We all love to hate Atlanta traffic. We like to whine (okay, kind of boast) about how it’s the worst in the country. Well, practice your whining some more: our list of auto-related woes still just got a lot longer.
A recent study by Bankrate.com found that Georgia is the most expensive state in the nation for car owners.
Taking into account total costs—gas prices, insurance, repairs, taxes, and fees—the annual price tag for owning a car in Georgia is $4,233, which is about $1,000 more than the national average, according to Bankrate. Oregon secured the bottom spot with an annual price of only $2,204. Yes, the irony is rich: people in transit-loving Oregon pay half as much to own cars as those of us in the asphalt-happy Peach State.
The other states rounding out the top five for auto expenses are:
California—$3,966
Wyoming—$3,938
Rhode Island—$3,913
Nevada—$3,886
The top five states all lack viable public transportation alternatives and have above average gas prices. Georgia comes in around average for insurance prices, but we pay almost twice as much as the national average in taxes and fees. Suddenly that one percent sales tax increase to fund T-SPLOST doesn’t seem like such a big deal does it?
Atlanta’s always been touted as a cheaper place to live than other big cities. And sure, you’ll spend a lot less on a house or condo here than in New York or San Francisco. But in 2012, a joint study by the Center for Housing Policy and the Center for Neighborhood Technology ranked Atlanta the No. 6 metro area where housing and transit costs place a high burden on middle and moderate income residents.
