If you’ve spent time on my blog you probably know I’m not the biggest fan of driving and America’s obsession with cars. There’s the 40,000 deaths it causes every year (more than 100 every day…). There’s the smog and carbon pollution. The immense and wasteful infrastructure costs. The noise, the friggin noise! There’s the unhealthy lifestyles cars promote (ok I’ll stop…).

Oh and of course if you’re a typical American then your car(s) are one of your biggest expenses, and likely delaying your time to financial independence more than you realize.

Enter this article from Huffington Post that ranks all 50 states based on the cost of car ownership over 3 years.

How do they do the rankings? From the article:

analyzed key expenses of car ownership, besides the cost of the vehicle itself. Assuming all U.S. residents pay the average transaction price of $33,543 (according to Kelley Blue Book), the findings reveal that in addition to auto payments, U.S. car owners will pay an additional $11,227 on average to buy and own a car for three years. This amount includes:

car sales tax and title fees (referred to as “one-time purchase costs” in this study)

registration fees, car insurance, gas and car maintenance costs (referred to “annual ownership and usage costs”)

So what they’re saying is that these rankings are the cost of ownership not including the purchase itself. However, sales tax (arguably part of the purchase) is included.

If you don’t wish to go to the article, here are the top ten most expensive states to own a car for 3 years and the cost

Michigan $15,314.53 California $14,451.58 Washington, D.C. $13,561.06 New Jersey $13,484.11 Florida $13,210.64 Maryland $12,925.76 Rhode Island $12,895.61 Montana $12,763.74 Nevada $12,695.68 Washington $12,612.92

And here are the ten cheapest states to own a car for 3 years and the cost:

New Hampshire $8,098.00 Missouri $9,280.24 North Carolina $9,447.94 Wisconsin $9,570.90 Ohio $9,595.07 Virginia $9,602.97 Oregon $9,696.00 Alaska $9,813.85 Maine $9,866.27 New Mexico $9,923.26

As you know, I’m a map dork. It’s just better to see all of data on a map, especially when it’s geographically focused data. So I put the data in my super-duper flux capaciter magical mapping machine. And here’s what it spit out:

If we take the difference between the highest cost state (Michigan) and the lowest (New Hampshire), it’s 7,216.53. That’s $7,216.53 more to own a car for three years in Michigan versus New Hampshire.

Over a decade that difference would be $24,055.10. Yikes. And you could have been investing that $24k and turning it into much much more.

One of the factors in the data from the Huntington Post article is gasoline taxes. Since I’m always on the hunt for this stuff, I found that data too.

Gas taxes can have a real impact over time, especially if you drive a lot. Let’s say you drive 16,000 miles a year – the American average is 12,000. The average fuel economy for vehicles in America is 23.6 miles to the gallon, which is so low it makes me vomit a little in my mouth. Yeah, we love our 7-ton SUV’s. So let’s get numbery.

16,000 / 23.6 = 677.97 gallons of gas used in a year.

The difference between the gas tax in South Carolina (16.75 cents a gallon) and Pennsylvania (58.20 cents a gallon) is 41.45 cents a gallon. So…

677.97 gallons * 41.45 cents a gallon = $281.00.

That’s $281 dollars more you’re paying in gas tax by being in PA as compared to SC. Do this for 10 years and you’re out $2,810.00.

And once again as a wise investor you’re actually out way more than that since you would have been investing that $2,810 over those ten years, preferably in VTSAX. So it’s likely way more, thousands more.

It all adds up folks. I hope you find the two articles above and the maps helpful, especially if you’re considering a Geoarbitrage move within the USA.

Also be sure to check out my Geoarbitrage Resources Page that has tons of great tools to help you find your perfect location.