New Jersey Car Insurance Calculators: Cost & Coverage

MoneyGeek sources rate data from Quadrant Information Services, which pulls premium data directly from insurer filings with New Jersey state regulators. These are the rates insurers charge, not estimates.

• We track every residential ZIP code in New Jersey and update rates monthly.
• Mark Fitzpatrick, a Licensed Property and Casualty Insurance Producer, wrote this page. Mark Friedlander of the Insurance Information Institute reviewed it for accuracy.
• Our editorial standards keep recommendations free from any influence by carrier relationships. Our rating guidelines apply the same criteria to every insurer we analyze.

NJM Insurance charges $121 per month for full coverage in New Jersey. AIG charges $287 per month for the same driver. That $166 per month difference is more than twice what dropping to minimum coverage saves, and it has nothing to do with where you live or what you drive.

Most national comparison sites don't show NJM or Plymouth Rock because neither sells through agents or national platforms. A driver who searches online and lands on GEICO at $174 per month as the apparent cheapest option is paying $53 per month more than NJM charges for the same coverage. Selective Insurance is also New Jersey-only and doesn't appear nationally. The right carrier also changes depending on your situation. After a DUI or with a young driver on the policy, the ranking shifts significantly. MoneyGeek's cheapest car insurance in New Jersey includes all three so you can see how they compare for your specific profile.

Where you live in New Jersey can add up to $82 per month to your rate. Paterson has the highest minimum coverage rates in the state at $164 per month. The cheapest ZIP codes are in Somerset and Morris counties, places like Basking Ridge and Bernardsville, which average $82 per month.

Paterson's rate comes from a combination of high vehicle theft in Passaic County, per NeighborhoodScout's 2024 FBI data analysis, and New Jersey's no-fault system, which generates a medical claim after every crash regardless of fault. Both push rates up in dense urban areas. That said, the $82 per month ZIP spread is still smaller than the $166 per month carrier gap. Switching insurers in Paterson saves more than moving to the cheapest ZIP code in the state. If you've moved recently and haven't updated the address where your car is parked overnight, you may still be paying your old ZIP's rate.

New Jersey's largest single-year rate drop isn't at the 25th birthday. It's at the 19th, which cuts rates by $293 per month. The 25th birthday delivers $44 per month, about seven times less. Young drivers pay $415 per month for full coverage on a family plan, 2.41 times the adult rate of $172 per month on the same plan.

A family adding a 17-year-old pays an average of $1,031 per month for that driver. At 19, the same driver averages $597 per month. That $293 per month drop requires getting new quotes. It doesn't apply automatically. The carrier matters just as much. GEICO and NJM each charge $216 per month for young drivers while Progressive charges $723 per month. Get new quotes at every birthday between 16 and 25. For seniors, rates hit a floor at age 70 and then begin rising, reaching $253 per month at 80 and $278 per month at 90. Selective Insurance prices seniors at $126 per month, the cheapest in the state for that profile, and doesn't appear on national comparison platforms. Get new quotes at 70 and at each renewal after that.

New Jersey's credit pricing has a gap that most drivers don't know about. Good credit ($172 per month) and Fair credit ($169 per month) are nearly identical, just $3 apart. The largest single jump in the entire credit scale is the step from Good to Excellent, which drops rates $63 per month. A driver aiming for Good credit has already done most of the work and can capture an additional $63 per month by going one level further.

Insurers don't automatically update your rate when your credit improves. If you've moved into a better credit level and haven't gotten new quotes, you're still paying the old rate. The savings from getting new quotes after a credit improvement can be significant. State Farm, for example, charges $212 per month at the Good credit level and $70 per month at Excellent, a $142 per month difference at one carrier alone. Getting new quotes after improving your credit, and comparing carriers at the same time, is where most of those savings get captured. See MoneyGeek's car insurance for drivers with bad credit for which carriers price credit improvement most favorably in New Jersey.

Your driving record raises your New Jersey rate from the first incident, including accidents you didn't cause. A not-at-fault accident adds $17 per month, a speeding ticket adds $27 per month and an at-fault accident adds $96 per month.

A DUI adds $154 per month to your carrier premium on top of a $1,000 per year fee billed directly by the Motor Vehicle Commission for three years under N.J.S.A. 17:29A-35, totaling $8,544 before legal costs. Unlike most states, New Jersey has no SR-22 requirement. What does matter is month 37 from the violation date, when it clears your record and carriers reprice you at the clean rate. If you had a not-at-fault accident, get new quotes right away. NJM is the only carrier in New Jersey that charges nothing for not-at-fault accidents. For a DUI, wait until month 37 and start with Plymouth Rock ($145 per month) and NJM ($146 per month), which are the most affordable options for that profile.

Dropping from full coverage to minimum saves $71 per month in New Jersey. That's the smallest savings lever on this page. The carrier gap is $166 per month and the credit gap between Poor and Excellent is $164 per month. Both are larger. A driver who drops coverage to save money without first comparing carriers or improving their credit score has chosen the smallest option available.

New Jersey raised its minimum limits on January 1, 2026, under P.L.2022, c.87, to $35,000 per person and $70,000 per crash in bodily injury and $25,000 in property damage. That's a real improvement over the previous floor, but a single ER visit in Newark or Jersey City can exhaust a $35,000 per-person limit before follow-up care begins. In New Jersey's at-fault system, everything above your policy limit becomes personal debt. If your car is financed or leased, your lender requires full coverage until the loan is paid off. Dropping coverage without lender approval can result in the lender purchasing their own policy on your behalf at a much higher cost, which gets added to your loan balance.

The main question for your vehicle is whether keeping comprehensive and collision coverage makes financial sense. Compare your annual premium for those coverages to your car's current market value minus your deductible. In New Jersey, that number matters more than the standard calculation suggests because of two risks that are higher here than in most states.

After Hurricane Ida's remnants hit in September 2021, FEMA declared a major disaster across 12 New Jersey counties covering most of northern and central New Jersey. A vehicle totaled by storm surge has no other driver to claim against. That's a comprehensive claim, and drivers without that coverage absorbed the full loss. Theft is the other factor. The New Jersey State Police recorded 16,694 stolen vehicles in 2023, and Hyundai and Kia models accounted for roughly 19% of those thefts despite making up just 6.5% of registered vehicles, per the New Jersey Attorney General's Office.

Bodily injury liability pays the medical bills, lost wages and legal costs of people you injure when you're at fault. New Jersey raised the minimum to $35,000 per person and $70,000 per crash on January 1, 2026, under P.L.2022, c.87. In New Jersey's no-fault system, the other driver's personal injury protection coverage pays their medical costs first. Bodily injury covers what you owe when a serious injury qualifies for a lawsuit above the injury threshold. A $35,000 per-person limit doesn't cover a hospitalization and lost wages in a dense urban market. Drivers with home equity or savings need at least $100,000 per person and $300,000 per crash.

Property damage liability pays for damage you cause to other drivers' vehicles and property. New Jersey's minimum increased from $5,000 to $25,000 on January 1, 2026, under P.L.2022, c.87. That $25,000 floor still doesn't cover a totaled newer vehicle or damage in a multi-vehicle crash in a dense urban area.

Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage pays your medical bills and repair costs when the driver who hit you has no insurance or not enough to cover the damage. New Jersey requires this coverage on every registered vehicle. You can't opt out. When New Jersey raised its bodily injury minimum on January 1, 2026, the required uninsured motorist minimum rose to match: $35,000 per person and $70,000 per crash. The Insurance Research Council found that more than 14% of New Jersey drivers were uninsured in 2023, up from about 3% in 2019. For guidance on setting the right limits for your situation, see MoneyGeek's guide to uninsured motorist insurance.

Collision pays for damage to your own car from a crash, regardless of fault. Comprehensive pays for non-collision damage, including theft, fire and flooding. New Jersey's documented flood history and vehicle theft rates, detailed in Factor 7 above, mean the standard break-even calculation for dropping comprehensive understates the risk for most of the state. If your vehicle is financed, the lender requires both collision and comprehensive regardless of vehicle age or value.

Gap insurance covers the difference between what your insurer pays when your car is totaled and what you still owe on the loan. It applies most in the first three years of financing, when your loan balance commonly exceeds your car's market value. Dealers offer it at purchase; your insurer can usually provide it for less. See MoneyGeek's guide to whether you need gap insurance on a used car for the full decision framework.

The Limited Right to Sue is not a type of insurance. It is a lawsuit election that affects what claims you can bring after a crash. Under N.J.S.A. 39:6A-8, it is the default on every New Jersey standard policy. Drivers who have never made a written election for the Unlimited option are on the Limited version without realizing it.

Limited Right to Sue bars pain and suffering claims for common injuries like whiplash or soft tissue damage. Only serious injuries, defined as a displaced fracture, permanent loss of function, significant disfigurement or death, qualify for a lawsuit under the Limited option. If you want the ability to sue for any injury, you need to elect the Unlimited option in writing, which costs more in premium.

1. Get quotes from NJM, Plymouth Rock and Selective before deciding. These three carriers write only in New Jersey and don't appear on national comparison platforms. NJM prices full coverage at $121 per month, Plymouth Rock at $122 per month and Selective at $123 per month, all below GEICO at $174 per month. See MoneyGeek's cheapest car insurance in New Jersey to compare them alongside national carriers.
2. Complete an NJMVC-approved defensive driving course before your next renewal. New Jersey law requires every licensed insurer to offer a discount of 5% to 10% on liability, personal injury protection and collision premiums for three years to drivers who complete an approved course, under N.J.S.A. 17:33B-44.1. On a $172 per month full coverage policy, a 5% discount saves $103 per year and a 10% discount saves $206 per year. Courses are available online through the NJMVC.
3. Get new quotes on the 19th birthday, not the 25th. New Jersey's largest single-year rate drop is the 19th birthday at $293 per month. The 25th birthday delivers $44 per month. A family at Progressive with a young driver pays $723 per month for that profile. GEICO and NJM each price the same young driver at $216 per month. Get new quotes at 19 and at each birthday through 25.
4. Get new quotes at month 37 after a violation. New Jersey has no SR-22. The only deadline is month 37, when the violation clears the standard three-year carrier lookback window. For a DUI, start with Plymouth Rock and NJM, the cheapest post-DUI carriers in the state. For a not-at-fault accident, get new quotes immediately. NJM charges zero surcharge for not-at-fault accidents. See MoneyGeek's New Jersey DUI insurance page for post-violation carrier rates.