Motor Vehicle Insurance CPI

The Bureau of Labor Statistics collects premiums from insurance companies each month for a sample of private car insurance policies, and follows the same policies over time. In August 2026 the premiums for those policies were 5.1% lower than a year earlier. On our seasonally adjusted measure, that is the lowest 12-month change since November 2020. The 12-month change is down from 4.6% in August 2025. A month earlier, in July 2026, the 12-month change was -4.5%.

The 12-month change has been below its year-earlier level in 23 monthly readings in a row.

A change below zero means the same policies cost less than they did a year earlier.

For each policy BLS keeps the driver, the car, where it is kept, how far it is driven and the coverage the same, from collision and comprehensive to liability, medical payments, uninsured motorist and personal injury protection. The index therefore tracks the price of the same coverage over time, and a household's own premium can move differently when its car, drivers, record or insurer change. Once a year, usually in October or November, BLS moves each sample car's model year forward by one so its age stays the same, and counts the premium change that follows as a price change. Business vehicles and farm policies are left out, and motorcycle policies are not priced.

We compute the 12-month change from the seasonally adjusted index, meaning BLS has removed the usual calendar swings. BLS headlines the 12-month change from the unadjusted index, so its figure can differ slightly, and it revises seasonally adjusted values for the previous five years each February. BLS published no figure for October or November 2025, the months of the federal government shutdown, so there will be no 12-month change for October or November 2026. The index covers urban consumers, over 90 percent of the U.S. population, and BLS publishes it for the nation only. Auto Insurance Inflation Premium sets this change against CPI Inflation Rate (All Items) month by month.