The Most and Least Expensive States for Motor Fuel
By Samantha Oller on Jul. 20, 2017WASHINGTON -- July is typically the hottest month of the year. It's also a yearly high point in energy consumption, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
With that in mind, WalletHub, a credit information site based in Washington, D.C., analyzed total monthly energy bills in the 50 states and the District of Columbia to measure consumers' energy consumption. This included everything from electricity and natural-gas expenditures to motor fuel. As experts told WalletHub, a variety of factors influence these costs, including a state’s geography, weather, transportation infrastructure, residents’ lifestyles, and the availability and variety of energy supplies.
Here are the states with the highest and lowest motor-fuel cost, price and consumption per driver ...
Highest monthly motor-fuel cost
To determine monthly motor-fuel costs, WalletHub factored in a state’s average motor-fuel price, miles traveled, average motor-fuel consumption and the number of drivers. Data sources included the EIA, Federal Highway Administration, Environmental Protection Agency and AAA.
Wyoming had the highest motor-fuel cost at $172 per month. As Timothy Fitzgerald, associate professor of business economics of Texas Tech University, told WalletHub, “Rural residents tend to drive more than urban residents and will therefore tend to spend more on gasoline.”
The states with the highest monthly motor-fuel costs in 2017 are:
- Wyoming: $172 per month
- North Dakota: $136
- New Mexico: $135
- Mississippi: $131
- Utah: $129
Highest motor-fuel price
Motor-fuel prices in Hawaii in 2017 have been twice as high as those in South Carolina, according to the WalletHub analysis, mainly because fuel must be shipped to the island state. However, Hawaii ranked only 15th in monthly motor-fuel costs.
California has the second-highest motor-fuel price in 2017 and ranked sixth in monthly fuel costs. The five states with the highest motor-fuel price are:
- Hawaii
- California
- Washington
- Alaska
- Oregon
Lowest motor-fuel price
Drivers in Missouri and Tennessee have enjoyed the lowest motor-fuel prices in 2017, even though they rank 17th and 20th, respectively, in monthly fuel costs. These six states have seen the lowest motor-fuel prices:
- Missouri and Tennessee (tie)
- Oklahoma
- Mississippi
- Alabama
- South Carolina
Highest motor-fuel consumption per driver
Wyoming drivers have the highest fuel costs at $172 per month. They also use the most motor fuel.
In fact, almost all of the top five states with the highest monthly fuel costs also have the highest motor-fuel consumption per driver. One exception: Oklahoma, which ranked fifth in motor-fuel consumption but 13th in monthly fuel costs. The five states with the highest fuel consumption per driver are:
- Wyoming
- Mississippi
- New Mexico
- North Dakota
- Oklahoma
Lowest motor-fuel consumption per driver
Drivers in Wyoming, the highest-ranked state by monthly motor-fuel consumption, burned three times as much fuel as those in the lowest-ranked state, New York. The states with the lowest motor-fuel consumption per driver include:
- New York
- Washington
- Rhode Island
- Alaska
- District of Columbia
For the complete ranking, including methodology, click here.