How Miserable Are Mass. Drivers?

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Tuesday, September 18, 2012

GoLocalWorcester Lifestyle Team

Photo: AgentAkit

How miserable are Massachusetts drivers? Not that miserable, according to a new ranking from carinsurance.com.

Massachusetts ranked #45 on the website's new Automotive Misery Index ranking, which took the price of gas and insurance as of September 1 and weighed those numbers against average income and miles driven in each state. With these figures, carinsurance.com was able to calculate the percentage of household income required to drive. In MA's case, that number came out to 5.1%

Pricey gas

Massachusetts' ranking derived from a gas price of $3.89 per gallon and an average annual insurance bill of $1,381. MA's gas price was the #14 highest among all 50 states, bested by West Virginia, Michigan, Alabama, North Dakota, Indiana, California, Delaware, Iowa, Oregon, Wisconsin, Hawaii, Washington, and neighboring Connecticut. Hawaii tagged the highest gas price of the sampling, at $4.34 per gallon

The insurance price tag was compiled by a standard of one year's worth of insurance for a 2012 Honda Accord (as was the estimation of a year's worth of fuel). MA's $1,381 price tag was more in the middle of the pack, at #27 nationally.

Most miserable

The #1 most miserable state for drivers in the ranking was Mississippi (11.6% of household income required to drive), followed by Oklahoma, Louisiana, West Virginia and Georgia. The least miserable state was New Hampshire, where it only costs 4.4%. The national average of the survey was 7.0%.

In general, New England states fared well in the misery ranking. Massachusetts' #45 ranking was in the middle of the regional pack. Rhode Island ranked the highest for misery at #29, followed by Maine at #36, and Vermont at #40. Less miserable than MA were Connecticut at #49, and New Hampshire at #51 (the survey included Washington, DC).

For all the rankings, go here.