Who Has the Cheapest Car Insurance Quotes in Massachusetts?

While auto insurance rates in Massachusetts tend to rank in the higher half in the nation, there is a lot of variability in what individual drivers pay based on where they live and which company they insure with. We compared local costs for our driver to provide the Bay State's 4.7 million motorists with information on the best auto insurance rates and companies in Massachusetts.

Annual rates for our driver ranged from an average of $1,090 per year at the cheapest car insurance company to $2,067 at the most expensive place, – a difference of -29% and 34%, respectively, from the state average. That’s why it’s always important for consumers to shop for quotes from several insurers to make sure they’re getting good rates. Read more below, or enter your zip code above for a list of companies near you to begin shopping for quotes.

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Cheapest Auto Insurance in Massachusetts

Which companies have the cheapest auto insurance quotes in Massachusetts? Our analysis looked at rates for a single male driver across 75 cities in Massachusetts to determine average premiums by company. The graph below shows the five cheapest companies.

The five general auto insurers companies in Massachusetts with the lowest costs are One Beacon, National Grange Mutual, Norfolk and Dedham, GEICO, and Commerce Insurance. USAA may also be a good option however, they’re a specialty company that only insurers military personnel and their family members. To arrive at this answer, we looked at the average annual premiums from 14 insurers across a wide swathe of cities for our thirty year old driver. We then ranked the 14 companies from lowest to most expensive, and picked the five with the cheapest costs.

Rates at these five cheapest companies average $1,248 for our civilian driver in Massachusetts, which is a 19% decrease from what the average company charges in the Commonwealth. Just bear in mind that these figures are a composite of different companies and our driver, so your actual quotes will differ. Quotes will be based on how well you’ve driven in the past five years, where you live, what car you drive, how much protection you want, and various other factors.

This table below shows the complete list of 14 companies ranked from those with the best auto insurance rates to the most expensive ones:

Cheapest Auto Insurance in Massachusetts: by City

One of the most important factors companies consider when coming up with a quote is where you live and park your car. Generally speaking, urban drivers living in more densely populated cities or towns tend to pay higher than average costs to insure their vehicles. Even motorists living in Boston, or Roxbury and Chelsea (two of our most expensive locations), can still find cheap auto insurance quotes with some research.

In the table below, we take a look at which three companies have the lowest local rates for our driver for each of the 75 cities in our Massachusetts analysis. For the most part, One Beacon ranked as the cheapest insurance provider in the majority of the cities. National Grange Mutual and GEICO ranked either 2nd or 3rd cheapest in these cities.

Boston, MA

The capital and the largest city in Massachusetts, Boston has a storied past and lays claim to a number of superlatives in the nation. History can be revisited at the Boston Harbor, site of the Tea Party, or along any number of buildings and institutes that dot the Freedom Trail. The nation’s longest road begins in Boston: it’s the U.S. 20, a highway that stretches 3,277 miles towards Newport, OR. Our driver commuting in the Ted Williams Tunnel are driving in the deepest tunnel in America.

The average auto insurance cost in Boston is $1,617 a year, which is 5% higher compared to the commonwealth average. Costs tend to be high in Boston due to a combination of factors, including its higher than average population and population density, as well as crime rate. It is the largest city in the state, has the fourth highest population density, and a citywide crime rate that is three times the state average.

For cheap car insurance in Boston, GEICO, One Beacon, and National Grange have the lowest overall rates. The average cost at these three companies for our civilian driver is $1,164, which is a 28% decrease compared to what the typical insurer charges in Boston. Norfolk and Dedham and Quincy Mutual round out the top five most affordable companies in Boston.

This figure factors in ten neighborhoods in the city from Hyde Park in the south up to Charleston in the north. Quotes ranged from a low of $1,546 in the West Roxbury to $2,638 in Roxbury. Boston ranked on the more expensive side in Massachusetts, but two of its neighborhoods (Roxbury and Dorchester) qualified as the two most expensive in the Commonwealth. Here's how the average annual premiums differ by neighborhood within the city of Boston:

Worcester, MA

Worcester is home to 181,000 residents, which ranks it the second largest city in Massachusetts. It has been home to several notable people and advancements in the sciences, including the first American Nobel Prize winner, the first birth control pill, and the first federally-licensed HIV test. It costs on average $1,721 a year to insure an automobile in Worcester, which makes it 12% costlier than other cities in the state.

Which companies have the best car insurance rates near you in Worcester? One Beacon, Norfolk and Dedham, and Commerce Insurance had the lowest costs here. Collectively, the three insurers averaged a premium of $1,372, which is 20% cheaper than the citywide average of $1,721. GEICO and National Grange complete the top five most affordable insurers.

Lowell, MA

With 109,000 residents, Lowell is Massachusetts fourth most populous city. Measuring 15 square miles in size, the city is located at the confluence of two rivers, the Merrimack and the Concord. It is attributed as the first planned industrial city in America, and was the first to use telephone numbers after Alexander Graham Bell patented the device. It costs $1,502 on average in Lowell to insure a vehicle.

For low-cost car insurance in Lowell, we recommend adding One Beacon, GEICO, and Norfolk and Dedham to your list of companies to get quotes from. Their insurance premiums averaged $1,150 a year, or 23% lower than the city average. National Grange and MetLife are also good options to look into.

Cambridge, MA

Located just three miles from Boston’s city center, Cambridge is 12 minutes away by car on a good day without traffic on the road. Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are located here, and are two of the city’s largest employers. Full coverage for local vehicles can run around $1,461 a year, which makes the city 5% less expensive than the average spot in the commonwealth.

Drivers looking for cheap insurance in Cambridge should include GEICO, One Beacon, and Commerce Insurance, which had the three lowest quotes in our comparison analysis. The mean annual premium from these companies is $1,095 – that’s a 25% discount to the city average, and $366 more in consumers’ pockets per year. Quincy Mutual and Hanover are two additional affordable providers in the city. In aggregate, these five companies have a mean cost of $1,180, which is still 19% less than the Cambridge average.

New Bedford, MA

The fishing port of New Bedford inspired Herman Melville to write his classic, Moby Dick. It is home to the Whaling National Historical Park, as well as other notables such as Frederick Douglass’s first free home. Auto insurance in New Bedford costs on average $1,710 a year, which makes it the 17th most expensive in the commonwealth. One Beacon, Norfolk and Dedham, and Commerce ranked as the three cheapest car insurance providers in New Bedford. Their average cost of $1,376 was 20% cheaper than what the typical provider charged in the city. If you also factor in GEICO and National Grange, the top five most affordable companies charge an average $1,421 per year, which is still 17% cheaper than the typical insurer.

Brockton, MA

With 94,000 residents across land measuring 22 acres in size, Brockton is the most densely populated city in Plymouth County. It ranks as the most expensive city in the Bay State based on auto insurance costs. Our driver in this city paid $2,197 a year to insure his car for full coverage protection, which is 43% higher than the Commonwealth’s average.

To find cheap auto insurance near you in Brockton, we suggest getting quotes from One Beacon, Norfolk and Dedham, Commerce, National Grange, and GEICO. In our analysis, these five companies had the lowest rates for our sample driver of $1,767 a year, which were 20% less than the average going rate in the city.

Quincy, MA

John Adams and John Quincy Adams were born here, which gave rise to Quincy’s nickname as the City of Presidents. It’s easy to get around in Quincy. A number of parkways run through the city including the U.S. Route 1, Thomas E. Burgin Parkway, and Massachusetts Route 3. The average cost of insurance here for our driver is $1,620 a year, about 5% higher than elsewhere in the Bay State.

Which companies have the best car insurance rates in Quincy? One Beacon, GEICO, and National Grange had the three lowest rates in the city. Along with Norfolk and Dedham and Commerce Insurance, the average across the five companies is $1,294 a year, which represents savings of 20% compared to the Quincy average.

Lynn, MA

Located about ten miles from Boston in Essex County is Lynn, a city of 90,000 residents. It is the site of the second largest municipal park in the nation, and the ninth most expensive city for car insurance in Massachusetts. Our driver here shells out $2,077 to cover his car for insurance a year, 35% costlier than the average city in the Bay State.

The three companies with the most affordable auto insurance costs in Lynn are One Beacon, Norfolk and Dedham, and GEICO. The mean premium is $1,601 a year, which is 23% lower than what typically gets charged for locals in the city. Commerce and National Grange round out the top five cheapest companies in Lynn.

Fall River, MA

Fall River ranks as the tenth most populous city in Massachusetts with 89,000 residents. Emeril Lagasse, a celebrity chef, and George Stephanopoulos, the Good Morning America co-host, have all lived in this city in Bristol County. It costs 11% more to insure a car here in Fall River compared to other cities in the Bay State (annual average of $1,705).

We saw the lowest quotes for car insurance in Fall River at One Beacon, GEICO, and Norfolk and Dedham for our civilian driver. These providers charged an average of $1,339 a year, which was a discount of 21% compared to the city average.

Revere, MA

Named after the Revolutionary War patriot Paul Revere, this city is also home to one of the oldest continuous public beaches. Annual premiums for auto insurance here are $2,258, or 47% above the overall state average. This ranks Revere as the 6th most expensive out of the 75 cities we looked at in MA.

The top three inexpensive auto insurance companies in Revere are One Beacon, Norfolk and Dedham, and GEICO. We found really cheap rates at these companies on average of $1,694 – 25% of what the typical insurer was charging citywide. That equates to savings of $564.

Everett, MA

Everett was the tenth most expensive city for our motorist with annual costs of $2,037. It has hosted and been the setting for shows and movies such as 2013’s Boston’s Finest and 2007’s Gone Baby Gone.

While its 42,000 residents pay rates that are on average 33% higher than the typical Bay State driver, there is opportunity to save with some comparison shopping. We found the cheapest quotes for auto insurance in Everett at One Beacon, Norfolk and Dedham, and GEICO. National Grange and Commerce completed the top five cheapest providers. Rates at these five companies averaged $1,635, which is 20% less expensive than the citywide average.

Chelsea, MA

With an average cost of $2,273, Chelsea is the fifth most expensive city for auto insurance. This is due in part to its proximity just four miles away from Central Boston, its population density (Chelsea is the second densest city), and one of the highest per capita rate of violent crime in the Commonwealth.

Costs here may be 48% higher than the rest of the commonwealth, but getting quotes from One Beacon, Norfolk and Dedham, and GEICO could save our driver money on car insurance. That’s because these local insurers had the three lowest rates, which averaged $1,734 a year and were 24% lower than the Chelsea average.

Minimum Auto Insurance Requirements in Massachusetts

Massachusetts is one of 12 no-fault states and one of 15 states that mandates all drivers carry first party medical benefits with their auto insurance plan. Required limits in the state however are fairly low compared to others, with drivers only requiring to carry $8,000 worth of PIP.

Best Auto Insurance Companies in Massachusetts

The five best companies for auto insurance in Massachusetts are Arbella, State Farm, Preferred Mutual, Vermont Mutual, and Travelers. We answered this question based on a measure of customer satisfaction called the complaint ratio. The complaint ratio measures a company's share of complaints received compared to its share of the market. For example, the Arbella Insurance Company writes about 9% of the private passenger automobile premiums in Massachusetts, but got a smaller share (5%) of complaints filed with the Division of Insurance. This results in a complaint ratio of 0.6, which is better than average (1.0).

Commerce Insurance Company, Liberty Mutual, and Safety Insurance are the three largest auto insurance companies in Massachusetts based on insurance premiums underwritten. Of these three, Commerce and Safety had better than average customer satisfaction, while Liberty Mutual hovered just around the average.

Here are the complaint index numbers for the biggest insurers in Massachusetts (lower complaint index number is better; 1 is average):

Average Cost of Car Insurance in MA: by City

It costs on average $1,537 per year for car insurance in Massachusetts. This graph belows shows how the costs vary across the 75 places that we looked at. We've highlighted the cheapest three in green, and the most expensive in red. The cheapest cities in the Bay State tend to have several factors in common. They're located within the Metrowest and Merrimack Valley region in Middlesex and Norfolk counties. These locations are generally home to smaller populations (less than 30,000) and have lower population density. The most expensive cities in Massachusetts tend to be larger and more densely populated cities with higher than average crime rates. For the most part, they’re clustered near the Boston metro area and enveloped between the I-95 / Yankee Division Highway, and the shore. Here they are, from Andover to Worcester:

Methodology

Our sample quotes assume a thirty year old male driver who is single. In this case, he drives a 2011 Toyota Camry that he bought and mainly uses to commute to and from his place of employment. Coverage is slightly above the state minimum (see table below). The driver has had no at-fault accidents or violations in the last 5 years. ValuePenguin looked at insurance quotes from 14 top auto insurers that operate throughout Massachusetts. We then averaged rates across the auto insurers to come up with a final number for each city. Complaint data and direct premiums underwritten were sourced from the NAIC.