State Farm

State Farm Insurance is a group of mutual insurance companies throughout the United States with corporate headquarters in Bloomington, Illinois. Founded in 1922, it is the largest property, casualty and auto insurance provider in the United States.

Overview

State Farm is the largest property and casualty insurance provider, and the largest auto insurance provider, in the United States.
State Farm is ranked 39th in the 2024 Fortune 500, which lists American companies by revenue.
State Farm relies on exclusive agents to sell insurance. Only State Farm agents can sell State Farm insurance, and their agents can sell only State Farm products.

Financial services

State Farm has expanded into the financial services arena, such as banking and mutual funds.
The bank opened in May 1999 and is operated by State Farm Financial Services, FSB, a subsidiary of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. These are separate from its insurance products. State Farm Bank does not have branch offices. Its regular banking services, which include checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, and money market accounts, are available to consumers countrywide via the Internet or, over the phone, and through agents. Home mortgages are available countrywide over the phone or through agents.
In the 1950s, State Farm held a contest among the agents to come up with ideas to expand the State Farm business. Robert H. Kent, a State Farm agent in Chicago, came up with the idea of providing auto loans to existing policyholders. Robert H. Kent was friends with a local bank president at LaSalle NW, and the two teamed up to pilot the auto finance program. State Farm liked the idea so much that it was rolled out to all the agents. Robert H. Kent received royalties on the program for 20 years.

History

State Farm was founded in June 1922 by retired farmer George J. Mecherle as a mutual automobile insurance company owned by its policyholders. The firm specialized in auto insurance for farmers and offered better rates than rival companies, which must also cover expensive premiums of the urban motorists. It later expanded services into other types of insurance, such as homeowners and life insurance, and then to banking and financial services.
State Farm had 70,000 employees and 19,000 agents. February 2014 figures show the group servicing 80 million policies in the United States and Canada, of which over 44,000,000 are for automobiles, 27,000,000 are for fire, 7,000,000 for life, and more than 2 million bank accounts.
Michael L. Tipsord is chairman and CEO of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company. The company announced on December 28, 2023, that Tipsord will be retiring in 2024 and will be succeeded by Jon Farney, currently the company's chief financial officer. Jon Farney is the current president and chief executive officer of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company.
By 2017, State Farms announced its plan to exit 11 facilities in the United States to streamline and improve processes. In 2014, it sold its operations in Canada to Desjardins Group, which continued to use the State Farm name. Canadian policies were transferred to be underwritten by Desjardins Group on January 1, 2015. The State Farm brand continued to be used for agents and marketing until 2018. In 2018, State Farm Canada was officially rebranded to Desjardins Insurance through Desjardins Insurance Agents. The whole transition was completed in 2019.
On May 28, 2023, the company announced it would stop issuing new home insurance policies in California due to wildfire risks and surging construction costs.
In February 2025, State Farm, the largest home insurer in California, requested state regulators to approve an emergency rate increase due to the financial strain caused by payouts related to the January 2025 Southern California wildfires. The company is seeking an average rate hike of 22%, effective May 1, 2025. Specifically, the proposed increases include a 15% rise for renters and condominium owners and a 38% increase for insurance on rental dwellings. This follows previous rate adjustments, with a 6.9% increase granted in 2023 and a 20% increase the year before. Additionally, there is a pending request for a 30% hike, though it's unclear if this is still being pursued alongside the 22% increase.

Logo

The State Farm interlocked red tri-oval logo was created in the mid-to-late 1940s and updated in 1953. For nearly 60 years, this design depicting three interlocking ovals representing the company's core auto, life, and fire insurance business was critical to its brand image.
On December 15, 2011, State Farm transformed its interlocked tri-oval logo into a contemporary one to showcase the company's core service offerings of auto, fire, and life insurance. The new logo was introduced on January 1, 2012, in celebration of the company's 90th anniversary. It consists of a simple three-oval design with no wording in the ovals adjacent to the State Farm wordmark. According to Pam El, marketing vice president at State Farm, a change in image was needed to employ a bolder presence that could compete in today's digital world.

CEOs

Subsidiaries

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is the parent company of several wholly owned State Farm subsidiaries:

State Farm Fire and Casualty Company
State Farm Life Insurance Company
State Farm Life and Accident Assurance Company
State Farm County Mutual Insurance Company of Texas
State Farm Mutual Insurance Company of Texas
State Farm Indemnity Company / State Farm Guaranty Insurance Company
State Farm General Insurance Company
State Farm Florida Insurance Company
Dover Bay Specialty Insurance Company
State Farm Lloyds
State Farm Bank, F.S.B.
State Farm Investment Management Corp.
State Farm VP Management Corp.
State Farm International Service, Inc.
State Farm Associate's Funds Trust
State Farm Mutual Fund Trust
SF Insurance Placement Corporation of Canada
Insurance Placement Services, Inc.
State Farm International Life Insurance Company Ltd.
Plaza One Realty Co.
State Farm Specialty Insurance Company
State Farm Guaranty Insurance Company
State Farm Variable Product Trust
HiRoad Assurance Company
Amberjack Ltd.
Former
State Farm Insurance of Canada – Based in Aurora, Ontario, was transferred to Desjardins Insurance in 2015 and completed by 2019. State Farm Finance Corporation Canada and State Farm Investor Services Canada Co. will merge into Desjardins as well.
Marketing and promotions

Jingle

The State Farm jingle was written by American singer-songwriter Barry Manilow in 1971. A cover was released by Weezer in 2011. State Farm's first commercial jingle was created for The Jack Benny Program in the 1960s.

Television ads

In June 2011, State Farm premiered its "Get to a Better State" campaign. This campaign focuses on making humor out of unfortunate problems that are commonly faced. These commercials then make light of the situation by demonstrating how easy it is to contact an agent and correct the problem that has occurred. Each of these commercials follows a similar structure. A group of one to three people find themselves in an unfortunate situation. Someone in the group will then call on their State Farm agent by singing the jingle "Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there". A State Farm agent will then appear, as if by magic, and help the group out with their problem. A few commercials deviate from this structure, but still follow the same ultimate pattern.
Also in 2011, State Farm premiered its "State of..." advertising campaign. One notable commercial, "State of Unrest", shows a man awake at 3:00 in the morning on the phone with a State Farm representative. The man's wife sees him talking on the phone in a secretive manner. She is suspicious and asks who is on the phone, to which her husband says: "It's Jake from State Farm". The man's wife then takes the phone and asks, "What are you wearing, 'Jake from State Farm?'", to which the male agent responds in a timid way, "Uh, khakis". The undaunted wife says, "She sounds hideous", and the husband replies, "Well she's a guy, so..." In May 2015, a variation of "State of Unrest" premiered, starring The Coneheads from Saturday Night Live, with Dan Aykroyd and Jane Curtin reprising their respective roles as Beldar and Prymaat. This ad series later added Laraine Newman as Connie.
In late 2014, State Farm released a critically acclaimed commercial showing a man who says that he will "never" do something, only to do all of those. At the end of the commercial, he admits that he is "never letting go." The commercial is based on the saying "never say never" and how people say that they will "never" do something, only to do it anyway.
In 2015, State Farm released The Hoopers, a series of State Farm commercials focusing on a family, including NBA players Chris Paul playing the father, DeAndre Jordan playing the mother, Kevin Love playing the son, Kevin Garnett playing the grandfather and Damian Lillard playing the baby. Additionally, a State Farm agent plays the role of a helpful neighbor in the set of commercials.
In 2020, Kevin Miles took over the role of Jake from State Farm from Jake Stone in a series of commercials, the first ad airing before Super Bowl LIV, as a reimagining of the original 2011 "State of Unrest" commercial from the "State of..." campaign. Craig Miller of State Farm's agency The Marketing Arm said the character was so popular people were still dressing as him for Halloween. Jake from State Farm, who wears a red shirt and khakis, appeared in different settings, including a beekeeper outfit and a parody of The Bachelorette, and in a number commercials with celebrities, including Alfonso Ribeiro, Chris Paul, Aaron Rodgers and Paul Rudd. On his first anniversary as Jake, Miles appeared in a commercial during Super Bowl LV in which Drake appeared as his stand-in. According to Marketing Arm, Jake is better known than Katie Couric or Hilary Swank and 80 percent of those who know him like him. A report by Semrush says that State Farm was the top digital advertiser in Finance in 2023.
USA Today's Ad Meter selected State Farm's entry "Like a Good Neighbaaa" as the top ad in Super Bowl LVIII. The spot features Arnold Schwarzenegger struggling with the word "neighbor" in the company's tagline until he gets assistance from his Twins co-star Danny DeVito as well as Jake from State Farm.