Gas Guzzler Geography: How Location Affects Annual Mileage and Gas Needs

Bumper Analysis Finds Annual Fuel Costs Vary by as Much as $1,607 Between States

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, October 28, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The average licensed driver in the United States spends $2,356 a year fueling a light vehicle with regular gas. But that national number masks a gap that shows up on every tank.

Bumper analyzed the annual regular-gas cost of the average licensed driver in every state, using Federal Highway Administration mileage and licensed-driver data and a snapshot of AAA regular gas prices. The findings reveal that buying the identical vehicle in Wyoming and in Washington, D.C., produces a fuel bill that is not close. The Wyoming driver pays $3,161 a year in regular gas. The D.C. driver pays $1,554. Same car. Same fuel economy. A gap of $1,607 a year that has nothing to do with the vehicle and everything to do with where it is registered and driven.

That is the number most buyers never calculate. They price the car. They do not price the state.

The analysis isolates the two things that actually vary state to state: how far the average driver has to go, and what they pay for gas when they get there. Across all 51 states, including Washington, D.C., 36 states land above or below the national average primarily because of how much driving the state requires. The differences in only 15 states are explained primarily by gas prices.

Based on average annual miles driven and gas prices, here are the 10 most expensive states:

1. Wyoming - $3,161 annual cost of gas per driver
2. Alabama - $2,972
3. Mississippi - $2,964
4. New Mexico - $2,931
5. Missouri - $2,857
6. Kansas - $2,794
7. Oklahoma - $2,755
8. California - $2,754
9. Montana - $2,711
10. Idaho - $2,636

Before purchasing a used car, especially one bought sight-unseen or across state lines:
- Check the state rank, not just the national average. If a state sits in the top third for miles driven per licensed driver, the national $2,356 figure will understate what the actual cost is.
- Separate a mileage problem from a price problem. A state with high miles and cheap gas rewards a more fuel-efficient vehicle. A state with low miles and expensive gas rewards the same thing for a different reason.
- Re-run the math if relocation is happening. A buyer moving from D.C. to Wyoming should expect to budget roughly $1,600 more a year in gas for a comparable car, driven almost entirely by the longer distances Wyoming requires — not the vehicle itself.
- Treat a gas-price outlier state differently than a high-mileage state. In California, Hawaii, Nevada, and Washington, no amount of careful driving offsets a price running 20–40% above the national average.

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Erin Kemp
Bumper
erin@bumper.com
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