State Farm vs. Travelers: Compare insurance companies in 2024

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Our recommendation: State Farm vs. Travelers: Which is better?

State Farm and Travelers are both large insurance companies with excellent financial strength ratings. While each company has a lot to offer drivers, Travelers tends to offer lower rates. In addition to low rates, Travelers offers ample opportunities to bundle other insurance policies to help you handle multiple insurance needs under one roof. 

State Farm’s average rates aren’t too much higher than what Travelers has to offer. In addition to reasonable rates, State Farm offers high customer satisfaction ratings. If you are looking for more comprehensive support, you might prefer the service offered by State Farm. 

Rating comparison for State Farm vs. Travelers car insurance

Travelers stands out for a straightforward bundling experience. But State Farm has earned a reputation for an easy service process throughout your insurance experience. 

Notably, State Farm auto insurance isn’t available in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. 

The table below offers more insight into how these two insurance companies stack up against each other. Please note that numerical ratings are on a scale of 0-5 with 5 being the highest possible score.

State Farm vs. Travelers: Pros and cons

Every insurance company has advantages and disadvantages. Below is a closer look at the pros and cons to consider with these companies. 

State Farm vs. Travelers: Which provides the cheapest car insurance rates?

Travelers offers lower average rates for most insurance policies. For example, the average annual cost of a full-coverage policy is $1,587 with Travelers and $1,984 with State Farm. But if you want to opt for minimum coverage, State Farm offers slightly lower rates with an annual average of $502. In contrast, Travelers’ average rate for a minimum coverage policy is only $4 more at $506. 

The table below highlights the average costs of different policy levels for each company. Liability-only indicates higher than state minimum coverage limits of 50/100/50.

State Farm vs. Travelers: Car insurance rates by age and gender

State Farm tends to offer lower rates for teen drivers and senior drivers. But drivers of other age groups often find lower rates with Travelers. For example, female teen drivers pay an average of $4,886 with State Farm and $4,516 with Travelers.

In addition to your age, your gender can have a big impact on your car insurance costs. Generally, men pay more for car insurance than their female counterparts. The table below illustrates how different age groups can expect different rates across both companies. 

State Farm vs. Travelers: Rates by credit score

Drivers with good credit scores often pay less for insurance than drivers with poor credit scores. This is true for both State Farm and Travelers. 

Drivers with poor credit tend to find significantly lower rates with Travelers. On average, drivers with poor credit pay an annual average of $3,017 with Travelers. In contrast, drivers with poor credit pay an annual average of $8,616 with State Farm – more than $5,000 per year more. 

The table below highlights how average rates vary by credit score at these insurance companies. 

State Farm vs. Travelers: Rates for different violations

When it comes to getting a good car insurance rate, maintaining a clean driving record is critical. If you receive a moving violation, that will push your car insurance costs higher. 

“High-risk behaviors such as speeding, driving under the influence (DUI/DWI), and at-fault accidents typically lead to higher premiums,” says John Crist, founder of Prestizia Insurance. 

The table below shows how a violation can raise average rates at each insurer. However, the impact of a violation varies by insurer. 

State Farm vs. Travelers: Customer satisfaction comparison

When it comes to customer satisfaction, State Farm earned a survey score of 84% satisfied customers. Travelers’ score of 71% was much lower, according to the 2024 Best Insurance Companies survey. 

State Farm vs. Travelers: Car insurance discount availability comparison

State Farm and Travelers each offer a big selection of discounts for drivers. Regardless of which company you work with, it’s a good idea to check if you qualify for any of the listed discounts. 

For example, purchasing a new policy days or weeks ahead of your current policy’s expiration date could net you savings with State Farm but not with Travelers. 

The table below highlights the different discounts you can expect to find with each company. 

State Farm vs. Travelers: Additional insurance availability comparison

Travelers and State Farm are both robust insurance companies with a wide range of policies available. Through either company, you can also get homeowners insurance, renters insurance, and motorcycle insurance. But while State Farm offers life insurance, Travelers doesn’t at this time. 

You can find a breakdown of which other policy types this company offers in the table below. 

Resources & Methodology

Methodology

Insure.com in the fall of 2023 surveyed more than 1,750 insurance consumers (1,459 people with auto insurance). Online market research company Slice MR conducted the survey. Respondents were asked to name their auto insurer and then grade it in the following categories – customer satisfaction, ease of service and policy offerings. The percentage of respondents who said they were satisfied or very satisfied with their insurer is presented in the results.

Respondents were then asked to pick their insurer’s top three attributes out of more than a dozen presented – trustworthiness, claims satisfaction, digital experience, discounts and best for auto/home bundling. The responses for each attribute were totaled and then divided by the number of each company’s customers who responded to that survey question to create a percentage. 

Respondents were then asked if they would recommend their auto insurer to someone else and whether they would renew with their company. The percentage who said yes is presented in the results.

Finally, respondents were given the statement “I trust my insurance company” and asked if they strongly agreed, agreed, disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement. The percentage of those who said they agreed or strongly agreed is presented in the results.

The editors compiled the survey results and then selected – based on the number of survey responses – the top companies for further evaluation. 

They then collected AM Best data, which measures financial strength, and National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ complaint data, which ranks a company by the number of customer complaints it receives. The Insure.com team identified the NAIC company code or codes that were the primary underwriting companies for each carrier and line of business using total annual premiums. The associated NAIC complaint index score was used in the calculations. If more than one underwriting company was identified for a line, the editors used a weighted average of the NAIC complaint index scores.

In addition, we also created star rankings for each company. Respondents were asked to pick their insurer’s top three attributes out of the more than the dozen presented, again including customer satisfaction and policy offerings. The number of responses for each attribute was totaled and then divided by the number of each company’s customers who responded to that survey question to create the star ranking. 

The editors also collected insurance rate data from Quadrant Information Services.

With the help of Prof. David Marlett, Ph.D., Managing Director of the Brantley Risk and Insurance Center at Appalachian State University, the editors created a rating system to determine which insurance companies were best in each sector. For auto insurers, we took the following and gave each a weight.

• Survey: 40% of the total score (10% customer satisfaction, 10% recommended, 10% renewal rate and 10% claims handling)
• Annual premium: 20% of the total score
• AM Best: 25% of the total score
• NAIC: 15% of the total score

Each insurer was awarded from half a star to 5 stars. No insurer in our star ranking received less than half a star and 5 stars was the most any insurer could receive.

Sarah Sharkey

Contributing Researcher

 

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Sarah Sharkey is a personal finance writer with a master’s degree in management from the Hough School of Business at the University of Florida. She enjoys helping readers find money solutions that work. She has written for numerous personal-finance publications including Money Under 30 and The College Investor.