Cheap Life Insurance Companies for 2022

Cheap life insurance isn’t out of reach, especially if you’re healthy. Compare rates from a range of carriers, and apply as soon as you identify a need for coverage — such as when you take on a new financial obligation, like getting a mortgage or having a child.

To get started, here’s a breakdown of some of the cheapest life insurance companies by age, gender, rate class and policy type.

Methodology: These rates are based on analysis by Quotacy, an online life insurance brokerage and NerdWallet partner that works with more than 25 term life insurance companies. Quotacy analyzed data from the 10 term life insurance carriers that it considers most competitive for low prices. For final expense policies, Quotacy considered two additional companies. Quotacy’s analysis does not include insurers that primarily sell directly to consumers or through agents dedicated to a single company.

Although these rates are not representative of the entire life insurance market, they can give you an idea of what to expect as you compare life insurance quotes. Many factors affect life insurance prices, and your rates are likely to be different from the sample rates shown below.

Term life insurance is the cheapest type of life insurance policy; the cost of whole life insurance can be significantly higher. With that in mind, here are some of the cheapest companies for a 20-year, $500,000 term life insurance policy covering super preferred applicants. “Super preferred” is a term insurers use to describe applicants who pose the least risk — typically non-smokers in excellent health who meet certain additional criteria.

Here are some of the cheapest monthly rates for a 20-year, $500,000 term life insurance policy covering a preferred applicant. The term “preferred” refers to a non-smoking applicant in good health who poses minimal risk to the insurer.

Smokers pay more for life insurance because of the health risks associated with tobacco use. For a smoker in otherwise good health, these are among the cheapest monthly rates for a 20-year, $500,000 term life insurance policy. “Preferred smoker” is a term for applicants who — smoking aside — fit the criteria of the “preferred” category.

These are a few of the cheapest insurers for applicants who fall into the “standard smoker” category. Standard smokers are people in moderate health who smoke and may pose other risks to the insurer. The monthly rates below are for a 20-year, $500,000 term life insurance policy.

If you’re in the market for no medical exam life insurance, these companies have some of the cheapest monthly rates for a $10,000 final expense policy. Also known as burial insurance, final expense policies skip both the health questionnaire and medical exam and are often capped at low amounts of coverage.

Read full reviews of the insurers Quotacy analyzed to learn more about their policy options, pros and cons. NerdWallet’s life insurance ratings take into account financial strength, customer complaint ratios and consumer experience.

NerdWallet’s life insurance ratings are based on consumer experience, complaint index scores from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners for individual life insurance, and weighted averages of financial strength ratings, which indicate a company’s ability to pay future claims. Within the consumer experience category, we consider ease of communication and website transparency, which looks at the depth of policy details available online. To calculate each insurer’s rating, we adjusted the scores to a curved 5-point scale.

These ratings are a guide, but we encourage you to shop around and compare several insurance quotes to find the best rate for you. NerdWallet does not receive compensation for any reviews. Read our editorial guidelines.