Geico also offered the best price for full coverage, at an average of $1,319 annually.

Cheapest for minimum liability

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Cheapest after an accident

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Every driver will pay a different amount for car insurance depending on where they live, what kind of car they drive and their driving history, so the best way to save on car insurance is to get quotes from several insurers.

Cheapest auto insurance in San Jose: Geico

AAA of Northern California and Progressive also had affordable prices for basic coverage: They both had prices under $500 for a minimum coverage policy.

Insurer		Annual Cost
	Geico	$405
	AAA NorCal	$453
	Progressive	$474
	Mercury	$549
	State Farm	$688

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Keep in mind that while a minimum coverage policy is enough protection to get you on the road, it doesn't cover damage to your own vehicle, and minimum limits can easily be exhausted in a lawsuit. We recommend a more robust policy for almost all drivers who use their cars regularly.

Cheapest full coverage car insurance in San Jose: Geico

The second-cheapest option, Mercury, was $1,563 — $244 more expensive.

In addition to the minimum coverage required by law, full coverage also includes the following:

Cheap car insurance for drivers with prior incidents

Insurance companies try to predict how likely you are to make a claim in the future based on your past driving history. They've found that drivers who have a less-than-perfect driving history make claims more often, so you're likely to pay more for car insurance with a recent accident or ticket on your record.

Cheapest car insurance in San Jose after an accident: Mercury

Insurers don't directly raise rates after a crash in order to recoup their losses. But they have found that drivers who've been at fault in an accident are likely to make another claim in the future, so the result is the same: Your rates will likely increase.

Geico's average rate was on the affordable side too, at just $2,407 for a full coverage policy. The average price overall was $3,545 for a full coverage policy.

Cheapest car insurance for people with a speeding ticket: Geico

In the eyes of insurers, being caught speeding is indicative of being more willing to take risks behind the wheel, so you're likely to see much higher rates after you get a ticket — we found that rates increased by $867 after a speeding ticket.

Cheapest car insurance for drivers with a DUI: Mercury

Driving while intoxicated is a severe offense, and insurers are very likely to sharply increase your insurance rates if you're convicted. On average, we found that one DUI will raise your rates in San Jose to $4,962 annually — that's nearly a threefold increase compared to a driver with a clean driving record.

Cheapest car insurance for married drivers: Geico

Insurers have found that married people tend to file insurance claims less often, so they'll often give a discount after you've tied the knot.

Married drivers can lower their rates even more by sharing a policy with their spouse or qualifying for a multicar discount.

Cheapest car insurance for young drivers: Geico

Younger drivers pay more for car insurance because they're less experienced on the road and aren't as risk-averse as older drivers. As a result, insurers charge teenagers a lot more.

Best auto insurance companies in San Jose, California

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Finding an affordable price on car insurance is important, but it's equally necessary to find an insurer with high-quality service — you want to know you can count on your insurer when you need to make a claim.

We found that State Farm, Allstate and Farmers Insurance had the best-reviewed service in San Jose, based on our national survey of car insurance customers. They had the highest percentage of customers who were "extremely satisfied" with their most recent claim, and most often had their customer service rated "excellent."

For our complete analysis of car insurance service statewide, see our full review of California car insurance.

Average car insurance cost in San Jose, by ZIP code

One factor car insurers use to set car insurance rates is your ZIP code. You might find that you pay more for car insurance if you live in an area with high theft rates, for example.

In San Jose, we found that the most expensive neighborhoods for car insurance can pay up to $407 more per year than the most affordable neighborhoods. See the full breakdown by ZIP code, below.

Auto theft statistics in San Jose

San Jose is one of the worst cities in California for car theft. More than 6,000 cars were stolen in the city in 2019, which is enough to make it the third-worst city for theft among the 10 largest cities in the state. Only Oakland and Bakersfield had higher rates of theft.

Methodology

We collected data from seven of the largest insurers in California. Our sample driver was a 30-year-old man who drove a 2015 Honda Civic EX. Unless otherwise stated, the driver received rates for a minimum coverage policy.

In instances where our sample driver was comparing rates for a full coverage policy, the following limitations were used:

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.

Our statewide analysis of California insurance rates included both AAA of Northern California and AAA of Southern California. However, AAA of Southern California doesn't offer insurance to San Jose residents, so we eliminated it from city averages and rankings.

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