A recent study suggests Alabama has some of the cheapest gas prices in the nation, but Alabamians spend and consume more motor fuel than most Americans. Financial website WalletHub studied America’s least and most energy-expensive states in the U.S. Alabama ranked 28th overall. Rankings are based on a state’s average monthly cost and consumption of electricity, home heating oil, natural gas and motor fuel, among other factors.
For average motor fuel costs, Alabama ranked 48th out of all 50 states and the District of Columbia. This means that Alabama is the fourth cheapest place to purchase motor fuel in the country. The American Automobile Association, or AAA, also found Alabamians are spending less money on gas than they did last summer. Drivers spent an average of $3.15 per gallon for regular gas this June. Drivers spent an average of $4.68 per gallon for regular gas last June, an all-time high for the state.
Clay Ingram is the public relations manager for AAA Alabama. Ingram said Alabamians pay less at the pump for a few different reasons.
“Our proximity to the Gulf Coast is certainly a big part of [low motor fuel costs],” he said. “We don’t have to pay some of the transportation costs that adds to fuel costs that other states have to pay. We get it through the pipeline after a very short distance, and it’s a little cheaper that way. Another reason is [that] our cost of living here in Alabama is a little less than most other states.”
Motor fuel expert Bob Donnellan with ComplyIQ also reports Alabama has a cheaper gasoline tax than 26 other states this month.
“Our tax structure is better than about half the states in country,” Ingram said. “We’re right in the middle of the pack with our gasoline tax structure after our increase we had a few years ago. We’re 24th in the nation.”
However, Alabama does rank higher in other categories. WalletHub reported Alabama has the third highest motor fuel consumption per driver. Ingram said Alabama drivers travel and use gas more than most Americans due to how the state is structured.
“We’re more of a rural state overall,” he said. “We’re kind of spread out. People that live in more rural communities may have to drive anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours to work every day. Then, our lack of public transportation here in Alabama means that more people have to have a vehicle and to get in that car and drive to and from work and to and from anywhere else they need to go. It’s just the way our state is set up.”
Ingram said summer travel could lead to more motor fuel consumption, but this does not drive the bulk of consumption in the state.
“I think that’s probably the case with most states,” he said. “I think their consumption is going to be up in the summertime. It’s a common thing for people to travel more during the summer months when school’s out and the weather’s a bit nicer. I don’t know if we’re traveling any more than any other state during the summertime.”
That said, Ingram said Alabamians may travel more in the winter than drivers in other states.
“I think in the winter months, when states have a lot of snow on the ground and it’s iced and cold, a lot of the northern states drive a lot less in the wintertime,” he said. “Here in Alabama, we typically don’t have to deal with the snow and the ice. We’re driving more, I think, in the wintertime because the weather’s a little more conducive for that.”
High motor fuel consumption leads to high monthly motor fuel costs. In fact, WalletHub found that Alabama had the fourth highest monthly motor fuel costs in the country. Alabamians, on average, spend $199 per month on monthly motor fuel costs. This is only less than Wyoming, New Mexico and Indiana.
To save money on monthly gas costs, Ingram offers a few recommendations. They include:
- Working remotely once or twice a week to reduce time on the road
- Removing any excess weight from the car’s trunk or backseat
- Having a car’s tires properly inflated. Ingram said for every pound a tire is underinflated, drivers lose roughly 2% of their fuel economy
- Keeping a car properly maintained, including routine oil and air filter changes
However, Ingram said there is one recommendation that could make or break a car’s fuel economy.
“Be a more conservative driver,” he said. “[Avoid] the aggressive driving, the hard stops, the quick starts and the speeding up and weaving in and out of traffic. That uses a lot more fuel than most people realize. Your maximum fuel efficiency is between 50 and 60 miles per hour. Any amount of speed you do beyond that really hurts your fuel economy. Maintain a consistent speed. Some studies have shown that you can save as much as 30% of your fuel by becoming a more conservative driver. I think most people could easily save 15 to 20% of their fuel by becoming a more conservative driver.”
Alabamians can also visit the AAA website for more on gas safety tips and other recommendations, including teen safety, senior safety and tire safety. Readers can also download the AAA Mobile app and click on the Fuel Price Finder. The mobile tool connects with their phone’s GPS system to find the cheapest.
