For a $500,000, 20-year term policy, a healthy nonsmoker pays on average about $15–$18 a month at age 30, $23–$27 at 40, and $53–$68 at 50, based on NerdWallet’s average life insurance rates updated July 21, 2026. The price roughly quadruples between 30 and 50, and it locks in at the age and health class you hold when you apply — a policy bought at 30 keeps its age-30 price for the whole term.
The full table, by age and gender
| Age | Men — annual | Women — annual |
|---|---|---|
| 30 | $213 ($18/mo) | $183 ($15/mo) |
| 40 | $321 ($27/mo) | $278 ($23/mo) |
| 50 | $810 ($68/mo) | $636 ($53/mo) |
Source: NerdWallet average life insurance rates, updated July 21, 2026 — $500,000, 20-year term, preferred nonsmoker. Women pay 10–20% less at every age, reflecting longer average life expectancy.
Three patterns worth noticing:
- The curve bends, it doesn’t climb in a straight line. The 40-to-50 jump (up 152% for men) is three times steeper than the 30-to-40 jump (up 51%), because mortality risk accelerates through the 40s and 50s.
- Tobacco multiplies the number. The same 40-year-old man pays about $321 a year as a nonsmoker and about $1,464 as a smoker in the same data — more than four and a half times as much.
- Bigger policies cost less per dollar. In MoneyGeek’s June 29, 2026 survey, doubling coverage from $500,000 to $1,000,000 for a healthy 40-year-old raised the premium roughly 85%, not 100%, because part of every premium is fixed administrative cost.
Why your quote will differ from the table
These averages describe a preferred nonsmoker class. Carriers sort every applicant into a health class — preferred plus down through table-rated — and the same health history can land in different classes at different companies, because each carrier sets underwriting independently. A published average is a landmark, not a quote.
Most people’s real problem is not the price but the guess: the 2025 Insurance Barometer Study by LIMRA and Life Happens found about three in four adults overestimate the cost of a basic term policy, and healthy adults 35 and under guessed 7 to 12 times the actual premium.
For the fuller breakdown — smoker tables, health classes, and the cost of waiting — see Life Insurance Cost by Age: 30, 40 and 50 in 2026.