State Farm vs. Allstate: Which Is Cheaper?

Quick Verdict

On the two premium rows: this guide will not print a dollar figure it cannot tie to a named filing or rate study with the state, limits and date it applies to. Any "average premium" you see quoted for either company is an average of profiles that are not yours, and a quote estimate is not the premium you are bound at — the bound figure follows verification of your record, mileage, vehicle and, where state law allows it, your credit-based insurance score.

On the NAIC index: a complaint index near 1.0 means complaints roughly proportional to market share (Money Atlas, undated). Your state's insurance department publishes the index by company and by line, which is the number to pull before you decide either company is unusually good or bad at handling disputes where you live.

Price Comparison by Driver Profile

No per-profile premium comparison between these two companies is presented here, because no rate study with named limits, state and effective year is cited in this guide. What follows is the rating lever each company brings to each profile, which is what makes the quotes differ in the first place.

To get a comparison that applies to you, do it yourself in one sitting:

1. Fix the coverage identically on both: same bodily injury and property damage liability limits, same uninsured/underinsured motorist limits, same comprehensive and collision deductibles (for example $500 each), same rental and towing selections.
2. Get both quotes on the same day, with the same vehicle VIN, annual mileage and garaging address.
3. Ask each for the six-month premium, not the monthly installment — installment plans carry fees that make monthly figures non-comparable.
4. Ask which underwriting company inside the group is writing you. Large insurers rate the same brand through multiple companies, and that choice moves the price.
5. Re-check at renewal. Neither company's relative position is permanent in your territory.

Coverage and Policy Differences

Telematics. State Farm's program is Drive Safe & Save, listed at discounts of up to 30% based on driving behavior; Allstate's is Drivewise (Money Atlas, undated). "Up to 30%" is a ceiling, not an expectation, and the scoring inputs — braking, acceleration, time of day, phone handling, mileage — differ by program and by state filing. Some states restrict which inputs may be used at all. Ask for the actual filed discount table for your state before you enroll, and ask whether the program can increase your premium as well as decrease it.

Accident forgiveness. Allstate is listed as best for accident forgiveness and is described as providing strong accident forgiveness programs (Money Atlas, undated). No comparable State Farm program is cited in the data used here. Forgiveness terms are where the detail matters most: whether it is earned after a set number of claim-free years or purchased, whether it applies to one accident per policy or per driver, whether it survives a switch of carrier, and whether it protects your premium only or also your claim-free discount. None of that is decidable from a marketing label — read the endorsement language filed in your state.

Young-driver programs. State Farm runs Steer Clear specifically for drivers under 25, plus a good student discount (Money Atlas, undated). Nothing equivalent for Allstate appears in the data cited here. If you are adding a teen, that is the single structural difference between these two worth pricing out first, because adding a youthful operator usually moves the premium more than any other single change.

Distribution. State Farm's agent network is listed at 19,000+ exclusive agents against Allstate's 10,000+ (Money Atlas, undated). That is a service-channel difference, not a price difference. It matters if you want one person handling an auto and home file.

Availability. State Farm is not licensed to sell in CA, CT, MA, NJ, NY and RI, operating in 44 states plus DC (Money Atlas, undated). In those six states the comparison does not exist.

On rental reimbursement caps, named-storm or hurricane deductibles, rideshare endorsements, diminished-value claims and OEM parts: do not assume either company covers these, and do not assume the coverage works the same way in two states. These are filed, state-by-state endorsements, and the only reliable answer is the policy form and declarations page you are actually offered.

Claims Process Compared

Satisfaction scores. State Farm generally receives average to above-average marks for claims satisfaction in J.D. Power surveys, with results varying by region (Money Atlas, undated). No J.D. Power claims figure for Allstate is carried in the data cited here, so this guide does not rank the two on claims satisfaction — a ranking you cannot source is not a ranking. Pull both companies' scores from the current study for your region before weighting this factor.

Complaint volume. State Farm typically falls close to or below the 1.0 NAIC complaint-index benchmark depending on the line of insurance (Money Atlas, undated). Your state insurance department publishes the same index for Allstate in your state. Auto complaint indexes often differ sharply from a company's homeowners index, so compare the auto line specifically.

Repair guarantees. State Farm has a network of preferred repair shops that offer guaranteed work (Money Atlas, undated). Allstate operates a comparable preferred-shop arrangement, but no guarantee terms for it are cited here. Ask both the same question: if I use your network shop, who warranties the repair, for how long, and what happens if I choose my own shop instead. In most states you have the legal right to choose your own shop regardless of the insurer's network.

Time to payout. No average payout timeframe for either company appears in the data cited here, and no insurer can promise one. What governs timing is largely state law, not brand: most state insurance codes set deadlines for acknowledging a claim, deciding it after proof of loss, and paying once liability is accepted, and your state DOI publishes them. In no-fault states your own PIP coverage pays first regardless of fault, which changes the sequence entirely; in at-fault tort states a third-party claim waits on a liability determination. Every claim is adjudicated on its own facts, and neither company can be assumed to pay in full or on a schedule.

Online reviews. State Farm's Trustpilot rating is listed as 1.3/5, which that source notes is common among large insurers because dissatisfied customers are more likely to leave reviews (Money Atlas, undated). Treat it as a complaint sample, not a quality measure, and weight the NAIC index instead.

Who Should Choose Which

• Parent adding a driver under 25: price State Farm first — it runs Steer Clear for under-25 drivers plus a good student discount (Money Atlas, undated), and nothing equivalent for Allstate is cited here.
• Driver with one at-fault accident on record: price Allstate first — it is the one of the two listed as best for accident forgiveness (Money Atlas, undated); confirm whether forgiveness is earned or purchased in your state before you assume it applies.
• Household bundling auto and homeowners: get State Farm's bundle quoted — its multi-line discount is cited at 15-25% off combined premiums (Money Atlas, undated), the only bundle percentage either company is credited with here.
• Low-mileage or demonstrably careful driver: test both telematics programs, but note State Farm's Drive Safe & Save is the one listed with an up-to-30% ceiling (Money Atlas, undated), against Drivewise with no cited ceiling.
• Driver in California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York or Rhode Island: Allstate by default — State Farm is not licensed in those six states and writes in 44 states plus DC (Money Atlas, undated).
• Driver who wants a named local agent for both policies: State Farm lists 19,000+ exclusive agents against Allstate's 10,000+ (Money Atlas, undated), though neither figure says anything about your price.

Whichever you lean toward, do not let state-minimum liability limits be the default. Minimums are set by each state's statute and are low relative to what a serious injury claim costs; the gap above them comes out of your assets, not the policy.