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Monday, November 29, 2010

South Dakota 15th for Dependence on Gasoline

As you commute across South Dakota's wide open spaces this morning, you probably won't be surprised to learn that we South Dakotans spend more of their income on gasoline than many other Americans. In this report from March 2010, the National Resources Defense Council calculates that the average South Dakota driver spends over $1600 a year on gasoline. That's 4.3% of our average income.

By that score, we rank 15th in the nation, just a tick behind our bigger-spending but also bigger-earning neighbors in North Dakota. Poor Mr. Kurtz and his Montana neighbors rank second in the nation, spending over $2000 a year on gasoline, 5.9% of their annual paychecks. Gasoline eats up the largest chunk of paychecks in Mississippi.

State Avg % Income spent on gasoline Avg amt spent on gasoline Avg income Rank by gas % Rank by gas amt rank by income
Mississippi 6.22% $1,880.95 $30,240 1 4 50
Montana 5.88% $2,017.96 $34,319 2 1 38
Louisiana 5.26% $1,908.72 $36,287 3 3 30
Oklahoma 5.12% $1,830.77 $35,757 4 5 32
South Carolina 5.06% $1,638.98 $32,391 5 11 44
Kentucky 5.02% $1,583.50 $31,544 6 18 49
Texas 4.87% $1,818.89 $37,349 7 6 26
Maine 4.65% $1,700.66 $36,573 8 9 28
Georgia 4.64% $1,595.08 $34,377 9 16 37
Idaho 4.54% $1,467.33 $32,320 10 22 45
Arkansas 4.52% $1,459.02 $32,279 11 25 47
Tennessee 4.49% $1,568.96 $34,943 12 19 35
Utah 4.44% $1,400.80 $31,550 13 35 48
North Dakota 4.33% $1,717.29 $39,660 14 8 18
South Dakota 4.32% $1,626.29 $37,646 15 13 24
New Mexico 4.30% $1,437.33 $33,426 16 28 43
Michigan 4.20% $1,436.89 $34,212 17 29 39
Kansas 4.13% $1,585.31 $38,385 18 17 23
North Carolina 4.10% $1,440.40 $35,132 19 27 34
Wyoming 4.07% $1,930.68 $47,437 20 2 6
West Virginia 4.06% $1,311.61 $32,306 21 40 46
California 4.04% $1,727.67 $42,764 22 7 9
Missouri 4.02% $1,463.53 $36,406 23 23 29
Iowa 4.00% $1,486.22 $37,156 24 20 27
Rhode Island 3.94% $1,622.61 $41,183 25 14 15
Wisconsin 3.91% $1,461.35 $37,375 26 24 25
Hawaii 3.91% $1,649.52 $42,187 26 10 13
Ohio 3.88% $1,383.68 $35,662 28 37 33
Minnesota 3.78% $1,601.12 $42,358 29 15 11
Alabama 3.76% $1,257.58 $33,446 30 48 42
Vermont 3.75% $1,446.03 $38,561 31 26 21
Indiana 3.70% $1,264.65 $34,180 32 46 40
Virginia 3.67% $1,264.48 $34,454 33 47 36
Oregon 3.60% $1,302.80 $36,189 34 42 31
Nevada 3.54% $1,403.87 $39,657 35 34 19
Arizona 3.53% $1,188.45 $33,667 36 50 41
Delaware 3.52% $1,419.34 $40,322 37 32 16
Illinois 3.44% $1,434.47 $41,700 38 30 14
Nebraska 3.39% $1,309.37 $38,624 39 41 20
Alaska 3.39% $1,475.74 $43,532 39 21 7
Florida 3.36% $1,291.67 $38,443 41 43 22
Washington 3.31% $1,409.14 $42,572 42 33 10
Pennsylvania 3.27% $1,315.34 $40,224 43 39 17
New Jersey 3.23% $1,635.08 $50,622 44 12 3
Colorado 3.00% $1,266.50 $42,217 45 45 12
New Hampshire 2.96% $1,279.05 $43,211 46 44 8
Maryland 2.90% $1,425.42 $49,152 47 31 4
Massachusetts 2.60% $1,318.18 $50,699 48 38 2
New York 2.56% $1,216.06 $47,502 49 49 5
Connecticut 2.52% $1,391.18 $55,206 50 36 1
Spending on gasoline as percentage of income.
Income calculated from given data on percentage and amount spent on gasoline.
Source: NRDC, March 2010

Three interesting correlations pop out of these numbers. First, check out the oil-producing states. Down by the rigs and refineries in places like Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, folks are still spending a higher proportion of their income on gasoline. North Dakota has more oil fields than South Dakota, and North Dakotans have similar open-country driving needs as South Dakotans, but they are paying more for gasoline. Alaska defies that apparent relation, paying less than most states for gasoline and ranking 40th on gasoline spending as percentage of income. But I wonder: given that possible relation—or lack thereof—between oil production and spending on gasoline, would South Dakota enjoy any gasoline savings if Hyperion built the Union County refinery?

A more solid numerical correlation: compare gasoline spending as percentage of income with income itself. I run those numbers through my spreadsheet and get a correlation of -0.69. In other words, the poorer the state, the bigger the chunk of income one spends on gasoline. That reflects, perhaps, the inelasticity of gasoline demand: even if you're making less, you still have to drive around. But a lot of those states at the bottom of the list are spending less in dollar terms as well as percentage terms. Places like Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and New York also have pretty good mass transit.

One more correlation: the states spending higher percentages of income on gasoline look pretty conservative. The states at the other end of the list look pretty liberal. The point of the NRDC report was to highlight the states that are most vulnerable to oil price shocks. So we could read this data counterintuitively: the conservatives who could benefit most from getting America off its oil addiction and adopting energy policies that would insulate us from oil price shocks are the most inclined to oppose legislation on climate change and energy security that could get us off oil.

Or we could say the above split is perfectly logical: the liberal states are already kicking the gas habit, so they don't mind carbon taxes and other legislation that drive investment in other fuels and raise prices at the pumps they whizz by on their buses and bikes.

5 comments:

  1. Yep, no denying it. Montana does pump and refine a good share of what it burns. Some goes to Rapid City, too.

    Here is some MT tax info. South Dakota.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Link to South Dakota gas tax info: http://www.state.sd.us/drr2/motorvehicle/motorfuel/index.htm

    ReplyDelete
  3. My first post got eaten.

    Montana does pump and refine some of what it burns. Some goes to Rapid City.

    Montana tax info.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sorry to spam you, Cory. This post on smart growth appeared at the NRDC blog today.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Note Mississippi also being number one in obesity rates: http://health.msn.com/health-topics/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100261061

    ReplyDelete

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