Gas Costs Tough On Pickup Truck Drivers

Gas Prices Hit Rural Drivers Hardest

An interesting analysis by those clever folks at the New York Times makes clear the uneven burden of motor fuel costs. The NYT presents a graphic which shows county-by-county gas prices, median incomes, and percentage of income spent on gasoline around the U.S.

California has the highest gasoline prices in the nation, partly due to high taxes and special formulations. But since incomes are generally higher in California than in many states in the South, Plains, and North Central regions, the percent of income spent on gas is generally low in California (except rural Modoc and Trinity Counties). Cities, where people have higher incomes and also do less driving, are the spots where the smallest fraction of income is spent on motor fuel.