Best and Cheapest Renters Insurance in New York for 2024

Given renters insurance isn’t usually required, it’s often not purchased by renters. However, without buying renters insurance in New York, your belongings are left unprotected. Your landlord likely has insurance that covers the structure of the building you’re living in, but it doesn’t cover your personal belongings (i.e. anything you bring into the apartment). That’s where renters insurance comes in — it covers your items from perils in your apartment and also provides liability coverage in case an accident occurs in your apartment.

So if you want to ensure you’re properly covered while renting in New York or NYC, it’s important to find one of the best New York renters insurance companies. But where do you start? In the table above, you can sort through all the renters insurance companies ranked on Clearsurance. The rating next to each company — the insurer’s Clearsurance score — is based exclusively on the thousands of ratings provided by customers. Note: Only those companies with at least 25 renters insurance reviews are eligible to appear in the best New York renters insurance rankings.

Interested in learning more about one of the companies on the list of the best renters insurance companies in New York? You can visit the company’s profile page to find more information about the company and read reviews to learn from the experiences of other policyholders.

On this page:

• New York renters insurance rates
• Average cost of renting in New York City
• Renters insurance for New York college students
• New York property crime statistics

Who offers the best New York renters insurance rates?

Out of the most popular renters insurance companies in New York, NYCM offers the cheapest New York renters insurance rates, on average.

On average, renters insurance in New York costs about $146 per year. The price you pay may vary depending on if you live in the city or a more rural area of the state. The cost also varies by company. Some companies may offer renters insurance in New York for a cheaper rate than others. In the table below, you can see average New York renters insurance rates from some of the largest companies in the state.

*USAA is only available to former and active military members and their families.

These average renters insurance rates are based on a policy with $30,000 in personal property coverage (with a $500 deductible), $100,000 in personal liability and $1,000 in medical payments to others. The rates displayed should only be used for comparative purposes as individual rates in New York will differ. Rate data is provided by Quadrant Information Services.

How much does rent cost in New York City?

In New York City, the average monthly cost of rent in the four most popular buroughs is:

• The Bronx: $2,167
• Manhattan: $4,041
• Brooklyn: $2,675
• Queens: $2,194

New York City is one of the most famous cities in the world and has more than 8.5 million people who live in it, making is the most populous city in the United States. The Big Apple is comprised of five boroughs: The Bronx, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. The cost of rent varies by borough. Below you can see a deeper analysis of the average cost of rent in the four most populous boroughs.

The Bronx

The Bronx is home to Yankee Stadium and widely accepted as the birthplace of hip hop. It’s the northernmost borough in the city. The average cost of rent in The Bronx is $2,167 per month. One-bedrooms apartments cost an average of $1,764 per month and three-bedroom apartments cost an average of $2,915 per month.

Manhattan

Many of New York City’s top attractions are in Manhattan: The Empire State Building, Central Park, Times Square and so on. Manhattan is the priciest borough to rent an apartment in. The average cost to rent in Manhattan is $4,041 per month. Studio apartments cost an average of $2,908 per month and rent quickly rises with larger apartments. On average, one-bedroom apartments cost $3,757 per month, two-bedroom apartments cost $5,474 per month and three-bedroom apartments cost $7,924 per month.

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the most populous borough of New York City. The average cost of rent in Brooklyn is $2,675. Studio apartments cost an average of $2,204 per month and one-bedroom apartments cost an average of $2,508 per month while three-bedroom apartments cost an average of $4,797 per month.

Queens

Queens is the largest NYC borough in terms of square miles and is home to JFK and LaGuardia airports. The average rate of rent in Queens is $2,194 per month. Depending on the size of the apartment, rent can vary. On average, studio apartments in Queens cost $1,696 per month, one-bedroom apartments cost $2,087 per month and three-bedroom apartments cost $3,557 per month.

Although the cost to rent an apartment in New York City is definitely on the high end, that doesn’t mean you should try to save a few bucks a month by not purchasing a renters insurance policy. NYC renters insurance can protect your personal items from perils like theft or vandalism.

See the best renters insurance companies and rates in NYC.

Renters insurance for New York college students

There are hundreds of colleges and universities scattered across the state of New York and even over 100 in New York City itself. Whether you’re attending a school in the city or somewhere in upstate New York, you’ll likely live in an on-campus dorm or off-campus apartment while you complete your degree. There are a few things for college students renting housing in New York to consider in order to protect their personal belongings.

Typically, college students who live in dorms located on the college campus are covered by their parents homeowners insurance policy. That’s usually only the case for students who live on campus, though. College students who rent apartments off campus should consider a renters insurance policy because their items won’t be covered under their parents’ policy, and without a renters insurance policy, they won’t have any protection.

College students will most likely have roommates in the apartment they rent. It’s not advised that students share renters insurance policies with roommates. Rather, each student should have their own renters insurance policy to protect their own belongings.

New York property crime statistics

Theft and vandalism or malicious mischief are among the 16 perils a standard renters insurance policy protects you from. So, how does crime in New York compare to other states around the country? The FBI published the following statistics on crime in New York for 2016:

• Property crime - 305,181
• Burglary - 39,821
• Larceny theft - 250,968

When compared to the national average rate per 100,000 inhabitants, all three crime statistics for New York rank below the national average.

How to save money on your renters insurance in New York

While renters insurance may be more affordable than other types of insurance, no one wants to pay more than they have to. So what are the different ways that you can lower your New York renters insurance premium and have some extra spending money?

Here are the top 5 ways to save on your renters insurance:

• Raise your deductible
• Ask about potential discounts
• Bundle your policies
• Determine the value of your personal property
• Pay in full by check

How Clearsurance rates and ranks the best renters insurance companies in New York

Consistent with its mission towards greater transparency, Clearsurance does not keep its rating and ranking formulas in a black box. Our algorithm analyzes a range of inputs from our independent community of insurance customers, including:

• Price
• Customer Service
• Claim service
• Likelihood to renew

The algorithm also takes into account the percentage of what customers say the company does well vs. the percentage of what customers say the company could do better.

The Clearsurance customer ratings and rankings are derived entirely from customer reviews and ratings.

Renters insurance guide

As we mentioned above, there’s common misconceptions regarding what is and isn’t covered by a renters insurance policy. Before you purchase a policy from one of these best renters insurance companies in New York, it’s important to understand what your policy covers. For example, did you know that many renters insurance policies include liability protection in the event a non-resident is injured on the property. Plus, if your apartment becomes uninhabitable from an incident, some policies may cover your expenses as you find temporary housing in New York.

We want to make sure you’re equipped with a proper knowledge of renters insurance, so check out our renters insurance guide. Looking for more educational information about renters insurance? Check out our renters insurance blog for more information and topics related to renters insurance.