Car Insurance for 16-, 17- and 18-Year-Olds in Texas
Three well-known publishers estimate what a Texas 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 Texas. We converted annual figures to monthly and put them side by side; we didn't adjust them otherwise.
| Age | Insurify | Insure.com | MoneyGeek |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | $508 | $465 | $406 |
| 17 | $447 | $377 | $390 |
| 18 | $406 | $354 | $368 |
Put together, that gives a range rather than a single number:
| Age | Full coverage, per month | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| 16 | $406–$508 | 3 |
| 17 | $377–$447 | 3 |
| 18 | $354–$406 | 3 |
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); its averages are medians. Full coverage means comprehensive and collision with $1,000 deductibles. Its 16- and 17-year-old pages are current as of August 31, 2026; the 18-year-old page was updated July 29, 2026.
- Insure.com uses Quadrant Information Services rates for an individual 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 also uses Quadrant data, but for a teen on a family plan, female rates (Texas allows gender rating; a 16-year-old male is $418), with 100/300/100 limits and $1,000 deductibles. Updated June 25, 2026.
Texas allows insurers to price by gender (the Texas Department of Insurance says they can charge more by gender only if they can show a greater risk), which is why MoneyGeek's table has a male and a female version; we show the female one it publishes by default.
What each birthday is worth
Using Insure.com's figures, which cover every age from 16 to 19, the full-coverage premium in Texas falls 16 to 17: −19%; 17 to 18: −6%; 18 to 19: −4%. 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 Texas requires |
|---|---|
| Learner license (15 to 17) | Available after the classroom phase of driver education. The supervising driver must be 21 or older, licensed, with at least a year of experience. No phone use at all, hands-free included. Hold it at least 6 months; it expires on the 18th birthday. |
| Provisional license (from 16) | Requires driver education, 44 hours behind the wheel (30 of practice, 10 of them at night) and the free 2-hour Impact Texas Teen Drivers course, completed within 90 days before the road test. |
| Until 18 | No more than one passenger under 21 who isn't family, no driving between midnight and 5 a.m. except for work, school or a medical emergency, and no phone use while driving. |
| At 18 | The provisional restrictions end. Anyone who reaches 18 to 24 without a license instead takes a 6-hour adult driver education course and the 1-hour Impact Texas Adult Drivers course. |
Do you have to insure a teen with a learner license?
Not by law. The Texas Department of Insurance says you aren't legally required to insure a teen with a learner license, but you should still tell your insurer. If you don't, TDI warns, the company could deny a claim, void your policy or refuse to renew it. TDI also tells families to notify their insurer when a household member starts to drive or turns 16, or risk being billed back premium later. Many insurers don't raise the rate until the teen is fully licensed, so telling them early usually costs nothing.
One practical detail: DPS requires proof of insurance for the car used in the road test.
Who is responsible for a teen's driving
A parent or guardian has to sign a minor's license application (Transportation Code § 521.145), and if that cosigner dies, DPS cancels the teen's license. Unlike California, though, we didn't find a Texas statute that makes the signer liable for the teen's crashes. Texas parents' statutory liability is narrower: under Family Code § 41.001 they're liable for property damage caused by a child's negligent supervision or by a child aged 10 to 17 acting willfully and maliciously, capped at $25,000 per occurrence for the willful cases (§ 41.002). Insurers still expect a licensed teen to be listed on the family policy. Teens under 18 generally can't buy their own policy without a parent.
Texas-specific ways to lower the bill
The Texas Department of Insurance points families to a few levers:
- Good-grade discounts, which some insurers keep for years, and a driver-education discount, which insurers usually give.
- Telematics programs that price on how the teen actually drives.
- Which car the teen drives. The premium is based on the car the teen mainly drives, or otherwise on the highest-rated car in the household, so an older, cheaper car helps, and skipping comprehensive coverage on it may make sense.
- Distance. A teen at college without a car at school may qualify for a discount.
It also pays to look beyond the national brands. In Insure.com's Texas teen data, the second-cheapest insurer is Texas Farm Bureau, a state-only carrier, at about $2,411 a year, behind only Redpoint at $1,681 and well ahead of GEICO at $3,944. TDI's HelpInsure.com site lets you compare insurers' prices for your own situation.
Keeping the price down
Our Texas teen driver guide covers the discounts and choices that move a teen's premium most. And keep the record clean — an alcohol violation for a driver under 21 carries its own penalties, covered in DUI under 21 in Texas.
More Texas guides
- Car insurance after a DUI in Texas
- SR-22 requirements in Texas
- DUI under 21 in Texas
- Driving without insurance in Texas
- Driving with a suspended license in Texas
- Car insurance for teen drivers in Texas
- Car insurance for senior drivers in Texas
Sources
- Insurify, "How Much Is Car Insurance for a 16-/17-/18-Year-Old in Texas?" and teen pages (rates current as of August 31, 2026) — accessed September 2026
- Insure.com, "Average Teen Car Insurance Rates in Texas" (updated May 28, 2026) — accessed September 2026
- MoneyGeek, "Average Car Insurance Cost in Texas (2026 Rates)" (updated June 25, 2026) — accessed September 2026
- Texas Transportation Code §§ 521.145, 521.204, 521.222, 521.1601 and 545.424; Family Code §§ 41.001 and 41.002 — accessed September 2026
- Texas DPS, "Texas Learner License (Teen)", "Provisional License (Teen)" and "Impact Texas Drivers" — accessed September 2026
- Texas Department of Insurance, "Adding a teen driver to your insurance policy" (updated April 9, 2025) and "Auto insurance guide" — accessed September 2026
These are third-party estimates. We compared them side by side and converted units, but we didn't verify them against insurers' rate filings. See our methodology and disclaimer — this page is general information, not legal advice.