South Dakota is known for being one of the most affordable states to live in (hello, no income tax and below-average home prices!), so you can imagine our shock when we heard that there is one side to our state that is actually expensive! The culprit? Our cars and roads:
As per 24/7 Wall Street's recent report on The Most Expensive States to Drive, SoDak is - surprisingly - one of the worst states thanks to several factors.
According to the report - which "calculated the annual average cost of car ownership based on the average cost of repair, insurance, and gasoline" - South Dakota's prices were sky high compared to others, beginning with an average annual cost of car ownership of $3,035 (versus $1,960 in Maine, the lowest cost).
In addition to the higher than average cost of car ownership, South Dakota came in as the 12th most expensive in other categories, including average annual insurance costs ($1,575) and the annual gasoline expenditure per licensed driver ($1,083).
Did that pesky check engine light go off? If so, we have some good news and bad news, as the average cost in parts is the 13th lowest ($223), yet the 9th highest ($154) in terms of labor.
