NEW YORK (Aug. 21, 2013) — Georgia is the most expensive state to operate a motor vehicle and Oregon is the cheapest, according to a new report by Bankrate Inc., a personal finance content distributor.
Bankrate said it factored in the costs of gasoline, insurance, repairs, taxes and fees. In Georgia, a typical driver spends $4,233 per year to operate his or her vehicle, which the report said is almost double the cost in Oregon ($2,204). The national average is $3,201.
Georgians spend a lot of time in their cars due, in part, to Atlanta's sprawling communities and a lack of public transportation, the report said. Long commutes lead to above-average gasoline costs and insurance rates, Bankrate noted, adding that Georgia has the highest state automobile taxes and fees in the nation.
Oregonians benefit from the absence of a state sales tax as well as relatively low car insurance costs. Plus, the typical Beaver State resident drives 16-percent fewer miles than the national average, the report said.
Other findings in the report: California ($3,966), Wyoming ($3,938), Rhode Island ($3,913) and Nevada ($3,886) round out the five most expensive states in which to operate a vehicle, while Alaska ($2,227), South Dakota ($2,343), Montana ($2,660) and Indiana ($2,698) join Oregon among the five cheapest states.
For every state, Bankrate determined total car-ownership costs using median insurance premiums provided by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, average repair costs from CarMD.com and average automobile taxes and fees from Kelley Blue Book. Bankrate estimated average gasoline spending using average pump prices from GasBuddy.com.
Click here to view the findings from all 50 states.