DAYTON — Gas prices show no signs of stopping their shocking climb upward despite demand for gas dropping significantly. Many people are wondering if it is worth it to pay to commute to work, so News Center 7 decided to see what the average Dayton area driver is paying to get to work.
The high prices at the pump are really hurting people trying to get back and forth to work.
Sam Kay said, “Just pumped yesterday and this cost me $90.”
Kay is on the high end of the commute scale, driving 70 miles round trip each day to his job in Dayton.
“Right now, I’m budgeting $400 a month just for gas,” Kay said.
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He said he tried to not look at the numbers as they add up quickly while filling the tank.
“Not all of us are lucky enough to live near where we work so we got to do what we go to do,” Kay said.
Kay drives significantly more than the average work commuter. But all of us are feeling the pain at the pump.
AAA said the Dayton average is about $4.97 a gallon. We rounded that up to $5.
The average work commute is 18 miles one way, a 36-mile round trip. For a five-day work week, 180 miles to drive.
The average car gets 25 miles per gallon in 2022, meaning you must use just over seven gallons to pay for a work week, a cool $35 out of your pocket, just to get to your job.
Tasha Rountree said, “How can you get a job and keep a job with gas prices so high? You can’t afford a full tank of gas.”
Rountree said many people only have $5 or $10 at a time to put in their tank. Meaning choosing between trips for food or work with no guarantees.
“$5 worth of gas you can’t be guaranteed that will get you to the grocery store and get you home,” Rountree said.
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State leaders told News Center 7 not to look to them for help with things like a temporary suspension of the state gas tax because that’s money used to improve roads and bridges.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said, “There’s nothing really that the governor could do today.”
“By the time you pay an exorbitant amount for gas, pay an exorbitant amount for food, how can you be successful in America,” Rountree said.
What News Center 7 found is that even if there were two gas stations with just a .10 cent a gallon difference in price, people would line up at the station with the lower price, trying to save money an way they can.
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