Monday, August 4, 2008

Income vs. Gas Prices, an Update


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It seems that some Americans are now spending twice as much of their household income for gasoline as they were in 1999. That is a serious number.

I believe that median household income is around $48,000 right now. So those Americans are spending about $5500 a year on gasoline. To me that is a scary number.

This also explains why you can no longer get a parking spot at the Tri-Rail parking lot in Delray Beach. Well if you get there before 6:30 AM I suppose you can.

This does not bode well for the economy. Let's see: drive, ride the bike or give up beer?
clipped from blogs.wsj.com

Edmunds.com, which released an analysis saying that about 60 vehicles in the new-vehicle market now cost over $100 to fill up, also gave an update on how gas prices are grabbing more of consumers’ incomes. Edmunds says the median household is spending 11.5% of its income on gasoline, up from 4.6% of its income five years ago. Here’s a look at how that progressed:

Date*    Price Per Gallon (1)   Median Income (2)   Income spend on fuel (3)   
1991$1.09$30,1264.9%
1995$1.14$34,076 4.6%
1999$1.19$40,696 4.0%
2003$1.51 $43,3184.8%
2007$2.96$48,2018.4%
2008$4.06$48,20111.5%
Source: Edmunds.com
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