Every plan in our database carries a benchmark premium — the individual, non-tobacco rate for a 21-year-old, which is the standard reference age insurers file with CMS. It's not what everyone pays (older enrollees and tobacco users generally pay more, and subsidies can bring the real number way down), but it's a consistent, comparable baseline across states and issuers. Averaged across the federal marketplace plans in our database, that number is $509 a month — across 4,074 Standard on-exchange Bronze, Silver and Gold plans in 30 states for the 2026 plan year.
What's more interesting than the average is the spread. The cheapest state in our data averages $402 a month; the most expensive averages $777 — roughly a 1.9x gap for the same baseline coverage.
Where premiums run lowest
| State | Avg. benchmark premium | Plans in dataset |
|---|---|---|
| South Carolina (SC) | $402/mo | 125 |
| Iowa (IA) | $418/mo | 118 |
| Michigan (MI) | $433/mo | 112 |
| Hawaii (HI) | $433/mo | 13 |
| Oregon (OR) | $436/mo | 59 |
Where premiums run highest
| State | Avg. benchmark premium | Plans in dataset |
|---|---|---|
| Wyoming (WY) | $777/mo | 23 |
| West Virginia (WV) | $685/mo | 34 |
| Alaska (AK) | $663/mo | 15 |
| Nebraska (NE) | $614/mo | 164 |
| Arizona (AZ) | $566/mo | 198 |
Why the gap is this wide
A few things drive state-to-state variation more than anything about the plans themselves: how many insurers compete in a given market (more competition tends to push rates down), the average cost of medical care in that state's provider networks, the age and health profile of who's actually enrolling there, and state-level rules — some states allow broader rating factors or have different risk-adjustment outcomes than others.
None of that means a resident of a high-average state is stuck paying the average — metal tier, issuer, and eligibility for a premium tax credit all move the real number for a given household well away from a statewide benchmark. See how ACA subsidies actually work for how that adjustment happens.
About this data: Figures are computed from our own plan database (CMS Marketplace PUF data) and refresh with it — nothing on this page is typed by hand. Each state average is weighted by plan count across the Bronze, Silver and Gold tiers; Catastrophic and Platinum plans are excluded as too thinly offered to compare. Coverage is the federal marketplace states in our dataset — state-based exchange states like California, New York, and Colorado run their own systems and aren't included in the federal PUF. Browse the underlying plans directly on our plan explorer, or see the full breakdown for your own state on health insurance plans by state.