Best Car Insurance Rates in New Jersey

We conducted a study of auto insurance quotes in New Jersey across nine companies to find the cheapest car insurers. Our research found that GEICO provided the cheapest car insurance at $1,058 per year—which is 57% less than the state average. Conversely, the most expensive rates in New Jersey were from Hanover, which charged an average of $7,006 per year. Because of this wide range, we recommend you compare multiple companies by entering your ZIP code into our quote tool above.

New Jersey Auto Insurance Coverage Requirements

Auto insurance is required in New Jersey; however, drivers will have the choice of either purchasing a basic or standard policy. The minimum amount of insurance that New Jersey drivers need depends on which coverage option they choose. A basic policy will be cheaper than a standard policy. However, it will also include less coverage. Below, we break down the minimum requirements for each policy type.

Limited vs Unlimited Right to Sue for Noneconomic Losses

There's a unique feature to New Jersey's car insurance regulations that gives you the choice of a limited or unlimited right to sue for noneconomic losses. Picking a limited right to sue usually means paying lower premiums. An unlimited right to sue can cost about 30% more than the limited option. Here's what the average premiums look like under both options.

What Are Noneconomic Losses?

Non-economic losses are typically referred to as “pain and suffering” losses that are more subjective in nature (e.g., loss of companionship / pleasure in life). This is different than suing for quantifiable damages such as income loss from missing work, or medical payments to cover your hospital bills.

What's the Difference Between Limited and Unlimited Right to Sue?

A limited right to sue means that you agree beforehand not to sue for pain and suffering. You can only sue for pain and suffering if your injury results in one of these examples: a body part loss, major disfigurement or scarring, a displaced fracture, a loss of a fetus, permanent injury to a body part or organ such that it can't heal normally, and death.

You can still sue for economic losses, but you have to pick between a limited right to sue or an unlimited right to sue for noneconomic losses.

Cheapest Auto Insurance Companies in New Jersey

We compared quotes from nine companies in the Garden State to identify the cheapest auto insurance companies in New Jersey. Our survey included both local and national insurers. The five cheapest companies for our driver profile are GEICO, Progressive, NJM, Allstate and Mercury. On average, the annual premium among these companies was $1,563, which is 36% less than the New Jersey mean.

We've ranked the nine auto insurance providers that we included in our research from the least to the most expensive based on our benchmark driver. Your quotes will differ depending on where you live and your driving history, but these companies are a good place to start for cheap car insurance. Not every company underwrites policyholders the same way, so drivers should always compare quotes between several local carriers to get the best rates.

Cheapest Car Insurance Rates: by City

Auto insurance costs vary based on where you live, drive and park your car—so naturally, the city you live in has a huge effect on your insurance rates. Even in locations such as Newark, Irvington or Passaic—which ranked as the three costliest cities overall for car insurance—we found companies with rates that were significantly cheaper than their citywide mean.

Car Insurance in Newark, NJ

Quotes for auto insurance in Newark ranged from $1,413 to $9,660, although the citywide average was $3,326. Cheap car insurance in the "Brick City" can be found, despite its status as the most expensive city in New Jersey. Newark residents can expect the cheapest rates with GEICO, Progressive and NJM. Our research found the average rate across these three companies was $1,705 per year, which is 49% less than the city average.

Car Insurance Jersey City, NJ

Jersey City's auto insurance costs are tied for the 17th most expensive in the state. Annual premiums in "Chilltown" are 22% more expensive than the state average. Car insurance quotes in Jersey City can differ by almost 814%, depending on which insurer you choose. Given this large range, it is imperative that Jersey City residents shop around to get the cheapest rates. However, we recommend that you start with GEICO, Progressive and NJM, which offered the lowest rates in the city according to our research. Among these three companies, the average annual rate was $1,436, or about 50% less than the overall city mean of $2,988.

Car Insurance Paterson, NJ

Paterson may rank as the sixth most expensive city on our list; however, if you're careful when shopping for insurance, you can still get low rates. The lowest rates in Paterson can be found with GEICO, Progressive and Allstate. The average quote from these insurers is $1,682.

Car Insurance Elizabeth, NJ

Known as "Betsytown" or "E-town," Elizabeth once served as the first capital of New Jersey. Car insurance rates in E-town are about 32% higher than the typical Garden State city, ranking as our seventh most expensive city in NJ. To find low-cost auto insurance in Elizabeth, drivers should get quotes from GEICO, Progressive and NJM. The average annual premium across these three insurance companies is $1,600, or 51% lower than the Elizabeth average.

Car Insurance Trenton, NJ

Trenton—New Jersey's capital city—is located along the banks of the Delaware River near the midway point between New York City and Philadelphia. Car insurance costs in Trenton were almost exactly aligned with the statewide average, at $2,425 per year. Similar to the state trend, the cheapest insurer in Trenton was GEICO, which provided us with a quote of $1,136 per year. Our research found that the most expensive insurance company in the city was Hanover, with an annual cost of $7,656—over six times that of GEICO's.

Car Insurance Clifton, NJ

Located just 10 miles west of New York City, the city of Clifton is one of the more expensive cities in the state for car insurance. On average, we found that car insurance was $460 more per year than the state average—equating to an extra $38 per month. To get the lowest possible rates, we suggest you look to GEICO, Progressive and NJM. These three companies provided us with the lowest quotes in the city, with an average rate of $1,494 per year.

Car Insurance Camden, NJ

Camden's population consists of around 74,000 residents, and it's the former home of the American poet Walt Whitman. Car insurance in Camden is 32% more expensive than the New Jersey average, with a mean cost of $3,221. According to our analysis, the cheapest rates is this city can be found with GEICO, which provided us with an annual quote of $1,320.

Car Insurance Passaic, NJ

The birthplace of modern television, Zoe Saldana and Paul Rudd, this city also has the second most expensive car insurance rates in New Jersey. However, affordable auto insurance can still be found in Passaic. Mean annual premiums in this city cost, on average, $3,275. However, rates among our three cheapest insurers were $1,682 (a difference of $1,593). These companies were GEICO, Progressive and NJM.

Car Insurance in Union City, NJ

Union City is part of the New York City metro area, and it's known as "Havana on the Hudson" because of its large population of Cuban residents. Our analysis showed that car insurance in this city is 31% more expensive than the average for the state of New Jersey. In fact, Hanover quoted an annual rate of $9,516—a staggering 7.6 times greater than the cheapest insurer: GEICO.

Car Insurance in East Orange, NJ

East Orange in Essex County is one of the most expensive cities in the state for car insurance. Our analysis found that East Orange's annual car insurance rates were $3,269 per year on average, 34% greater than the NJ average. Our study found that the nearby city of West Orange had car insurance rates that were 14% cheaper than East Orange.

5 Cheapest Cities in New Jersey For Car Insurance

Rates in the five cheapest cities in NJ for car insurance were 26% cheaper than the state average. Four of these cities—Basking Ridge, Hillsborough, Morristown and Randolph—were located in counties Somerset and Morris.

Point Pleasant Beach, NJ

The small borough of Point Pleasant Beach in Ocean County, New Jersey, has the cheapest annual car insurance rates in the state—at 27% below the statewide average. According to the data we've compiled, some Point Pleasant Beach locals can pay less than $1,000 per year if they insure their cars through GEICO.

Basking Ridge, NJ

Basking Ridge is the home to the Verizon Wireless headquarters and the second lowest car insurance rates in the state. Residents of Basking Ridge can expect to pay $638 less than the statewide average.

Randolph, NJ

The city of Randolph was one of the early mining towns in New Jersey, and it has been known as a vacation destination for Frank Sinatra. Randolph residents can get the best rates with GEICO, NJM and Allstate. These three companies had an average annual premium of $1,095.

Hillsborough, NJ

At the base of Sourland Mountain in Somerset County is the town of Hillsborough, which had the fourth cheapest auto insurance rates in New Jersey across quotes we gathered. The average annual cost of car insurance in Hillsborough was $1,838. That's 25% less than the overall average for New Jersey, and almost half the cost of insuring a car in Newark.

Morristown, NJ

Morristown has some of the cheapest car insurance rates in the state of New Jersey. According to our research, car insurance costs in Morristown were around $600 cheaper than the rest of the state. However, residents should still shop around, as the difference between the cheapest and most expensive insurer in the city is $3,649 per year.

Best Auto Insurance Companies in New Jersey

To find the best auto insurance companies in New Jersey, we took a look at which companies received the least complaints compared to the other auto insurers. We also considered which companies had the lowest rates in our evaluation. Because of their low complaint index and costs, GEICO and NJM are two of the best insurance companies in New Jersey.

Below are the top companies in the Garden State ranked by their complaint index, which measures how many justified complaints a company gets compared to the average insurer in the state. An index of 1.0 is average, while index numbers greater than 1.0 indicate a greater number of complaints. An index less than 1.0 implies fewer than average complaints.

Cost of Car Insurance in New Jersey by City

The average cost of insurance in New Jersey was $2,446 across the nine insurance companies we surveyed. This figure represents the average rate for our sample driver profile. Generally speaking, cities that are more densely populated or near large urban centers have higher average insurance costs.

Methodology

The auto insurance averages we list in this study are based on quotes that we have gathered. Please note that auto insurance rates presented in the study are for informational and illustrative purposes only. Your actual rates will depend on various factors such as your own driving history, the amount of liability protection you need, where you live and keep your car, the type of car you drive, the annual mileage, and the usage of the car.