Car Insurance for 16-, 17- and 18-Year-Olds in Pennsylvania

Three well-known publishers estimate what a Pennsylvania teen pays at each age, and they don't agree. Here are all three side by side, and why the numbers differ.

Full coverage by age, from three sources

Each column is a different publisher's estimate of the monthly full-coverage premium for a teen driver in Pennsylvania. We converted annual figures to monthly and put them side by side; we didn't adjust them otherwise.

Age	Insurify	Insure.com	MoneyGeek
16	$350	$590	$336
17	—	$497	$319
18	$305	$429	$297

Put together, that gives a range rather than a single number:

Age	Full coverage, per month	Sources
16	$336–$590	3
17	$319–$497	2
18	$297–$429	3

"—" means the source doesn't publish a Pennsylvania figure for that age. Insurify also publishes liability-only averages: 16: $198, 18: $151 per month.

Why the three sources disagree

They aren't measuring the same thing:

• Insurify averages quotes served on its own marketplace (plus Quadrant Information Services estimates for Allstate, Farmers, GEICO, State Farm and USAA), with 50/100/50 liability limits. Full coverage means comprehensive and collision with $1,000 deductibles. Rates current as of August 31, 2026.
• Insure.com uses Quadrant Information Services rates for a teen driver in a Honda Accord LX with a clean record, 100/300/100 limits and $500 deductibles. Lower deductibles push the price up. Updated May 28, 2026.
• MoneyGeek doesn't name its data provider; it prices a teen on a family plan, with 100/300/100 limits and $1,000 deductibles. Updated September 1, 2026.

Pennsylvania doesn't allow gender-based auto rates. The ban comes from a 1988 court ruling (Bartholomew v. Foster) that found them unconstitutional under the state's Equal Rights Amendment, and the Insurance Department's consumer guide confirms it. Boys and girls of the same age pay essentially the same; Insure.com's figures differ by only a few dollars a year.

Insurify doesn't publish a Pennsylvania figure for 17-year-olds, so that age's range rests on two sources.

What each birthday is worth

Using Insure.com's figures, which cover every age from 16 to 19, the full-coverage premium in Pennsylvania falls 16 to 17: −16%; 17 to 18: −14%; 18 to 19: −19%. These are averages for a clean record; a teen with a ticket or crash won't follow the same curve.

What changes at each age

Stage	What Pennsylvania requires
Learner's permit (from 16)	Valid for a year; hold it at least 6 months before the road test. Log 65 hours of supervised driving, including 10 at night and 5 in bad weather, certified by a parent. The supervisor must be 21 or older, or a parent, guardian or spouse aged 18 or older.
Junior license	No driving from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m., except for work, a volunteer fire company or public or charitable service, with a signed affidavit. For the first 6 months, no more than 1 passenger under 18 who isn't family; after that, up to 3. The limit drops back to 1 after an at-fault crash or any conviction, and doesn't apply when a parent or guardian is in the car.
Regular license at 17	Possible after 12 months on the junior license with no at-fault crash or conviction, plus an approved driver education course and a parent's affidavit.
At 18	A junior license automatically becomes a regular license.

75 Pa.C.S. § 1503 and PennDOT's young driver fact sheet. A junior driver who reaches 6 points, or is caught driving 26 mph or more over the limit, faces a 90-day suspension. Since June 5, 2026, when the warning period for Pennsylvania's hands-free law (Paul Miller's Law) ended, using a handheld phone while driving costs $50 plus costs for any driver, including at red lights.

Do you have to insure a teen on a permit?

Pennsylvania law doesn't set a moment when a permit holder must be added. The state Insurance Department's own guide says some companies require the teen to be added as soon as they get a learner's permit, and tells parents to check with their insurer. In practice, the safest approach is to tell your insurer at the permit stage and have the teen listed as a rated driver by the time they get a junior license.

Teens under 18 generally can't hold their own policy. Sources disagree on whether it's impossible or just requires written parental consent, and we didn't find a state rule settling it, so plan on the family policy.

Your tort choice covers your teen too

Pennsylvania is one of the few "choice no-fault" states: each policy picks full tort or limited tort. Limited tort is cheaper but restricts the right to sue for pain and suffering after most crashes. Under 75 Pa.C.S. § 1705(b)(2), the option you choose applies to every insured on your policy who isn't a named insured on another policy, including your teen. If you chose limited tort to save money, your new driver is bound by it as well. Full tort is the default unless limited tort was selected.

What signing the permit application means

A parent or guardian has to sign a teen's permit application under oath (75 Pa.C.S. § 1507). Unlike some states, Pennsylvania's statute doesn't make that signature a promise to pay for the teen's crashes. What it does give the parent is control: the signer can later withdraw consent, and PennDOT must then cancel the teen's permit or license (§ 1507(d)).

No teen discount is required by Pennsylvania law; the only discount the state mandates is a 5% discount for drivers 55 and older. Good-student and driver-training discounts are up to each insurer, so ask for them by name.

Keeping the price down

Our Pennsylvania teen driver guide covers the discounts and choices that move a teen's premium most. And keep the record clean: see what a DUI does in our Pennsylvania DUI guide.

More Pennsylvania guides

• Car insurance after a DUI in Pennsylvania
• Car insurance for teen drivers in Pennsylvania
• Car insurance for senior drivers in Pennsylvania