For drivers of the same profile, the difference between paying $32 a month for car insurance versus paying four times that — $128 — could come down to one factor: the car insurance company. An analysis by ValuePenguin sought to uncover the most affordable auto insurers among the nation's biggest carriers. ValuePenguin collected online quotes from 51 U.S. insurance companies across thousands of ZIP codes for a sample driver for its evaluation. The sample driver was a 30-year-old male with a clean driving record driving a 2015 Honda Civic EX and quoting the same coverage and limits. The personal finance website found that an insurance policy with the most affordable national auto insurer was 30% cheaper than the national average. However, smaller regional insurers came out on top, emerging as the top-ranked cheapest auto insurance providers of 2021. Click through the above slideshow to see ValuePenguin's ranking of the cheapest car insurance companies of 2021. It is important to note that various factors affect car insurance costs, including location, age, driving history, vehicle, financial profile and elected coverage. The rates included in the slideshow are for a sample driver. As Mark Fitzpatrick, senior research analyst for ValuePenguin, writes, "Beyond the data, the best advice we can give drivers looking for their best car insurance rates is to shop around. No single insurer will be the cheapest for every driver..." Related: 

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