PHOENIX — Valley drivers love their cars, and more than anywhere else in the country, they put their money where their hearts are. In fact, it costs more to get around in Phoenix — a city that was designed for cars — than in any other U.S. metro, statistics show.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ newly released Consumer Expenditure Surveys, metro Phoenix households spend an average of $12,776 per year on transportation, whether by private car or public transportation. That’s more than any other metro in the country – even traffic-choked Los Angeles and jam-packed New York, as well as cities with notoriously long commutes, including Washington, D.C.
The main reason is Phoenix area drivers spend more to buy vehicles than drivers do anywhere else in the country. A lot more, according to 2019-20 data collected by the bureau.
