Minimum Wage, Maximum Car Insurance Pain

If you earn the minimum wage, chances are you've bought the cheapest car insurance you could find.

Depending on where you live, just enough liability insurance to be legal can cost anywhere from $342 to $1,544. At $7.25 an hour, that is at least a week's pay -- and in some places, more than a month's pay.

Minimum-wage workers tend to be young. Half of them are under 25, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.  We priced basic state-minimum auto insurance quotes from coast to coast for a 24-year-old male with no tickets and good credit. We put him behind the wheel of a 1997 Ford Taurus worth perhaps $2,500.

Yet even this vehicle -- or any similar no-frills ride-- represents a huge expense for the 4 million or so Americans working a minimum-wage job.

In Springfield, Ill., he would have to work 55 hours at that state's $8.25  minimum wage to pay a year's worth of the state's minimum liability coverage on his beater car. In Denver, 97 hours.

And in Albany, N.Y., Trenton, N.J., or Hartford, Conn., he would have to work more than a month of minimum-wage hours to buy the lowest amount of car insurance required.

CarInsurance.com looked at bare-minimum policies for a young driver in each state's capital. Unless you're 24, male, a resident of the particular addresses we used and proud owner of a 1997 Taurus, your quotes probably won't match ours, which are only a snapshot of the rates available through our quote-comparison engine.

They are, however, a good indicator of the financial hurdle confronting any young driver who depends on his own car to commute to school or work.

What a 24-year-old pays for state-minimum liability

State	State minimum	Annual cost	Minimum wage	Hours
Alabama	25/50/25	$668	$7.25	92
Alaska*	50/100/25	N/A	$7.75	NA
Arizona	15/30/10	$542	$7.80	69
Arkansas	25/50/25	$874	$6.25	140
California	15/30/5	$592	$8.00	74
Colorado	25/50/15	$756	$7.78	97
Connecticut	20/40/10	$1,388	$8.25	168
Delaware	15/30/10	$778	$7.25	107
District of Columbia	25/50/10	$1,422	$8.25	172
Florida	10/10	$582	$7.79	75
Georgia	25/50/25	$784	$5.15	152
Hawaii	20/40/10	$492	$7.25	68
Idaho	25/50/15	$568	$7.25	78
Illinois	20/40/15	$452	$8.25	55
Indiana	25/50/10	$428	$7.25	59
Iowa	20/40/15	$410	$7.25	57
Kansas	25/50/10	$518	$7.25	71
Kentucky	25/50/10	$890	$7.25	123
Louisiana	15/30/25	$976	$7.25	135
Maine	50/100/25	$622	$7.50	83
Maryland*	30/60/15	N/A	$7.25	NA
Massachusetts*	20/40/5	N/A	$8.00	NA
Michigan	20/40/10	$1,216	$7.40	164
Minnesota	30/60/10	$1,180	$6.15	191
Mississippi	25/50/25	$486	$7.25	67
Missouri	25/50/10	$480	$7.35	65
Montana	25/50/10	$526	$7.80	67
Nebraska	25/50/25	$602	$7.25	83
Nevada	15/30/10	$494	$8.25	60
New Hampshire+	None	$466	$7.25	64
New Jersey	15/30/5	$1,230	$7.25	170
New Mexico	25/50/10	$544	$7.50	73
New York	25/50/10	$1,544	$7.25	213
North Carolina	30/60/25	$462	$7.25	64
North Dakota	25/50/25	$668	$7.25	92
Ohio	12.5/25/7.5	$470	$7.85	60
Oklahoma	25/50/25	$782	$7.25	108
Oregon	25/50/20	$994	$8.95	111
Pennsylvania	15/30/5	$532	$7.25	73
Rhode Island*	25/50/25	N/A	$7.75	NA
South Carolina	25/50/25	$748	$7.25	103
South Dakota	25/50/25	$422	$7.25	58
Tennessee	25/50/15	$466	$7.25	64
Texas	30/60/25	$630	$7.25	87
Utah	25/65/15	$880	$7.25	121
Vermont	25/50/10	$512	$8.60	60
Virginia	25/50/20	$628	$7.25	87
Washington	25/50/10	$546	$9.19	59
West Virginia	20/40/10	$1,052	$7.25	145
Wisconsin	50/100/15	$342	$7.25	47
Wyoming	25/50/20	$422	$5.15	82

* Data missing or unavailable at time of publication

+ New Hampshire drivers must show proof of financial responsibility in the event of an accident

 No shortcuts: It's the law

The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, though many states set their own higher and a few go as low as $5.15.

1 2 Next › Last »