How Much is Gas Hitting You at the Pump?
The price of oil has increased, on average, $1/barrel over the past month. The result is that gas is likely to top $5/gallon at the pump this summer - compared to $2.80/gallon last year.
What does this mean in pure dollars? According to the Energy Information Administration (from Department of Energy), the average American uses 500 gallons of gasoline every year. That means that the average American pays $2000 every year for gas, which includes $368 in federal gas tax. You can factor in an additional 10% for premium.
Last year, US fuel consumption was about 142 billion gallons, an average about 390 million gallons per day and the equivalent of about 61% of all the energy used for transportation, 44% of all petroleum consumption, and 17% of total U.S. energy consumption.
Yowza.
So, I wonder how the increase in gasoline prices is affecting the average American… Are you driving less? Or the same?
I’ll confess that I hate to drive. I live in the city so that I can walk, take the train or the bus. But you can’t walk or ride everywhere, so occasionally, you do have to drive. We probably drive less than 50 miles per week most weeks - our office is about 1 mile from our house - and it costs us just under $50 fto fill our tank. However, to be fair, occasional car trips to North Carolina and Maine boost that average. We usually log about 13,000 miles per year.
Since it’s Friday, I thought I’d ask: How many miles do you drive on an average week? And how much does it cost to fill up your tank?
