Automotive Misery Index: California Average on the Misery Scale
A recent analysis uncovered that heavy Los Angeles traffic and high cost of living is not enough to make California the most the most miserable state to drive a car in. In fact, according to the study California is right in the middle. So if you are from California and live near a major city like San Francisco or Los Angeles and it takes you about ten minutes to get on the freeway and crawl to your destination that’s less than 10 miles away in about 45 minutes, brace yourself, it’s worse elsewhere.
CarInsurance.com developed an “Automotive Misery Index” that factors each state’s average household income against the cost of gas, number of miles driven by the typical driver in the state where they live and the price of insurance for a 2012 Honda Accord EX, a family car that sells well nationally. The numbers came from the insurance company’s data base.
The cost of a new Honda is basically equal along the states and therefore was used as the measurable factor in the study. “A new Honda Accord costs pretty much the same in Bakersfield or Biloxi,” CarInsurance.com managing editor Des Toups told LA Times. “But keeping it on the road will hurt a lot more in Mississippi.”
California landed on 24th spot using the measurement index, after Nevada and before Ohio. Factoring in all the appropriate numbers, a hypothetical Accord-driving Californians spend exactly the national average of 7% of their average ($55,760) household income on insurance and gasoline for the Honda.
Keying in the same terms, Mississippi is the most expensive state to own and operate the vehicle. Because the average income for an average Mississippi driver is $36,821 and the cost to operate the vehicle (the cost of auto insurance plus gas expenses) comes out to 11.6% or $4,277.
Mississippi was followed by Oklahoma, Louisiana, West Virginia and Montana. These regions require drivers to make further commutes. At Mississippi and Oklahoma it is not unusual for people to drive more than 20,000 miles annually, which makes a dent on a vehicle’s operating expense.
Topping the charts, the least expensive state to drive a car is New Hampshire at a “misery” index of 4.4% of average household income. The states that follow New Hampshire are Alaska, Connecticut, Colorado and Washington.
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