Washington One Of The Worst States For Drivers: Study

SEATTLE — A new study confirms what many Washingtonians already know: it is no treat driving in Puget Sound.

According to the report, 2022’s Best & Worst States to Drive in, Washington is actually the sixth-worst state overall for drivers. Woe be to those drivers who somehow have it worse than us here in the Evergreen State.

Study organizer WalletHub says its analysts looked at 31 "key indicators of a positive commute" — like the cost of car ownership and maintenance, traffic and infrastructure, and safety statistics — before ranking the states. Here are a few reasons Washington fell behind:

• Washington had the 8th worst car theft rate in the nation.
• Washington's average gas prices were the 4th highest.
• Road quality was ranked at 44th best (or 7th worst).
• Auto maintenance costs were also the 8th highest in America.

Surprisingly, commute times were not that bad: Washington had the 35th largest share of rush-hour traffic congestion. That's still below average, but seems surprisingly low if you've driven on I-5 in rush hour.

Still, between these low rankings and the slow-but-steady improvements to public transportation, this might be a good time to ditch the car for good.

Here are WalletHub's top 10 worst driving states:

1. Hawaii
2. Rhode Island
3. Delaware
4. California
5. Maryland
6. Washington
7. Colorado
8. Michigan
9. Missouri
10. Wyoming

Conversely, here are 10 best states for car owners:

1. Iowa
2. Oklahoma
3. Kansas
4. North Carolina
5. Texas
6. Georgia
7. Wisconsin
8. Tennessee
9. Illinois
10. Indiana

>> See the full study from WalletHub.