The price for commuting by car
Offices are reopening, and people are heading back to work. Since many workers are hesitant about commuting because of crowded public transit, commuting by car has become an even more popular way to get to work. However, car commuting comes with additional costs. While New York City subway riders swipe their Metro cards and pay $2.75 per ride, car costs can be costly in comparison.
How much can car commuting cost you? Before the pandemic, about 76 percent of Americans drove to work alone every month. It’s impossible to know how many people will be commuting as offices reopen, but we know car commuters will have a lot of costs because as you know, cars are not cheap.
Car payments and insurance
First, there’s the price of the car itself. According to Lending Tree, the average monthly payment for vehicles are:
- $563 for new vehicles
- $450 for leased vehicles
- $397 for used vehicles
Insurance is also expensive. Nerd Wallet says the average national car insurance monthly payment is $133. That number can differ radically from one state to the next. Also, impacting the amount is how good a driver you are. Here are some basic yearly average rates:
- $1,592 for a driver with a good record and a good credit score
- $2,439 for a driver that has caused an accident
- $2,812 for a driver with a good record but a poor credit score
- $3,114 if you have a DUI on your record
Additional expenses
Driving to work includes other expenses as well. The general rule of thumb is that people spend $2,000 to $5,000 on their commute annually. Some have to pay tolls, which will also up your costs.
According to AAA, here are some other average costs:
- Fuel – 11.6 cents per mile
- Maintenance, repairs, and tire costs – 8.94 cents per mile
- Licensing, registration, and taxes – $753
Parking benefits
Finally, there’s parking. People pay a wide range of parking fees depending on the location every month to drive their cars to work, which can be expensive.
If your employees are commuting to work by car and rely on parking, you can provide them with commuter benefits to help with parking costs. Commuter benefits allow them to save money tax-free in their paycheck every month. The funds can be used for parking, transit, or rideshares. Businesses benefit because they pay less in payroll taxes.
If you’re interested in adding commuter benefits to your benefits package, book a meeting with us so we can help find the best option for you.
