Car Insurance in Camas: Two Economies, One ZIP Code

Longtime Camas residents still joke about "the aroma of Camas" — the sulfurous smell that used to drift off the Georgia-Pacific paper mill downtown and settle over the whole city on a damp morning. That smell shaped the town's identity for over a century. These days it shares the air with something else entirely: one of the largest semiconductor foundries in the United States, sitting a few miles away, employing engineers who earn wages the mill workers of 1960 never imagined.

Car insurance in Camas tends to run below Washington's $2,172 statewide average for full coverage, closer to $1,450 a year by most local estimates. The 25/50/10 liability minimum doesn't change — it's the same floor as Seattle or Spokane. What changes is the mix of risk factors underneath that minimum.

From Paper Mill to Chip Fab

Georgia-Pacific has run a pulp and paper operation in Camas since the 1880s, and it's still a major local employer even after the company shut down its communication-paper and pulping lines in 2018 and cut roughly 280 to 300 jobs. The company reinvested $15 million into the remaining Camas mill in 2020, keeping a reduced but still-active industrial base downtown.

A few miles away sits TSMC Washington — known for decades as WaferTech, built in 1996 as a joint venture between Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and several partners. TSMC bought out the remaining stakes by 2001 and has run it as a wholly owned subsidiary since, making it one of the largest pure-play semiconductor foundries anywhere in the country. Two very different industries, two very different wage scales, one ZIP code.

What a $141,126 Median Income Does to a Quote

Insurers can't ask your income on an application, but they price heavily on things income correlates with. Camas's median household income of $141,126 — against a 5% poverty rate — points to a population with steadier payment histories, newer vehicles with modern safety features, and quieter residential streets than a dense urban core generates.

• Fewer lapses: missed payments and coverage gaps are themselves a rating factor, and higher, steadier household income reduces both.
• Newer, safer vehicles: semiconductor-industry wages support vehicle financing on current-model-year cars with better crash-test ratings than the statewide fleet average.
• Lender-required full coverage: a financed or leased vehicle typically needs comprehensive and collision for the life of the loan, regardless of what the state requires.

What Washington Requires in Camas

The legal floor is 25/50/10 liability: $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for bodily injury, plus $10,000 for property damage. Washington also automatically includes at least $10,000 in personal injury protection and uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage on every new policy — Camas drivers keep both unless they sign a written decline.

Washington runs an at-fault, not no-fault, system, so the driver who causes a crash carries financial responsibility for it. With an estimated 16.5% of Washington drivers statewide carrying no insurance, that built-in UM/UIM coverage matters even in a lower-risk suburb like Camas, since it doesn't stop at the city limits when a driver from elsewhere in Clark County is involved.

Why the Camas Number Runs Lower

Local estimates put full coverage in Camas around $1,450 a year, well under the $2,172 Washington average, with minimum-liability policies running under $400 a year. None of that comes from a looser legal requirement — Camas carries the identical 25/50/10 floor as every other city in the state. It comes from a claims profile that skews lower: higher income, newer vehicles, and residential streets built for a quiet suburb rather than a regional traffic corridor.

For the fuller breakdown of when it's worth carrying more than the state minimum, see our minimum vs. full coverage guide.

Get quotes from at least three carriers before your next renewal, and check your loan or lease agreement for a minimum coverage requirement — a below-average area rate doesn't override what your lender demands.