North Dakota Ranks High on the Most Expensive States to Own and Operate a Car

As I was doing this story I was thinking, North Dakota would be high on this list due to the high price of gas in Bismarck compared to the rest of the country. I was not surprised when I saw how high NoDak ranked on the list of the most expensive states to own and operate a car according to 24/7 Wall St.

The website examined a few indicators to reveal this list.

24/7 Wall St. calculated the annual operating expenses of owning a car in each state based on three measures: gas expenditure, repairs and maintenance, and insurance premiums.

Based on those categories, the cheapest states to operate a car are -

Hawaii
New Hampshire
Wisconsin
Ohio
Iowa
Idaho

The most expensive states are -

Michigan
Mississippi
North Dakota
California
Maryland

According to WS24/7-

While the average price of gas in North Dakota was only slightly lower than the national average price of $2.78 per gallon, the average gas expenditure per vehicle in North Dakota, at $2,512 per year, was the highest in the nation. The average vehicle in the state consumed about 980 gallons of gasoline per year, the second highest rate of fuel consumption after only Mississippi. Some individuals and businesses incur the fuel costs for multiple vehicles as there are actually more cars in North Dakota than there are people, at 1.17 cars per capita -- the fourth highest ratio nationwide. Driving in the state is also not particularly fuel-efficient, as a gallon of gas was spent driving just 12.21 miles, the lowest average fuel efficiency in the country. Above-average insurance premiums contributed to the high operating costs as well, likely due in part to high numbers of fatal crashes. An estimated 20.5 people were killed in car crashes per 100,000 people, the highest death rate from vehicle accidents nationwide.