Owning a car can be both prohibitively expensive and — in a country where half the population lacks access to public transit — completely necessary. The cost to own a car has only increased recently in the wake of car shortgages causing higher vehicle prices, one of the biggest rises in inflation in decades and a significant surge in gas prices.
But these costs aren’t equal everywhere. The Zebra analyzed the 50 most populous cities across the U.S. to find the 10 most expensive places to live with a car, as well as the 10 least expensive cities. We weighed average costs such as car insurance, gas and toll roads. We also looked at the amount of auto loan debt residents carry compared to the median income. Finally, we evaluated parking expenses for two hours in a garage.
Find out if your city falls on either list and see if your driving costs are on the low end or if you’re paying more than most other drivers in the country. If your town didn’t make either list, here are some national averages to use as comparison:
- Car insurance: $1,529
- Gas per gallon as of March 2022: $4.32
- Auto loan debt as percentage of income: 29%
Remember, whether your city is on this list or not, if you're feeling the crunch of car ownership costs rising, one way you can take control is to compare car insurance quotes to make sure you're paying as little as possible while still getting the coverage you need.
Least expensive cities for car ownership
Now let's look at our list of 10 cities where costs are actually the least expensive to own and drive your car.
While the cost of owning a car may not be enough to make you move to a more affordable city, it’s eye opening to find out how your own expenses stack up to other areas. But if you are looking for a clean slate in another place, check to see how your existing budget will translate, especially for car-related prices that can fluctuate based on location.
Methodology
The Zebra pulled five data points to analyze the top 50 MSAs (by population) in the U.S. for owning a car.
- Annual car insurance prices (from The Zebra 2022 State of Insurance Report)
- Two-hour garage parking prices (from Parkopedia 2019 North America Parking Index)
- State gas prices as of February 21, 2022 (from AAA Gas Prices)
- Auto loan debt (from WalletHub’s Cities with the Most Auto Loan Debt)
- Toll price per mile (from U.S. Federal Highway Administration and state transit departments)
MSA data was used where applicable, and we sometimes substituted city data as necessary.