Most and Least Expensive States to Own a Car

NEW YORK, Aug. 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Wyoming is the most expensive state to operate a motor vehicle and Iowa is the cheapest, according to a new Bankrate.com (NYSE: RATE) report. Bankrate factored in the annual costs of gasoline, insurance and repairs. In Wyoming, a typical driver spends $2,705 per year to operate his or her vehicle. In Iowa, the average driver spends just $1,942 per year. The national average is $2,223.

While Wyoming has below-average costs for car repairs, gas prices and insurance, drivers in this state drive 68% more than the typical driver and therefore spend a whopping $1,588 per year on gas – more than anywhere else in the country.

One major reason Iowa is the cheapest place to operate a vehicle is because drivers there enjoy the cheapest car insurance rates in the country (average of just $630 per year). Car repairs are also relatively inexpensive; typical drivers in Iowa spend just $315 per year.

Louisiana ($2,555), Florida ($2,516), Mississippi ($2,487) and New Jersey ($2,421) round out the five most expensive states.

Ohio ($1,973), Illinois ($1,999), Idaho ($2,001) and Wisconsin ($2,018) join Iowa among the five cheapest states.

Click here to view the findings from all 50 states and Washington, D.C.:

http://www.bankrate.com/finance/auto/car-ownership-costs-by-state.aspx

Bankrate analyzed the cost of gasoline, repairs and insurance in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Labor and parts data were provided by CarMD.com, while gas spending was calculated with statistics from GasBuddy.com and the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Insurance costs were compiled from National Association of Insurance Commissioners statistics.

About Bankrate, Inc.

Bankrate is a leading publisher, aggregator, and distributor of personal finance content on the Internet. Bankrate provides consumers with proprietary, fully researched, comprehensive, independent and objective personal finance editorial content across multiple vertical categories including mortgages, deposits, insurance, credit cards, and other categories, such as retirement, automobile loans, and taxes. The Bankrate network includes Bankrate.com, CreditCards.com and InsuranceQuotes.com, our flagship websites, and other owned and operated personal finance websites, including Caring.com, Interest.com, Bankaholic.com, Mortgage-calc.com, CreditCardGuide.com, Nationwide Card Services, CarInsuranceQuotes.com, InsureMe, CreditCards.ca, and NetQuote.com. Bankrate aggregates rate information from over 4,800 institutions on more than 300 financial products. With coverage of nearly 600 local markets in all 50 U.S. states, Bankrate generates over 172,000 distinct rate tables capturing on average over three million pieces of information daily. Bankrate develops and provides web services to over 80 co-branded websites with online partners, including some of the most trusted and frequently visited personal finance sites on the Internet such as Yahoo!, AOL, CNBC, and Bloomberg. In addition, Bankrate licenses editorial content to over 500 newspapers on a daily basis including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and The Boston Globe.

For more information:
Caroline Farhat
Publicist, Bankrate, Inc.
[email protected]
(917) 368-8638

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130805/FL58072LOGO

SOURCE Bankrate, Inc.