Vermont Business Magazine Idaho is the best state for drivers, according to new research from Bankrate.com (NYSE: RATE). Vermont is ranked second. The worst state for drivers isLouisiana.Bankrate.com ranked all 50 states according to several factors such as fatal crashes, car thefts, average commute times, gasoline spending, repair costs and insurance premiums.Idahotopped the list due to its low gas and insurance expenses, below-average thefts and short commute times.Vermont was particularly low in insurance premiums and car thefts.Wyoming,WisconsinandMinnesotarounded out the five best states for drivers.
Louisianaplaced last on the list in large part because of the nation's highest car insurance costs and an above-average fatal crash rate. California,Texas,MarylandandNew Jerseycomprise the rest of the bottom five.
"Population density has a big effect on these rankings," explainedChris Kahn, Bankrate.com's research and statistics analyst."The best states for drivers have lots of wide-open spaces, whereas the worst states tend to be filled with people and cars – a bad combination for drivers' wallets."
Here's what we used to rank the states:
- Number of fatal crashes.
- Number of car thefts.
- Car repair costs.
- Gasoline spending.
- Insurance premiums.
- Commute times.
The statistics were gathered from the following sources: the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the FBI, CarMD, the Oil Price Information Service, the U.S. Department of Transportation, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and the U.S. Census Bureau.
Bankrate analyzed the statistics and built a standardized ranking that gave each category equal weight.
Best and worst states for drivers |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Overall rank | Commute Each way (in minutes) | Insurance premium (5-year average) | Gasoline spending (annual) | Repairs (cost per job) | Car thefts (per 100K people) | Fatal crashes (per 100M miles driven) | |
| National average | 24.4 | $911 | $949 | $390 | 220.7 | 1.1 | ||
| Alabama | 38 | 23.7 | $787 | $1,263 | $389 | 218.7 | 1.3 | |
| Alaska | 11 | 18.3 | $1,066 | $751 | $362 | 230.6 | 1.1 | |
| Arizona | 39 | 23.9 | $940 | $893 | $396 | 263.2 | 1.4 | |
| Arkansas | 36 | 21.2 | $821 | $1,066 | $427 | 191.9 | 1.5 | |
| California | 49 | 26.4 | $894 | $961 | $438 | 431.2 | 0.9 | |
| Colorado | 28 | 24.0 | $846 | $903 | $415 | 237.9 | 1.0 | |
| Connecticut | 35 | 24.1 | $1,062 | $950 | $437 | 173.0 | 0.9 | |
| Delaware | 45 | 25.1 | $1,121 | $992 | $451 | 143.9 | 1.1 | |
| Florida | 32 | 25.5 | $1,138 | $563 | $412 | 178.6 | 1.3 | |
| Georgia | 44 | 26.3 | $920 | $964 | $431 | 268.5 | 1.1 | |
| Hawaii | 42 | 25.4 | $884 | $1,347 | $390 | 262.4 | 1.0 | |
| Idaho | 1 | 19.5 | $656 | $733 | $379 | 95.3 | 1.3 | |
| Illinois | 16 | 26.2 | $805 | $1,060 | $369 | 162.5 | 1.0 | |
| Indiana | 12 | 23.1 | $712 | $815 | $393 | 216.2 | 1.0 | |
| Iowa | 7 | 18.7 | $637 | $1,170 | $385 | 137.4 | 1.0 | |
| Kansas | 15 | 18.7 | $771 | $978 | $412 | 229.5 | 1.2 | |
| Kentucky | 29 | 22.2 | $855 | $1,053 | $416 | 137.2 | 1.3 | |
| Louisiana | 50 | 24.7 | $1,279 | $1,017 | $426 | 198.0 | 1.5 | |
| Maine | 6 | 23.1 | $673 | $1,049 | $372 | 68.8 | 1.0 | |
| Maryland | 47 | 30.3 | $1,036 | $1,071 | $411 | 226.3 | 0.8 | |
| Massachusetts | 20 | 27.1 | $982 | $981 | $398 | 136.3 | 0.6 | |
| Michigan | 21 | 23.7 | $1,088 | $858 | $354 | 248.3 | 1.0 | |
| Minnesota | 5 | 22.5 | $782 | $927 | $377 | 147.0 | 0.7 | |
| Mississippi | 26 | 23.0 | $898 | $984 | $378 | 146.7 | 1.6 | |
| Missouri | 33 | 22.7 | $787 | $1,202 | $390 | 270.1 | 1.1 | |
| Montana | 17 | 17.6 | $821 | $1,119 | $333 | 182.2 | 2.0 | |
| Nebraska | 8 | 17.8 | $719 | $1,165 | $340 | 238.9 | 1.1 | |
| Nevada | 40 | 22.2 | $1,057 | $1,083 | $372 | 358.3 | 1.1 | |
| New Hampshire | 10 | 26.6 | $757 | $880 | $373 | 71.0 | 1.1 | |
| New Jersey | 46 | 27.7 | $1,266 | $941 | $447 | 154.5 | 0.7 | |
| New Mexico | 31 | 20.7 | $887 | $800 | $431 | 283.2 | 1.2 | |
| New York | 43 | 25.5 | $1,215 | $1,335 | $410 | 78.8 | 0.9 | |
| North Carolina | 13 | 23.3 | $712 | $643 | $431 | 148.3 | 1.2 | |
| North Dakota | 23 | 17.1 | $673 | $1,080 | $424 | 195.7 | 1.6 | |
| Ohio | 18 | 22.8 | $700 | $1,433 | $375 | 168.8 | 0.9 | |
| Oklahoma | 25 | 21.1 | $859 | $920 | $374 | 291.2 | 1.4 | |
| Oregon | 30 | 21.5 | $809 | $1,335 | $389 | 250.9 | 0.9 | |
| Pennsylvania | 24 | 25.0 | $908 | $881 | $418 | 107.8 | 1.2 | |
| Rhode Island | 22 | 23.6 | $1,142 | $799 | $391 | 212.4 | 0.8 | |
| South Carolina | 34 | 23.7 | $860 | $688 | $410 | 263.5 | 1.6 | |
| South Dakota | 9 | 16.6 | $660 | $1,024 | $401 | 111.0 | 1.5 | |
| Tennessee | 27 | 24.0 | $766 | $1,022 | $392 | 182.1 | 1.4 | |
| Texas | 48 | 24.9 | $1,014 | $1,037 | $412 | 248.6 | 1.4 | |
| Utah | 14 | 20.0 | $811 | $914 | $410 | 257.3 | 0.8 | |
| Vermont | 2 | 22.8 | $722 | $973 | $356 | 53.3 | 1.0 | |
| Virginia | 19 | 26.5 | $764 | $1,088 | $402 | 103.3 | 0.9 | |
| Washington | 41 | 24.2 | $903 | $1,058 | $413 | 407.4 | 0.8 | |
| West Virginia | 37 | 25.2 | $981 | $1,061 | $367 | 103.3 | 1.8 | |
| Wisconsin | 4 | 21.8 | $663 | $1,034 | $359 | 128.6 | 1.0 | |
| Wyoming | 3 | 15.9 | $796 | $1,614 | $309 | 99.2 | 0.9 | |
Takeaways
In general, states with a large number of rural communities did better than others. And this makes a certain amount of sense: Communities with lower population densities tend to have cheaper costs of living. Also, commute times can be shorter in smaller cities.
The worst states for drivers tended to be states with high gasoline prices. They also included states with a number of tightly packed urban areas, and places where the crime rate is relatively high.
Source: NEW YORK,Aug. 31, 2015/PRNewswire/ --BankRate.com:http://www.bankrate.com/finance/auto/best-and-worst-states-for-drivers-how-each-state-measures-up.aspx#ixzz3khxxvtnK
Sources: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the FBI, CarMD, Oil Price Information Service, U.S. Department of Transportation, National Association of Insurance Commissioners, U.S. Census Bureau