North Carolina Is a Gas-Guzzling State

In North Carolina, as if we don't pay some of the highest gas taxes in the nation, which is why gas here is consistently about 20 cents higher than a few miles south of the state line, we're also some gas-guzzling people. In a recent study by Forbes, they ranked "America's Most And Least Gas-Guzzling Cities." Some of the cities ranked are listed as metropolitan areas, and topping the list as burning up the most gas is Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill. Coming in second place: Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill. And not to be left out, in sixth place is Greensboro-Winston Salem-High Point. So North Carolina cities take three of the top six slots.

Time to start carpooling again.

"The cities and suburbs of 'The Triangle' are close enough that people don’t think twice about driving from one to the other. Yet in doing so, the average household racks up 21,800 miles per year. Assuming an average 20.3 miles per gallon, that means burning through 1,074 gallons per year, about $4,200 at current prices," Forbes writer Christopher Helman says.

"North Carolina does not fare well in the rankings. Close on the Triangle’s (Tar)heels comes the Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill region, with an average household gasoline demand of 1,061 gallons. In sixth place, the average household in North Carolina’s Greensboro-Winston Salem-High Point metroplex spends $4,000 for 1,017 gallons per year," Helman continues.

If our state government and department of transportation ever needed any more reasons to complete Interstate 485 in Charlotte and to build the proposed high-speed rail between Charlotte and Raleigh, they have it.

Rounding out the top-five Most Gas-Guzzling Cities is Atlanta in third place, Nashville in fourth, and Monmouth-Ocean Counties, N.J. is fifth. Meanwhile, the least gas-guzzling city, unsurprisingly, is New York, where many households don't even own cars. Click here to see the full list.