving record, Gainesville drivers may not get the lowest rates available if they have an unfavorable credit history. Georgia auto insurance companies are legally allowed to check your credit report and use that information as one of many factors influencing your policy eligibility and rate.9
Drivers with excellent or good credit usually pay cheaper rates than drivers with poor credit.
Is car insurance more expensive in Gainesville?
Car insurance is more expensive in Gainesville compared to the national average of $104 per month for liability insurance and $184 per month for full coverage. However, Gainesville has cheaper rates compared to major Georgia cities, like Atlanta and Savannah.
This could be because Gainesville has fewer residents than these cities, and insurance companies consider an area’s population when determining car insurance premiums.10 Also, Gainesville reported fewer car accidents in 2022 than Atlanta and Savannah.11
More cities in Georgia
Here’s how the average cost of car insurance in Gainesville compares to rates in other Georgia cities.