For a 40-year-old driver with a clean record, car insurance in New Bedford, MA, averages about $225 a month ($2,705 a year) for full coverage, based on the rates insurers had filed with state regulators as of Aug. 31, 2026. That’s 24% above the Massachusetts average of $182 a month. Plymouth Rock has the lowest full-coverage average among insurers open to all drivers in our New Bedford table, at about $162 a month. For statewide averages and rankings, see our Massachusetts car insurance quotes guide; to compare New Bedford auto insurance quotes for your own car, enter your ZIP code.
New Bedford is the seventh-most expensive of the 21 Massachusetts places with two or more ZIP codes in our data, at about $43 a month more than the Massachusetts average for our benchmark driver, and it’s priced almost exactly like Fall River, where full coverage averages $226 a month. The two cities are the most expensive of the 21 Bristol County places we price.
All four New Bedford ZIP codes in our data (02740, 02744, 02745 and 02746) are priced the same for our benchmark driver, about $225 a month for full coverage, so there’s no ZIP code table on this page. The insurer makes the difference: Plymouth Rock averages about $162 a month in New Bedford and Arbella $299, a gap of $1,652 a year for the same driver and car.
Cost data comes from the auto rates insurers file with state regulators, priced across all four New Bedford ZIP codes in our data, compiled by Quadrant Information Services and updated as new rates are filed.
Rates as of Aug. 31, 2026. Page reviewed Oct. 2, 2026.
Full coverage in New Bedford averages $2,705 a year, or about $225 a month, for our benchmark driver. Liability-only coverage at 20/40/5 limits averages $1,043 a year ($87 a month), and 50/100/50 liability with comprehensive and collision averages $2,647 ($221 a month).
Plymouth Rock has the lowest full-coverage average among insurers open to all drivers in our New Bedford table. USAA*, which sells only to military families, is priced from published rate studies at about $156 a month, below Plymouth Rock; we don’t rank it. The published 2026 statewide Massachusetts rate studies we reviewed split between GEICO and Plymouth Rock for the cheapest full coverage, apart from USAA: four of the eight put GEICO first, two put Plymouth Rock first, one has them tied and one ranks State Farm first. For liability-only coverage at 20/40/5 limits, Plymouth Rock has the lowest average among the insurers we price, at about $64 a month, followed by GEICO at $78.
Full-coverage averages by insurer in New Bedford
Monthly, for the same driver and car. Insurers marked with an asterisk in the table below aren’t in the chart.
Rates insurers filed with state regulators, compiled by Quadrant Information Services, as of Aug. 31, 2026. Benchmark 40-year-old driver, 100/300/100 with $500 deductibles.
| Insurance Company: | Liability Only 20/40/5 (Yearly): | Liability Only 20/40/5 (Monthly): | Full Coverage (Yearly): | Full Coverage (Monthly): |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plymouth Rock | $769 | $64 | $1,939 | $162 |
| Progressive | $1,168 | $97 | $2,217 | $185 |
| GEICO | $931 | $78 | $2,655 | $221 |
| Safety Insurance | $1,055 | $88 | $3,125 | $260 |
| Arbella | $1,293 | $108 | $3,591 | $299 |
| USAA (military families)* | $824 | $69 | $1,874 | $156 |
| Norfolk & Dedham* | $1,303 | $109 | $3,066 | $256 |
| Amica* | $1,248 | $104 | $3,203 | $267 |
| Travelers* | $1,700 | $142 | $3,644 | $304 |
| Allstate* | $1,691 | $141 | $3,992 | $333 |
| New Bedford average | $1,043 | $87 | $2,705 | $225 |
This table uses New Bedford ZIP codes only. See how we calculated these rates.
Your ZIP code matters
Raising liability limits from 50/100/50 to 100/300/100 adds only about $58 a year on average in our New Bedford data, with the same $500 deductibles. The full-coverage package doubles the per-person injury limit, triples the per-crash limit and doubles the property damage limit, and it raises uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage to 100/300. Progressive charges less for 100/300/100 than for 50/100/50 for our benchmark driver.
Slightly, for our benchmark driver. Comparing the same insurers in the same New Bedford ZIP codes, full coverage averaged $2,679 a year in rates as of Nov. 30, 2025, and $2,705 as of Aug. 31, 2026, a 1.0% increase. Plymouth Rock raised its average 2.8% and Safety Insurance 2.6%, while Arbella’s, GEICO’s and Progressive’s averages were unchanged. Liability-only coverage at 20/40/5 limits rose 1.0%, led by Plymouth Rock, which raised its liability-only average 6.8%.
Bristol County averages about $191 a month for full coverage, the third-most expensive of the 14 Massachusetts counties we price. The towns around New Bedford cost less: Fairhaven averages about $176, Acushnet $177, and North Dartmouth and South Dartmouth $184 each.
Plymouth Rock’s New Bedford average is about 12% below Progressive’s ($185), the next insurer we rank, and GEICO, the leader among the insurers we rank in Cambridge and Somerville, averages $221 here. Where you live is one of the factors Massachusetts insurers use, so neighboring towns can be priced differently.
More Massachusetts cities and towns are in the Massachusetts rates by city table, and you can compare states on our car insurance rates by state page.
Fall River, about 12 miles west, averages $226 a month, and Brockton, about 30 miles north, $296. Fairhaven, about two miles east, averages $176, and Acushnet, about three miles northeast, $177.
New Bedford drivers need at least $30,000 in property damage liability, the minimum property damage coverage in Massachusetts for policies issued or renewed since July 1, 2025. Every policy must include at least:
Our guide to Massachusetts auto insurance requirements covers the no-fault rules and the penalties for driving uninsured.
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Insurers must file their rates and rating rules with each state’s insurance regulator. Quadrant Information Services uses those filings to calculate what each insurer would charge a specific driver, and InsuranceQuotes analyzes those prices. This page uses rates in effect on Aug. 31, 2026.
Coverage requirements come from Massachusetts law and the Massachusetts Division of Insurance. We refresh these figures when new rate data is released.
For our benchmark driver, full coverage in New Bedford averages about $225 a month ($2,705 a year) and liability-only coverage at 20/40/5 limits about $87 a month, based on the rates insurers had filed with state regulators as of Aug. 31, 2026. Full coverage is 24% above the Massachusetts average of $182 a month.
Plymouth Rock has the lowest full-coverage average among insurers open to all drivers in our New Bedford table, at about $162 a month, followed by Progressive at $185. USAA*, which sells only to military families, is priced from published rate studies at about $156 a month, below Plymouth Rock; we don’t rank it. For liability-only coverage at 20/40/5 limits, Plymouth Rock has the lowest average, at about $64 a month. The published 2026 statewide Massachusetts rate studies we reviewed split between GEICO and Plymouth Rock for the cheapest full coverage, apart from USAA: four of the eight put GEICO first, two put Plymouth Rock first, one has them tied and one ranks State Farm first. Rates vary by driver, so compare quotes for your own car and ZIP code.
They’re about the same for our benchmark driver: New Bedford full coverage averages about $225 a month and Fall River about $226.
Each of the nearby towns we price costs less for our benchmark driver. Fairhaven averages about $176 a month for full coverage, Acushnet $177, and North Dartmouth and South Dartmouth $184 each, compared with $225 in New Bedford.
No. Among the five insurers we price, full-coverage averages in New Bedford run from about $162 a month ($1,939 a year) with Plymouth Rock to $299 ($3,591) with Arbella, a gap of $1,652 a year for the same driver and car. Progressive, GEICO and Safety Insurance fall in between.
New Bedford drivers follow Massachusetts law: every policy issued or renewed since July 1, 2025, must include at least $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident in bodily injury liability, $30,000 in property damage liability, uninsured motorist coverage of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident, and personal injury protection of up to $8,000 per person. Our liability-only prices use the older 20/40/5 limits, which are below the current minimum.
