A down payment is only the first of many costs associated with car ownership—considering insurance, maintenance and other expenses. A new study from GoBankingRates.com finds it costs an average of $11,227 to buy and own a car over the course of three years, and this amount varies by thousands of dollar from state-to-state.
For example, there’s a $7,216 cost difference between owning a car in Michigan and New Hampshire, according to the study, which considered the costs of six key factors affecting the expenses of owning a vehicle in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.
Here is a graphic showing the most and least expensive states to own a car:
Outside of the sticker price of purchasing or financing a new set of wheels, the study evaluated the following expenses to generate its national ranking:
- Car sales tax
- Title fees
- Registration fees
- Average annual car insurance premiums
- Annual gas expenses
- Average car maintenance and repair costs
From most to least expensive, here is the complete state ranking:
[wpdatatable id=2]Additional Insights:
- New Hampshire, Oregon, Alaska, and Montana are the only states that don’t levy sales tax on vehicle purchases.
- Missouri’s average gas price of $1.59 per gallon was the lowest in the nation at the time of the study.
- These western states claim the highest gas prices in the country at the time of the study: Hawaii, California, Alaska, Nevada, and Washington.
- 8 of the 10 least expensive states to own a car are coastal states.
View full details of the study here.
