Paying for gasoline is an economic burden for most residents of the Mid-Hudson Valley. 77% of Mid-Hudson Valley residents are financially stressed by the high cost of gasoline. Nearly half of all residents report the cost of fuel puts a great deal of financial strain on their monthly budgets and another third says it causes a good deal of pressure.
The cost of gasoline is a major hardship for at least four in ten residents in each of the seven counties. As discussed, it causes the greatest financial stress for residents of Greene and Sullivan Counties where more than half consider gasoline to be a considerable burden on their household finances.
Not surprisingly, the degree of financial strain created by gasoline costs is closely associated with the amount of time a resident commutes to work. Mid-Hudson Valley residents travel an average of 28.0 minutes one way to work each day. But, one in five residents experience travel times between thirty-one minutes and an hour. Just under one in ten work over an hour away from their homes.
Mid-Hudson Valley residents who travel at least fifteen minutes to work are more likely to feel the pressure of the cost of gasoline than workers with shorter daily commutes. In fact, a majority of Mid-Hudson Valley residents who travel more than an hour to get to work indicate the price of gasoline causes a great deal of stress on their household budgets.
Financial difficulties are compounded by the high cost of fuel compounds for residents already having difficulty making ends meet. 61% of people who are living pay check to pay check, that is, they would not be able to pay their bills immediately if they were to lose their source of income, feel a great deal of financial pressure to pay for gasoline.
Residents at the lower end of the economic spectrum are more likely than Mid-Hudson Valley residents as a whole to have a great deal of trouble paying for gasoline. In addition, the high cost of fuel is a considerable burden for residents who indicate they have had trouble paying basic necessities such as food, housing costs, utility bills, or medical treatment in the past year.
Overall, gasoline prices put a great deal of financial strain on many Mid-Hudson Valley residents. As detailed above, it is most burdensome for residents with longer than average commutes and for residents who are already struggling to make ends meet.
The cost of public transportation, such as buses or trains, is generally not a major problem for area residents. This is not surprising given only 4% of Mid-Hudson Valley residents rely on public transportation to get to work each day.
At the county level, the proportion of residents who are strained by the cost of public transportation is too small to make inferences.
Although fewer than one in ten Mid-Hudson Valley residents is financially stressed by the cost of public transportation, more than half of employed residents who use public transportation to commute to work say paying for public transportation causes a financial strain on their personal finances.
Overall, even though relatively few Mid-Hudson Valley residents are burdened by the cost of public transportation, the expense concerns a majority of residents who use these services to commute to work.
