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Here’s a challenge: Get through your day without seeing an advertisement for State Farm or Progressive. The companies are two of the best-known insurance brands in the U.S. and are the country's number one and two car insurance providers, respectively. They spend billions of dollars annually on advertising to earn and maintain their lofty positions.
While you have many options when shopping for car insurance, chances are you'll get a quote from one or both of these giants. You owe it to yourself to thoroughly review each to ensure you're getting the coverages and features you need at a low price. Here's how they stack up.
The verdict: State Farm
State Farm and Progressive are both great companies. Each offers a wide range of coverage options and popular discounts, and each has advantages when it comes to sales and service. Both companies have an A++ rating from A.M. Best. This is the highest possible rating and an assurance of a company's financial strength and ability to pay claims.
However, State Farm’s current price advantage – the company is much cheaper than Progressive across multiple categories, as you’ll see in this review – helps put it over the top.
State Farm pros and cons
Pros:
- Cheaper than Progressive
- Higher ratings for claims and customer service fulfillment
Cons:
- Only sold through local agents (no online option)
Progressive pros and cons
Pros:
- Broader range of available discounts
- Offers multiple ways to buy a policy
Cons:
- More expensive than State Farm, especially for teens and certain violations
Claims service: State Farm
State Farm edges Progressive in claims service. Both companies offer easy claims reporting online or through their mobile app. And both offer service networks that help you save time and effort when getting an estimate and shepherding your car through the repair process.
Crash Network, which grades insurance companies on how well they work to ensure quality repairs and customer service, gave both companies a C grade for their claims handling.
However, State Farm scored significantly better in the J.D. Power 2022 U.S. Auto Insurance Claims Satisfaction Study. Its score of 882 placed it seventh in the nation, above the industry average score of 873. Progressive scored 861, placing 16th and below the average.
Customer service: State Farm
When it comes to customer service, State Farm again gets the nod over Progressive.
State Farm’s 42% Net Promoter Score (NPS) edges Progressive’s 38%. NPS is a customer service metric based on customers’ likelihood of referring a company to friends, family, or colleagues. A score of over 50% is considered excellent. The industry average is 44%, according to clearsurance.com.
State Farm also has a 0.70 complaint index from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). This is slightly lower than Progressive’s 0.83. An index below 1.0 means the NAIC receives fewer-than-average complaints about a particular company. Both companies score well by this measure.
Note: We also evaluated each company's Trustpilot ratings (accessed August 22, 2023) but did not consider them in our review: Progressive's 1.1 out of 5.0-star rating is based on only 588 reviews, while State Farm has 1.8 out of 5.0 star rating based on 423 reviews..
Optional coverages: Progressive
Both State Farm and Progressive offer standard, state-required coverages such as liability and PIP. Each offers coverages, such as comprehensive and collision, that may be required by a lender.
However, Progressive gets the nod when it comes to optional coverages you can buy to customize a car insurance policy. The company offers loan/lease payoff, rental car, roadside assistance, trip interruption, custom parts and equipment, and pet coverage. State Farm's options include rental coverage, roadside assistance, and rideshare insurance.
Discounts: Progressive
Both State Farm and Progressive offer a nice selection of discounts, including one for “bundling” multiple policies. But we give the advantage to Progressive for this category, as the company has a broader variety of ways to save.
| Discount type | State Farm | Progressive |
|---|---|---|
Accident-free | X | |
Accident-free under age 25 | X | |
Auto payment | X | |
Continuous insurance | X | |
Defensive driving | X | |
Distant student | X | |
Good driver | X | X |
Good student | X | |
Homeowner | X | |
Multi-policy (bundling) | X | X |
Multi-car | X | |
Online quote | X | |
Pay in full | X | |
Sign online | X | |
Teen driver | X | X |
Usage-based insurance | X | X |
Vehicle safety features | X |
Both companies offer optional usage-based insurance programs. Progressive's program, Snapshot, claims an average discount of $94 at sign-up and savings of $231 at the end of the six-month monitoring period. State Farm’s Drive Safe and Save program notes only that its participants can save up to 30% off of their premium.
We like that Snapshot only requires a six-month monitoring period. Many other programs require monitoring to happen indefinitely.
Ease of doing business: Progressive
When it comes to ease of doing business, buying a policy or handling tasks such as making a payment or filing a claim, Progressive comes out ahead of State Farm.
Progressive offers multiple ways to buy a policy. These include online at its website, by phone, or through a local, independent agent. State Farm offers online quotes, but you must work with an agent to buy a policy. Although agents do offer some additional benefit, many consumers prefer to have a choice when they shop.
And while shopping online typically doesn’t include the level of guidance an agent provides, Progressive works to make up for it with some innovative website tools. It's the only major insurance company we know of that shows its competitors' rates alongside the Progressive quote. This can help a shopper make a more informed choice. And its Name Your Price tool helps shoppers optimize their coverage choices based on their budget.
Progressive’s digital shopping experience ranked sixth in the J.D. Power 2023 U.S. Insurance Digital Experience Study for shopping, and third for sales. State Farm ranked seventh and fourth in those surveys, respectively. Both companies’ rankings were ahead of the industry average.
Which is cheaper: State Farm
Cost is an important factor in most shoppers' insurance-buying journey. When it comes to which company is cheaper, State Farm wins out. In fact, State Farm is dramatically cheaper across the board for multiple scenarios.
| Progressive | State Farm | |
|---|---|---|
Age 17 male | $8,585.00 | $3,958.00 |
Age 17 female | $7,754.00 | $3,233.00 |
Age 35 male | $1,417.00 | $1,234.00 |
Age 35 female | $1,478.00 | $1,234.00 |
Age 60 male | $1,265.00 | $1,120.00 |
Age 60 female | $1,240.00 | $1,120.00 |
DUI | $1,983.00 | $1,711.00 |
Speeding ticket | $2,015.00 | $1,409.00 |
Accident | $2,470.00 | $1,516.00 |
Poor credit | $2,696.00 | $3,654.00 |
Full coverage | $1,650.00 | $1,348.00 |
Minimum coverage | $1,440.00 | $1,191.00 |
Good driver | $1,533.00 | $1,267.00 |
*Note: These are annual costs, source: USNews.com
Methodology
We compared these companies across multiple areas, including policy coverages and discounts, customer purchase/service options, and pricing. We relied solely on company websites to gather policy and service information. Our review does not account for any discounts, policy features, or service options that a company does not actively promote through its website. Policy pricing information is from a recent study by U.S. News.
We also looked at third-party rankings and reviews. These included expert insurance industry ratings by J.D. Power, A.M. Best, and Crash Network. We also checked consumer reviews posted to Trustpilot and each company's NPS score as tallied by Clearsurance.
We judged which company was better across a series of criteria and awarded points to each “winner,” as follows:
| Claims service | 8 points |
|---|---|
Customer service | 8 points |
Optional coverages | 5 points |
Discounts | 5 points |
Ease of doing business | 8 points |
Which is cheaper | 10 points |
Finally, we tallied the points to determine which company was better overall.
A note on pricing: We gathered policy pricing information from publicly available online sources and share it here for informational purposes only. Your policy price from these companies may vary dramatically from what is shown here.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
Can I buy State Farm and Progressive online?
Both State Farm and Progressive car insurance offer online quotes on their websites. However, only Progressive allows shoppers to buy a policy online. State Farm sells only through its local agents.
Do State Farm and Progressive offer discounts for bundling insurance?
Both State Farm and Progressive offer discounts for bundling car insurance with a homeowners or other insurance policy. Both companies refer to this as a “multi-policy” discount.
How do State Farm and Progressive compare to other auto insurance companies?
State Farm and Progressive are both excellent insurance companies and compare favorably to others in their industry. Both have high ratings for financial strength, offer multiple coverage options and discounts, and rate near or above average in most third-party reviews of car insurance companies.
This story was written by NJ Personal Finance, a partner of NJ.com. The information presented here is created independently from the NJ.com editorial staff, and purchases made through links in this article may result in NJ.com earning a commission.
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