Who Has the Cheapest Car Insurance in Stockton, California?

Cheapest in Stockton

Cheapest for minimum liability: Geico

Cheapest for minimum liability: Geico

Cheapest for prior incidents: Mercury

Cheapest for prior incidents: Mercury

Every driver will find different rates for car insurance, so we recommend gathering your own quotes to find the best price for you.

Cheapest auto insurance in Stockton: Geico

The cheapest insurance company for a basic state-minimum car insurance policy in Stockton is Geico. Its average price for a one-year policy is $435, which is 31% cheaper than the average citywide.

AAA of Northern California and Progressive also have great prices for minimum coverage; these companies offered quotes that were within $20 of Geico. All the other companies we looked at charge at least a hundred dollars more.

Cheapest car insurance in Stockton, CA

Company	Rating	Annual rate
Geico		$435
AAA NorCal		$444
Progressive		$455
Mercury		$542
State Farm		$803
Allstate		$860
Farmers		$894

Cheapest full coverage car insurance in Stockton: Geico

For drivers who want or need to extend their coverage beyond what's required to drive in California and include comprehensive and collision coverage on their insurance, Geico offers the best prices overall. Its average rate of $1,447 is 23% cheaper than the average rate overall of $1,889 per year.

Other companies charge much more for full coverage, with more than half of the insurance companies we looked at offering quotes over $2,000 per year.

In addition to state-mandated liability protection, full coverage also includes the following:

Cheap car insurance for drivers with prior incidents

Car insurance companies set rates in part by looking at your driving history. If you have a recent driving incident on your record, such as a speeding ticket or an at-fault accident, you're likely to pay more for insurance than someone with a clean record. Higher rates make it even more important to shop around since the price difference from one company to another varies even more.

Cheapest car insurance for people with a speeding ticket: Mercury

Insurance companies have found that drivers who have been caught speeding are more likely to be involved in a crash or make a claim. As a result, you're likely to see a substantial increase in rates, even after just one ticket. A full coverage policy increase by 48% on average to $2,801 per year.

You could save money on insurance after a speeding ticket by looking at Mercury and Geico. Mercury has the best price overall at just $2,093 per year for full coverage. That's 25% cheaper than the average. Geico is also well below average, at $2,260 per year.

Cheapest car insurance in Stockton after an accident: Mercury

Car insurance companies often raise rates for drivers who've been found at fault in an accident because they are more likely to make another claim in the future. The average annual price for full coverage is $3,779 for drivers with an accident. That's a 100% increase over the rate for an average full coverage policy.

Mercury has much more affordable rates than other companies. It offered a year of full coverage for $2,380 — 37% less than the average in Stockton.

Cheapest car insurance for drivers with a DUI: Mercury

Driving under the influence is one of the most severe driving violations, and insurance companies typically increase rates substantially for drivers who've been convicted. Across the seven major companies we considered, the average price after a DUI is $5,343 per year for full coverage. That's 182% more expensive than what you'll pay without one on your record.

The most affordable option for insurance after a DUI comes from Mercury, which offered him a price of $2,618 per year. That would save him more than $2,700 per year when compared to most others.

Unfortunately, many companies simply aren't interested in insuring drivers who've been convicted of driving under the influence. If you can't get a quote from a mainstream insurance company in Stockton, you may need to consider a nonstandard insurance company, which is an company that specializes in providing coverage to high-risk drivers — albeit at higher prices than they may find elsewhere.

Cheapest car insurance for married drivers: Geico

Insurance companies often give married people a discount because they tend to be more cautious on the road — on average, drivers can save about 7% on their bill just by virtue of being married.

Geico offered a particularly low rate of $1,214 for full coverage, which is 31% less expensive than its competitors and an 8% discount compared to Geico's average rate.

These rates don't include other ways for married couples to save like sharing a policy with their partner or a multicar discount, which may help you save even more.

Cheapest car insurance for young drivers: Geico

Younger drivers are less experienced on the road and may not have the same judgment as older drivers, so they're often involved in more accidents; as a result, younger drivers almost always pay much more for insurance than older adults.

An 18-year-old can expect to pay about $1,614 for a minimum coverage policy, which includes liability protection but not damage to the vehicle. Geico, progressive and Mercury offer much more affordable prices — a basic policy costs between $1,300 and $1,350 per year.

Younger drivers almost always pay more for car insurance than older drivers, but one of the best ways to save on insurance as a teenager is to share a policy with a family member like a parent. Doing so will almost always result in a lower total price than maintaining your own separate policy.

Average car insurance cost in Stockton, by neighborhood

Car insurance can vary based on where you live, even within a specific city: For example, you might pay more for car insurance if you live in an area with high rates of car theft or a neighborhood where most people park on the street.

Prices vary by about 16% for minimum coverage across different ZIP codes in Stockton and by about 22% for full coverage.

Auto theft statistics in Stockton

Stockton is California's 12th-biggest city by population, but it has more car theft per capita than many larger cities in the state. Among the cities its size or bigger, it has the fourth-most theft, with 5.4 cars stolen per 1,000 residents in 2019. That's more than nearby Sacramento or San Francisco but less than Oakland or San Jose.

Methodology

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

We used the following limits for full and minimum coverage policies:

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.