(Bloomberg) -- Lawrence Williamson moved three years ago from Macon, Georgia, to Detroit and paid $17,000 for a 4,500- square-foot historic-district limestone house at a tax sale. Then he suffered sticker shock.

His car insurance premium tripled.

Williamson said he now pays $4,560 a year to insure a 2012 Hyundai and a 2003 Subaru, with a $1,000 collision deductible. It’s a burden faced across the Motor City: Detroit has the highest auto-insurance premiums in the U.S., according to an analysis by CarInsurance.com.

“I thought, ‘This is ridiculous.’ I didn’t factor it in,” said Williamson, 52, who works for a nonprofit that promotes Detroit development. He said he and his wife, 45, have clean driving records. “Insurance is just something you have to pay.”

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