Parking Costs Are Extortionate In Some U.S. Cities

With 76 percent of commutes in the U.S. conducted alone by car in 2016, the automobile is central to American life. Owning and running a car can prove expensive though, particularly in major cities. A recent analysis conducted by INRIX found that the average U.S. driver has to pay $10,288 a year in car ownership costs. That's made up of direct costs (including maintenance, fuel, insurance, and parking/toll fees) and indirect/hidden costs (wasted time, parking fines and overpayments). The indirect costs are proving the greatest financial burden for drivers and INRIX found that congestion and parking-fees alone account for 45 percent of the total cost of ownership.

New York is the most expensive place in the U.S. to own a car with the total cost of driving $18,926, while LA comes second ($14,834) and San Francisco is third ($14,625). The following infographic focuses on the parking aspect of the research and how American drivers pay thousands in fees every year. Nowhere is worse than New York for parking costs with drivers there forking over $5,395 in fees last year. If that wasn't painful enough, cruising around searching for spaces cost drivers $3,334 in New York average. San Francisco is second in the league of parking fees with an average driver paying $2,801 in 2017 while in Los Angeles, the figure stood at $2,801.