- Annual driving fuel costs range from around $715 in D.C. to over $2,300 in Wyoming when combining gas prices with miles driven.
- The biggest factor is how far people drive—states with high VMT per capita have the highest total costs even if gas prices are moderate.
- California has among the highest gas prices in the country but still doesn't top the list, because high-VMT rural states rack up far more total miles.
- Rural states across the South, Midwest, and Mountain West dominate the top of the list due to long driving distances.
01 How We Calculated State Rankings
Total annual driving fuel cost depends on three variables: how many miles residents drive, the price of gasoline in their state, and the fuel economy of their vehicles. We combined data from federal sources:
FHWA, "Selected Measures for Identifying Peer States" (Table PS-1), 2024; EIA gasoline prices; EPA fleet average fuel economyWe used the FHWA's total vehicle miles traveled (VMT) per capita by state (from Table PS-1, which combines rural and urban VMT with 2020 population), and the actual on-road fuel economy of the U.S. light-duty vehicle fleet—23.7 MPG, per DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Transportation Energy Data Book (Table 4.3), computed as total fleet fuel consumption divided by total fleet miles traveled for 2020, the most recent year published. This on-road figure reflects the entire fleet in service, including older and less efficient vehicles, and is meaningfully lower than the 27.2 MPG sales-weighted average of new vehicles sold in model year 2024 (EPA's 2025 Automotive Trends Report). Our source data has verified 2024 EIA retail gasoline prices for only nine states (California, Washington, New York, Ohio, Massachusetts, Florida, Minnesota, Colorado, and Texas); for every other state below, we use the $3.30/gal national average as a placeholder rather than an unverified state-specific figure.
FHWA Table PS-1 (2024); DOE/ORNL Transportation Energy Data Book, Edition 40, Table 4.3 (2020 on-road fleet fuel economy); EPA 2025 Automotive Trends Report (MY2024 new-vehicle average); EIA state-level and national average retail gasoline prices (2024)02 Top 10 Most Expensive States
The states with the highest annual driving fuel costs are predominantly rural states where residents drive significantly more miles per year. Even with moderate gas prices, the sheer volume of driving pushes total costs well above the national average.
FHWA, Table PS-1 (2024): total VMT per capita by state| Rank | State | VMT/Capita | Avg Gas Price | Est. Annual Fuel Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wyoming | 16,849 | $3.30* | $2,346 |
| 2 | Alabama | 14,510 | $3.30* | $2,020 |
| 3 | Mississippi | 14,033 | $3.30* | $1,954 |
| 4 | New Mexico | 13,527 | $3.30* | $1,884 |
| 5 | Missouri | 13,291 | $3.30* | $1,851 |
| 6 | Arkansas | 13,074 | $3.30* | $1,820 |
| 7 | Indiana | 13,003 | $3.30* | $1,811 |
| 8 | North Dakota | 12,874 | $3.30* | $1,793 |
| 9 | Montana | 12,788 | $3.30* | $1,781 |
| 10 | North Carolina | 12,549 | $3.30* | $1,747 |
Estimate your vehicle's driving cost using official EPA fuel economy data.
Use the Calculator03 Top 10 Least Expensive States
The least expensive states for driving fuel are typically urban, densely populated areas where residents drive fewer miles and have access to public transportation alternatives.
FHWA, Table PS-1 (2024): total VMT per capita by state| Rank | State | VMT/Capita | Avg Gas Price | Est. Annual Fuel Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | D.C. | 5,133 | $3.30* | $715 |
| 2 | New York | 5,983 | $2.89† | $729 |
| 3 | Rhode Island | 6,977 | $3.30* | $971 |
| 4 | Hawaii | 7,316 | $3.30* | $1,019 |
| 5 | Pennsylvania | 7,321 | $3.30* | $1,019 |
| 6 | Alaska | 7,503 | $3.30* | $1,045 |
| 7 | Illinois | 8,140 | $3.30* | $1,133 |
| 8 | New Jersey | 8,554 | $3.30* | $1,191 |
| 9 | Connecticut | 8,582 | $3.30* | $1,195 |
| 10 | Oregon | 8,826 | $3.30* | $1,229 |
Washington D.C. stands out with the lowest fuel cost by far, at just $715 per year. This reflects its extremely low VMT per capita (5,133 miles) due to the extensive Metro system, walkability, and the small geographic area. Note that California and Washington have among the lowest VMT per capita in the country yet do not appear on this least-expensive list—their verified 2024 gas prices ($4.44/gal and $4.14/gal) are well above the national average, pushing their actual annual fuel cost (Washington $1,374; California $1,545) above every state shown here.
04 Why Costs Vary So Much
Two verified factors explain why annual driving fuel costs can differ by more than $1,600 between the most and least expensive states:
- Miles driven. This is the dominant factor. Wyoming residents log 3.3 times more VMT per capita than D.C. residents. Rural states with sparse populations and limited public transit produce the highest VMT. See our miles driven by state ranking for details.
- Gas prices. Among the nine states with verified 2024 EIA pricing in our data, California ($4.44/gal) and Texas ($2.53/gal) mark the extremes—a $1.91 spread. State taxes, refining proximity, and regulations all contribute; see our gas prices by state breakdown.
- Vehicle mix. States with more trucks and SUVs (common in rural areas) tend to have lower effective fleet fuel economy, increasing cost per mile, though this isn't quantified per state in the data used here. The gas tax burden also varies significantly by state.
05 All 50 States Ranked
The tables above show the 10 most and 10 least expensive states for annual driving fuel cost, calculated using FHWA VMT per capita data, EIA gasoline prices (state-specific where verified, national average otherwise), and a 23.7 MPG on-road fleet average. For the complete state-by-state breakdown of the two underlying inputs, see our miles driven by state and gas prices by state rankings, which cover all 50 states and D.C.
FHWA Table PS-1 (2024); EIA retail gasoline prices; DOE/ORNL Transportation Energy Data Book Table 4.3, 2020 on-road fleet fuel economyThe key takeaway is that how much you drive matters more than what you pay per gallon. A driver in a state with cheap gas but high VMT will spend far more on fuel annually than a driver in an expensive-gas state who drives less. This is why Wyoming, despite having moderate gas prices, tops the list.
Raw dollar cost is only half the story, though—it doesn't account for what people in each state actually earn. See Driving Cost as a Share of Income by State for the income-adjusted ranking, where Wyoming actually drops to 8th.
06 Data Sources
- FHWA: Highway Statistics, "Selected Measures for Identifying Peer States" (Table PS-1) – VMT per capita by state. fhwa.dot.gov
- EIA: Weekly Retail Gasoline and Diesel Prices. eia.gov
- EPA: The 2025 Automotive Trends Report (EPA-420-R-26-001). epa.gov/automotive-trends
- DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory: Transportation Energy Data Book, Edition 40, Table 4.3 – on-road fuel economy of the light-duty fleet. tedb.ornl.gov
- Census Bureau: State Population Estimates. census.gov