State Farm Insurance was founded by George Mecherle in 1922 as an automobile insurance company. It was started as a mutual company and so was owned by its policyholders.
The company originally provided auto insurance to farmers. The company expanded in the 1950s to other types of insurance, such as homeowners insurance and life insurance. 
In 1964, State Farm became the largest insurance writer in the world.
In the 1990s State Farm Catastrophe Services was founded.
In 1999 State Farm Bank (SFB) opened. It is run by State Farm Financial Services. SFB offers many banking services such as checking, savings, and mortgages, but does not have branches Instead, it offers these services over the phone or via internet, as well as through agents in five states.
State Farm’s main business is State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company.
State Farm continues to be a mutual company, owned by their policyholders. Edward B. Rust has been the CEO since 1985, but retired in 2015. 
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine, many drivers virtually stopped driving or drove considerably fewer miles. This led State Farm and other insurance companies to issue partial refunds to consumers.
State Farm has 18,700 agents working out of 343 claim offices throughout the United States and Canada, has 56,788 employees, and had $81.732 billion in revenue in 2018.
