The average cost of a minimum-coverage car insurance policy is $1,295 per year in Nevada. It's one of the most expensive states in the nation for car insurance, but rates will vary greatly depending on your coverage, location and driver profile.

Cheapest for minimum liability

Cheapest for full coverage

Cheapest for drivers with an accident

Best for customer service

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Cheapest for minimum liability

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Cheapest for full coverage

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Cheapest for drivers with an accident

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Best for customer service

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Read on for our recommendations for the best and cheapest auto insurers in Nevada. You can also enter your ZIP code above to start the comparison shopping process and find cheap rates.

Cheapest auto insurance companies in Nevada for minimum coverage

If you want the absolute cheapest car insurance policy, you should opt for minimum liability coverage, which is the lowest amount of protection allowed by Nevada state law. For our sample driver, the cheapest minimum coverage policies were offered by:

USAA is also a very affordable option for Nevada residents who have a military background.

Shoppers should be aware that these policies offer limited protection compared to policies with higher liability limits and comprehensive and collision insurance. Consult the table below for the cost of a minimum-coverage policy for all our sample insurers.

Cheapest full-coverage car insurance in Nevada: State Farm

Nevada doesn't require drivers to have collision and comprehensive insurance, the core protections of a full-coverage policy. Adding collision and comprehensive insurance will also add to your costs, but it protects against the cost of damage to your own vehicle. Liability-only car insurance covers the costs of damage and injury to others when you're at fault.

In Nevada, the average cost of a sample full-coverage policy for our driver was $3,190 per year.

Fort those who qualify, USAA was also a very affordable option. Our sample driver paid $1,648 per year on average.

Why buy full coverage instead of a minimum-coverage policy? Comprehensive and collision insurance protect the cost of damage to your car from on and off-road events. For example, if you crash into a tree, there is no other driver at-fault, but collision insurance will cover you. If hail damages your windows, comprehensive insurance will cover you.

Cheapest full-coverage car insurance in Nevada after an accident: State Farm

Nevada drivers with accidents or traffic violations in their history tend to pay more for car insurance.

The company already had low rates for a clean driving record, and it also penalized our driver less than any other company, including USAA.

Our sample insurers raised rates an average of 52% when our sample driver got into an accident. State Farm only raised rates 19%, and USAA was the next most forgiving insurer with a 35% rate increase.

Best car insurance companies in Nevada

It's great to get affordable car insurance, but you'll want great customer service, too. In the event you actually make a claim with your insurance company, you could be on the hook for serious damage, and you'll want to make sure it's resolved in a timely and efficient manner.

Based on our national survey, the best major Nevada insurers are:

Based on customer complaint data, the best major Nevada insurers are:

Read on to see how these insurers stack up and the difference between these two measures of quality.

Best insurance company based on ValuePenguin survey: USAA

ValuePenguin commissioned an online survey to gauge consumer satisfaction on some of the biggest insurance companies in the country, and many of them operate in Nevada.

Consumers were surveyed on a variety of factors, and we focused on general satisfaction with customer service and the claims experience specifically.

Averaging these two factors, USAA came out on top. Of the surveyed policyholders, 62% said customer service is excellent and 78% were extremely satisfied with their most recent claim. Allstate ranked a distant second, as 47% said customer service is excellent and 72% were satisfied with their most recent claim.

Best insurance company based on customer complaint rate: State Farm

Another way to measure the best insurance company is using the rate at which customers file an official complaint. If consumers file complaints at a low rate — adjusted for the size of the company — it's more likely to provide good service.

Based on complaint rate, the best-rated Nevada insurers for customer service are State Farm, Travelers and GEICO.

The Complaint Index is drawn from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and indicates how often consumers filed a complaint compared to the national median of 1.0.

For example, consumers complained about Farmers Insurance at about the national median rate, 0.97. But consumers filed far more complaints about Liberty Mutual and CSAA, both with indices above 1.0.

Minimum auto insurance requirements in Nevada

In Nevada and most other states, you're required to purchase a certain amount of car insurance coverage to drive legally. This is called minimum coverage, and the amount needed differs by state.

With these coverage limits, you'll be compliant with Nevada law. But if you're at fault for a major accident, you might not have enough coverage. We generally recommend Nevada drivers buy enough liability insurance to cover their net worth. That way you'll be covered in full if you're sued to cover property damage, medical bills or lost wages of another driver.

If you own a valuable car, you might also want to consider a full-coverage policy. The comprehensive and collision insurance protects your car against the cost of damage on and off the road.

Cheapest car insurance rates: By city

Where you live can be a huge factor in determining car insurance rates, and that's especially true in Nevada. We looked at the 50 most populous cities or census-designated places in Nevada and found that for the exact same driver and with an identical full-coverage policy, the cheapest city was about half the price as the most expensive one.

And different insurance companies place varying degrees of importance on location. Below, we've noted the cheapest three insurance companies for these 50 cities. Across all locations, State Farm, Progressive and USAA were almost always the most affordable option for our sample driver.

If you want more insight on how insurers change prices by location, we've provided some analysis on the biggest cities or census-designated places in Nevada below.

Auto insurance in Las Vegas, Nevada

Cheap auto insurance in Las Vegas is hard to come by. Every insurer in our sample was more expensive than its average price for the state as a whole. For example, the USAA premium was 18% more expensive than its premium for all of Nevada, and the Farmers premium cost 41% more in Las Vegas compared to the whole state.

More densely populated areas tend to have higher car insurance rates due to higher chances of an accident. Las Vegas — and surrounding locations like Henderson, Paradise and North Las Vegas — represent the most densely populated area of the state.

Auto insurance in Henderson, Nevada

The second largest city in Nevada — and Las Vegas' neighbor — is unsurprisingly a pricy location to buy auto insurance. USAA is the cheapest option available for those who are eligible, at an average cost of $1,817 per year.

Auto insurance in Reno, Nevada

Reno is the third biggest city in the state, but it's outside of the Las Vegas orbit and has comparatively cheaper rates. Per usual, USAA is the cheapest insurer on average ($1,503 per year), but, for comparison, State Farm is extremely competitive, too ($1,526 per year).

The insurer with the biggest discount in Reno is Allstate. At $3,181 per year, it's still not cheap, but it's 23% cheaper than it is elsewhere in Nevada.

Auto insurance in Paradise, Nevada

Paradise is a census-designated place in Nevada, and one of the most populated areas in the state. Among major cities or census-designated places, it is the second most expensive location in the entire state for car insurance after Spring Valley.

American Family is usually one of the more affordable options in the state, but in Paradise its rates jump by 57% compared to its average. Shoppers looking for good quotes should seek out USAA or Progressive.

Auto insurance in North Las Vegas, Nevada

Our final city is just north of Paradise: North Las Vegas. Another city in the greater Las Vegas area, North Las Vegas has similarly high rates to its southern neighbor.

Every insurer in our sample had higher rates than their state averages. USAA and GEICO penalized drivers the least for living in this area, with rates 13% and 19% higher than the state average, respectively.

Average cost of car insurance in Nevada: By city

In Nevada — one of the most expensive states for car insurance in the country — the average cost of a minimum-coverage policy is $1,295 per year. The average cost of a full-coverage policy is $3,190 per year.

These rates are an average of our sample insurers across thousands of ZIP codes. However, it simply represents the average cost for our sample driver. Your costs may differ greatly based on age, location, driving history and more.

Below we've ranked the 50 most populous cities or census-designated places in the state by the average cost of a full-coverage policy. Fallon is the cheapest location, while Spring Valley is the most expensive.

Methodology

Our prices were drawn from across more than 180 Nevada ZIP codes. Quotes were for a sample 30-year-old male driving a 2015 Honda Civic EX. This driver had a credit score that was below average.

The analysis describes prices for this driver with a minimum-coverage policy adhering to Nevada law, a full-coverage policy and a full-coverage policy after they've been in an accident. The limits for the full-coverage policy were as follows:

ValuePenguin's analysis used insurance rate data from Quadrant Information Services. These rates were publicly sourced from insurer filings and should be used for comparative purposes only — your own quotes may be different.