US car-insurance price index — August 2026
Index 848.231, base 1982-84=100. In August 2026 prices were falling: the weakest twelve-month reading since November 2020, after peaking at +22.6% in April 2024 — the fastest rise since November 1976. From its high of 897.406 in February 2026 the index had moved −5.48% by August 2026.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · series CUUR0000SETE · not seasonally adjusted
Price index for August 2026, released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on 11 September 2026.
- Index level, August 2026
- 848.231
- Fastest rise recorded
- +22.6% · April 2024
- From its recent high
- −5.48%
- Monthly readings held
- 775
This is the official price index for motor-vehicle insurance in the United States. It measures the change in what US urban consumers pay, not a dollar amount, and it is the one figure in this subject that is genuinely national, genuinely current and genuinely comparable over time. Every other number on this site is a filed rate for a defined hypothetical driver in one state.
Re-base a premium to a different month
Enter what you paid and the month you paid it. This restates that amount at another month’s published index level. It is arithmetic on the Bureau of Labor Statistics index — it is not a quote, an estimate or a forecast.
At the August 2026 index level
$1,707.70
The BLS motor vehicle insurance index moved −5.13% over this period. A premium of $1,800.00 in August 2025 corresponds to $1,707.70 at the August 2026 index level.
Index 894.075 in August 2025 against 848.231 in August 2026. Series CUUR0000SETE, base 1982-84=100, published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Your figures stay in your browser. Nothing you type here is sent anywhere or stored.
The last two years, month by month
| Month | Index | 12-month change | Released |
|---|---|---|---|
| August 2026 | 848.231 | −5.1% | 11 September 2026 |
| July 2026 | 856.080 | −4.5% | 12 August 2026 |
| June 2026 | 858.481 | −4.1% | 14 July 2026 |
| May 2026 | 877.278 | −2.0% | 10 June 2026 |
| April 2026 | 894.315 | +0.2% | 12 May 2026 |
| March 2026 | 897.145 | +0.8% | 10 April 2026 |
| February 2026 | 897.406 | +0.2% | 11 March 2026 |
| January 2026 | 892.491 | +0.5% | 13 February 2026 |
| December 2025 | 892.879 | +2.8% | 13 January 2026 |
| September 2025 | 890.473 | +3.1% | 24 October 2025 |
| August 2025 | 894.075 | +4.7% | 11 September 2025 |
| July 2025 | 896.018 | +5.3% | 12 August 2025 |
| June 2025 | 895.281 | +6.1% | 15 July 2025 |
| May 2025 | 895.262 | +7.0% | 11 June 2025 |
| April 2025 | 892.553 | +6.4% | 13 May 2025 |
| March 2025 | 890.353 | +7.5% | 10 April 2025 |
| February 2025 | 895.970 | +11.1% | 12 March 2025 |
| January 2025 | 887.651 | +11.8% | 12 February 2025 |
| December 2024 | 868.417 | +11.3% | 15 January 2025 |
| November 2024 | 866.133 | +12.7% | 11 December 2024 |
| October 2024 | 865.985 | +14.0% | 13 November 2024 |
| September 2024 | 863.292 | +16.3% | 10 October 2024 |
| August 2024 | 854.307 | +16.5% | 11 September 2024 |
| July 2024 | 851.007 | +18.6% | 14 August 2024 |
| June 2024 | 843.579 | +19.5% | 11 July 2024 |
Year by year
Questions about the index
- Is car insurance getting cheaper?
- The published price index fell 5.1% in the twelve months to August 2026, its weakest twelve-month reading since November 2020. That is a measure of what US drivers as a whole are paying, not a statement about any individual policy.
- Is this the average cost of car insurance?
- No. It is a price index, which measures the change in price for a constant basket. It has no dollar level and cannot be read as an average premium. The index is set to a base period rather than to a dollar figure.
- How often does this update?
- The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes this series monthly, on a release calendar it sets in advance, and this page is rebuilt from each release. The August 2026 reading was released on 11 September 2026.
- Why are two months missing from the series?
- The 2 missing months are October 2025 and November 2025, which the Bureau did not publish because of the lapse in appropriations. We render the gap rather than interpolating across it, so no twelve-month change is computable for the matching months a year later.
Series CUUR0000SETE, base 1982-84=100, 775 monthly readings from March 1947 to August 2026, the August 2026 reading released 11 September 2026.