Transportation Costs by State 2026

Gas, commute time, auto insurance environment and the C2ER transportation sub-index for all 50 US states. Sourced from AAA Gas Prices, Census ACS commute data and the C2ER transportation sub-index.

Cheapest 10 states for transportation

Where transportation costs least

Rank	State	Transport sub-index	Regular gas $/gal	Mean commute (min)
1	Mississippi	90.5	$2.95	25
2	Alabama	92.7	$3.05	25
3	Arkansas	93.0	$3.00	22
4	Kansas	93.5	$3.05	19
5	Missouri	93.8	$3.05	23
6	West Virginia	93.8	$3.25	26
7	Oklahoma	94.2	$3.00	22
8	Kentucky	94.8	$3.15	23
9	Tennessee	95.2	$3.10	25
10	Iowa	96.2	$3.20	19

Most expensive 10 states for transportation

Where transportation costs most

Rank	State	Transport sub-index	Regular gas $/gal	Mean commute (min)
1	Hawaii	136.3	$4.75	28
2	California	118.9	$4.85	30
3	New York	114.2	$3.50	33
4	Washington	112.8	$4.30	28
5	Massachusetts	112.8	$3.45	31
6	Oregon	112.5	$3.95	24
7	Alaska	112.5	$3.85	19
8	New Jersey	111.5	$3.30	31
9	Maryland	109.5	$3.45	32
10	Nevada	108.5	$4.10	24

Sources: AAA Gas Prices (regular unleaded by state, sampled May 2026), Census ACS 5-year mean commute time, C2ER transportation sub-index.

What's in the sub-index

Gas, maintenance, transit.

The C2ER transportation sub-index covers gasoline, vehicle servicing labour rates and transit fares where applicable. It is the third-largest sub-index after housing and miscellaneous, weighted at 12% of the composite.

What it does NOT cover: vehicle purchase price (varies more by manufacturer than by state), auto insurance premiums (separately priced), commute time as a cost, parking, vehicle registration fees and state-specific fuel taxes (already priced into the per-gallon figure at the pump).

For full transportation-cost accounting, layer auto insurance premiums (Florida, Louisiana and Michigan are typically the most expensive; Maine, Idaho and Vermont the cheapest) and registration fees (highest in Oregon at ~$112 and Florida at $225 for two years) on top of the sub-index.

All 50 States

Full cost index.

Utilities by State

Electricity + gas + water.

Housing by State

Median home + rent.

Compare Two States

Run your own numbers.

Frequently Asked

Transportation costs, answered

Which states have the cheapest gas?

Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Alabama, Arkansas and Texas all average around $3.00/gallon in the AAA reference data. Cheap gas correlates with proximity to refining infrastructure (Gulf Coast), low gas tax and low blended-fuel requirements.

Which states have the most expensive gas?

California ($4.85), Hawaii ($4.75), Washington ($4.30) and Nevada ($4.10) consistently lead the AAA per-state averages. California's high price reflects state taxes, summer-blend gasoline requirements and refining capacity constraints. Hawaii's reflects geographic isolation.

Does the transportation sub-index include car insurance?

Partially. The C2ER transportation sub-index covers gas, vehicle maintenance and transit fares. It does not include car insurance premiums or vehicle purchase prices. Auto insurance varies widely by state; Florida, Louisiana and Michigan have the highest premiums (legal environment + no-fault history) and Maine, Idaho and Vermont the lowest.

How do commute times affect cost of living?

Indirectly. The transportation sub-index does not weight commute time directly, but longer commutes increase gas spend, vehicle wear and time cost. Maryland (32 min), New York (33 min) and New Jersey (31 min) have the longest mean commute. North Dakota (17 min), South Dakota (18 min) and Montana (18 min) the shortest. Remote-work eligibility radically changes the calculation; see the remote workers page.

Are there states with cheap gas but expensive transportation overall?

Alaska is the clearest example. Gas at $3.85/gallon is mid-tier, but the transportation sub-index of 112.5 reflects high vehicle costs, limited transit, long distances and air-travel dependence. Hawaii is similar: per-gallon gas isn't extreme, but isolation pushes overall transport cost up.

What does AAA include in its state averages?

AAA publishes daily averages of regular, mid-grade, premium and diesel gasoline by state. The figures used here are regular unleaded, sampled May 2026 from gasprices.aaa.com. Daily and weekly variation can be 10-15 cents; treat any single point as a rolling average rather than a precise current price.