On this page
Tesla insurance costs about $4,512 a year, or $376 a month, for full coverage in 2026, according to Insurance.com’s rate analysis. That is roughly 50 percent above the national average of $3,037 a year for all vehicles. The Model Y is the cheapest Tesla to insure at $3,836 a year, and the Model X is the most expensive at $5,462 a year. Tesla’s own insurance program, available in 15 states, can cut that bill sharply for drivers with a high Safety Score, with some Model 3 owners paying as little as $74 a month for full coverage.
The price gap between datasets is the first thing to understand. Compare.com puts the Tesla average at $343 a month for full coverage, Insurify at $268 a month, and Insurance.com at $376 a month. The datasets use different driver profiles, coverage limits, and quote sources, so none of them is wrong. They are measuring different things. This guide lays the three datasets side by side, breaks the cost down by model and by state, and shows when Tesla’s own insurance beats a third-party policy.
How much is Tesla insurance per month in 2026?
Full coverage for a Tesla averages $268 to $376 a month depending on which dataset you read, and liability-only coverage averages $126 to $156 a month. Insurance.com, using Quadrant rate filings, reports $376 a month for full coverage and puts the national average for all vehicles at $3,037 a year, which makes a Tesla about 50 percent more expensive than the average car. Compare.com, using real quotes from more than 100 partner insurers plus Quadrant filings, reports $343 a month for full coverage and $156 a month for liability. Insurify, using live quotes from its network of more than 500 insurance partners, reports $268 a month for full coverage and $126 a month for liability. The spread between the datasets is a reminder to treat any single number as a starting point and to get quotes on your exact car, ZIP code, and driving record.
| Source | Full coverage per month | Liability only per month | Method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Insurance.com | $376 | Not published | Quadrant rate filings, 2026 |
| Compare.com | $343 | $156 | Quotes from 100+ partner insurers plus Quadrant filings, updated Nov 4, 2026 |
| Insurify | $268 | $126 | Live quotes from 500+ insurance partners, updated Nov 4, 2026 |
Why do the datasets disagree by more than $100 a month? The driver profile is the biggest reason. Insurance.com’s figures reflect a standard adult driver with filed rates across all states. Compare.com’s figures reflect actual quotes, which skew toward drivers who shop online. Insurify’s figures reflect its own quote traffic, which skews younger and more price-sensitive. Coverage limits matter too: a 100/300/100 policy with a $1,000 deductible costs far less than a 250/500/100 policy with a $250 deductible. When you compare quotes, match the limits exactly, or the comparison is meaningless.
How much is Tesla insurance by model?
The Model Y is the cheapest Tesla to insure in the Insurance.com data at $3,836 a year, or $320 a month, and the Model X is the most expensive at $5,462 a year, or $455 a month. The Model 3 sits at $3,871 a year, the Cybertruck at $4,415 a year, and the Model S at $5,285 a year. Compare.com ranks the models differently: it finds the Model S cheapest at $311 a month for full coverage, followed by the Model Y at $332, the Model X at $353, the Model 3 at $357, and the Cybertruck at $369. Insurify agrees with Compare.com that the Model S is cheapest, at $275 a month, with the Model Y at $291, the Model 3 at $318, the Model X at $323, and the Cybertruck at $285.
| Model | Insurance.com full coverage | Compare.com full coverage | Insurify full coverage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Model 3 | $323/mo ($3,871/yr) | $357/mo | $318/mo |
| Model Y | $320/mo ($3,836/yr) | $332/mo | $291/mo |
| Model S | $440/mo ($5,285/yr) | $311/mo | $275/mo |
| Model X | $455/mo ($5,462/yr) | $353/mo | $323/mo |
| Cybertruck | $368/mo ($4,415/yr) | $369/mo | $285/mo |
The Model S disagreement is the interesting one. Insurance.com prices it as the second most expensive Tesla, while Compare.com and Insurify price it as the cheapest. Insurance.com’s Tesla cost breakdown puts the Model S at $5,285 a year and the Model X at $5,462, with the Model Y cheapest at $3,836. The difference is the driver mix: the Model S is an older, more expensive car whose owners tend to be older, garaged, and low-mileage, which pulls the quote-based averages down, while the filed-rate averages weight the car’s repair cost more heavily. The practical point is that the model matters less than the insurer. The cheapest insurer for a Model 3 in one dataset is Travelers at $2,505 a year, while the cheapest for a Model Y is American Family at $2,272 a year, and for a Model X it is American Family at $3,025 a year. USAA, State Farm, and Allstate have the cheapest average rates for Teslas nationwide in the Compare.com data, though USAA is limited to military families.
Why is Tesla insurance so expensive?
Four costs stack up against a Tesla. First, repair costs are high: the body is aluminum, parts are specialized, and only certified shops can do structural work, so a minor collision that would cost $2,000 on a Toyota can cost $6,000 or more on a Tesla. Second, parts availability is limited, which stretches repair times and rental car bills. Third, the driver-assistance sensors need recalibration after even a minor collision, which adds hundreds of dollars to every repair. Fourth, the cars are fast: a Model 3 Performance or Model S Plaid puts supercar acceleration in a family sedan, and insurers price that risk accordingly. The result is premiums 30 to 60 percent higher than equivalent gas-powered crossovers and sedans, and in some states a Model Y Performance exceeds $3,500 a year for full coverage.
Age and trim move the price as much as the model does. A 2020 Model Y costs about $229 a month to insure, while a 2026 Model Y runs $380 to $429 a month in the same data, because the newer car costs more to replace. A Model 3 RWD at about $38,990 runs $175 to $210 a month, while a Model 3 Performance at about $52,990 runs $240 to $300 a month. Your state matters too: the same car can cost twice as much in a high-cost state as in a low-cost one, which is why the national averages in this guide are only a starting point.
Is Tesla Insurance cheaper than a regular insurer?
Tesla Insurance is available in 15 states as of September 2026: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Virginia. It prices on a Safety Score that tracks hard braking, aggressive turning, unsafe following distance, forward collision warnings, and forced Autopilot disengagements. Drivers with a high Safety Score pay far less than the third-party average: Tesla’s own insurance averages around $169 a month across all new models for safe drivers, roughly 49 percent less than competitor averages, and some Model 3 owners with a perfect score pay as little as $74 a month for full coverage.
The catch is that the Safety Score cuts both ways. A driver who brakes hard in city traffic or follows closely on the highway can see the score drop and the premium rise month to month, since Tesla Insurance reprices monthly. California is a special case: state law bars the use of the Safety Score there, so California Tesla Insurance uses traditional rating factors instead. If you live in one of the 15 states and you drive smoothly, get a Tesla Insurance quote before you buy anywhere else. If you drive hard, or you live outside those states, the third-party market is your only option, and USAA, State Farm, and Allstate are the names to quote first. Drivers shopping for their first policy should also read our guide to first-time car insurance costs, which explains why a new driver with no history pays more and how to bring that price down.
How to cut the cost of insuring a Tesla
Start with the insurer, not the coverage. The spread between the cheapest and the most expensive quote for the same Tesla can be two to three times, which is wider than for most cars, because some carriers simply do not want the risk. Get quotes from at least five carriers on identical limits, and include Tesla Insurance if your state allows it. Then look at the deductible: raising collision and comprehensive deductibles from $500 to $1,000 can cut the premium by 10 to 15 percent, and it is the cheapest lever available if you can afford the higher out-of-pocket cost after a crash.
Telematics is the second lever. Tesla’s Safety Score is the most aggressive version, but most major carriers now offer their own usage-based programs, and a clean score can earn a 10 to 30 percent discount. Bundling home and auto helps too, and so does paying the premium in full instead of monthly, which avoids installment fees. Garage the car, keep the mileage low, and take a defensive driving course if your state or carrier offers a discount for it. Young drivers face the steepest Tesla premiums of all, and our comparison of the best car insurance for teens shows which carriers price young drivers most reasonably. New drivers under 21 should also check our comparison of the best insurance for new drivers under 21, and the GEICO new driver cost breakdown for a carrier-by-carrier look at new-driver pricing.
A worked example: a Model 3 in two states
Take a 40-year-old driver with a clean record and a 2025 Model 3, buying full coverage with 100/300/100 limits and a $1,000 deductible. In a low-cost state, the Insurance.com average of $3,871 a year is a reasonable expectation, and a quote from Travelers or State Farm could come in near $2,505 a year, the cheapest Model 3 figure in the Insurance.com data. In a high-cost state, the same driver and the same car could face $4,500 or more a year, and the Cybertruck in the same state could exceed $5,500. The car is identical. The state, the insurer, and the driver profile do the work.
Now add Tesla Insurance to the same example. In Texas, a Model 3 driver with a Safety Score of 95 or better could pay around $169 a month, or about $2,028 a year, which is roughly half the Insurance.com average. The same driver with a Safety Score of 70 could pay more than the third-party average. The score is the whole game, and it changes every month. That is why the honest advice for a Tesla owner is not to pick a carrier and stop, but to quote five carriers and Tesla Insurance every renewal, and to drive as if the premium depends on it, because with Tesla Insurance it does.
Key takeaways
Tesla insurance averages $268 to $376 a month for full coverage in 2026, depending on the dataset, against a national average of about $3,037 a year for all vehicles. The Model Y and Model 3 are the cheapest to insure in the filed-rate data, while the Model S looks cheapest in the quote-based data, which tells you the insurer matters more than the model. Tesla Insurance, in its 15 states, is often the cheapest option for smooth drivers and a poor one for aggressive drivers. Quote five carriers plus Tesla Insurance on identical limits, raise the deductible if you can afford it, and re-quote every renewal.
Frequently asked questions
How much is Tesla insurance per month in 2026?
On average about $376 a month for full coverage according to Insurance.com, $343 a month according to Compare.com, and $268 a month according to Insurify. Liability-only coverage averages $126 to $156 a month. The datasets use different driver profiles and quote sources, so get quotes on your exact car, ZIP code, and driving record.
What is the cheapest Tesla model to insure?
The Model Y is the cheapest in Insurance.com’s filed-rate data at $3,836 a year, followed by the Model 3 at $3,871 a year. Compare.com and Insurify rank the Model S cheapest, at $311 and $275 a month respectively. The Model X is the most expensive in the Insurance.com data at $5,462 a year.
Is Tesla Insurance available in my state?
Tesla Insurance is available in 15 states as of September 2026: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Virginia. California is the exception to the Safety Score system: state law bars its use there, so California policies use traditional rating factors.
Why is Tesla insurance more expensive than a regular car?
Repair costs are the main reason: aluminum bodies, specialized parts, limited certified repair shops, and driver-assistance sensors that need recalibration after minor collisions. The cars are also fast, which raises the risk insurers price. The result is premiums 30 to 60 percent higher than equivalent gas-powered cars.
Does the Tesla Safety Score really lower my premium?
Yes, for smooth drivers. Tesla Insurance averages around $169 a month for drivers with high Safety Scores, roughly 49 percent less than competitor averages, and some Model 3 owners with a perfect score pay as little as $74 a month for full coverage. Aggressive driving lowers the score and raises the premium month to month, so the discount is not guaranteed.
Which company has the cheapest Tesla insurance?
USAA, State Farm, and Allstate have the cheapest average rates for Teslas nationwide in Compare.com’s data, though USAA is limited to military families. By model, Travelers is cheapest for the Model 3 at $2,505 a year, and American Family is cheapest for the Model Y at $2,272 a year and the Model X at $3,025 a year. Tesla Insurance itself is often cheapest of all for high Safety Score drivers in its 15 states.
