New York Life is the No. 2 life insurance company for 2026, tying with Guardian Life. It earned a 4.59 out of 5, ranking highest for financial strength, customer satisfaction, and service quality.
Nupur Gambhir is an insurance expert and managing editor of Insure.com. She specializes in life and health insurance content, and has experience as a marketing consultant.
Scott Nyerges is an insurance expert and managing editor, insurance. Previously, he was a senior insurance editor and content strategist at U.S. News & World Report, and worked for Consumer Reports, MSN and Cheapism.com.
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New York Life stands out as one of the strongest overall performers in our 2026 rankings. It combines superior financial strength (A++ from AM Best), high customer satisfaction (3.94 stars out of 5), and a wide range of life insurance options tailored to various life stages. It’s the kind of company people choose when they want long-term stability and a policy they can trust decades from now.
We especially like that New York Life scores 84% for ease of accessing documents and services — one of the highest in our survey — which tells us customers feel supported beyond the initial purchase. The company also sees strong renewal loyalty (99%) and high trust (91%), which reinforces its reputation for reliability.
That said, New York Life isn’t the best option for buyers who want a fully digital, low-interaction experience. It leans into an advisor-first model, which is great if you want guidance, but not ideal if you prefer do-it-yourself tools.
New York Life performs strongly across service, experience, and product categories, especially for ease of accessing policy documents, billing, and customer support.
This means day-to-day interactions tend to feel smoother and less stressful, whether you’re paying a bill, updating a beneficiary, or asking a question about your coverage. These scores indicate that New York Life isn’t just good at selling life insurance; it continues to show up for policyholders throughout the life of the policy.
When compared to similar top-ranked competitors like Guardian Life and Northwestern Mutual, New York Life holds its own across nearly every category and stands out for consistently strong service, dependable support, an easy billing process, and well-structured coverage options.
New York Life earns high marks across all three categories, indicating that policyholders feel confident in recommending the company, trust it with long-term protection, and plan to remain with it. These scores reflect strong satisfaction beyond the initial purchase — people who insure with New York Life tend to stay loyal to it.
In our survey, New York Life scored:
New York Life delivers steady performance across younger adults, middle-aged adults, and seniors. Younger buyers appreciate the support when purchasing their first policy, mid-career adults value the mix of term and permanent options, and seniors respond well to its long-term stability and whole-life choices.
New York Life earns a 68% satisfaction score, with many younger policyholders appreciating help navigating their first major life insurance decision.
Satisfaction rises to 78%, reflecting the company’s strong mix of flexible riders and long-term planning options that appeal to families and mid-career buyers.
New York Life earns an 80% satisfaction score among older adults who often prioritize financial strength, guaranteed coverage, and long-standing service reliability.
New York Life’s average annual premium is $349, which is about 9% lower than the industry average of $382. For consumers, that small difference can add up in a meaningful way — especially over a 20- or 30-year term. It means you’re getting coverage from one of the most financially secure, highly respected insurers in the country at a price that quietly saves you money year after year.
That combination — long-term stability at a slightly lower cost — is part of why so many people feel comfortable choosing New York Life for lifelong protection.
Here’s how New York Life compares with its competitors:
New York Life offers one of the broadest selections in the market:
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Methodology
In 2025, Insure.com surveyed more than 2,000 insurance consumers through independent research firm Dynata. Customers named their life insurer and rated it on customer satisfaction, ease of service, policy offerings, billing, and their experience across different applicant types (seniors, middle-aged adults, young adults, people with pre-existing conditions, people who are overweight, and people who prefer no-exam coverage). We also asked whether they planned to keep their policy, would recommend their insurer, and trusted their insurer.
For insurers with enough survey responses, we added:
With guidance from Prof. David Marlett, Ph.D., Managing Director of the Brantley Risk and Insurance Center at Appalachian State University, we applied the following weights to determine each company’s final score:
Each insurer received a rating between 0.5 and 5 stars, with 5 stars representing the highest performance.