The national cost of owning a new car hit $12,863 a year, travel club AAA reported earlier this month. And in New Jersey, it’s even more expensive, transportation experts say.
The cost of owning a car in New Jersey came out to $13,708, said a May 2026 report by the personal finance website LendingTree.
During a single year, insurance rates cost $3,188 on average in New Jersey, car payments average $7,500, gasoline costs $1,681 and repairs cost $1,339, LendingTree reported.
The numbers come as Americans struggle with some of the highest gas prices in years, brought on by the U.S. war with Iran. That initially led to a closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow strip of water bordered by Iran to the north, through which 20% of the world’s oil and natural gas pass…
Determining whether owning a car or using mass transit is more cost-effective can be complicated, transportation experts said.
Public transportation is cheaper than maintaining a car, said Robert Noland, director of the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers University in New Brunswick.