25 Least Expensive States for Car Repairs

You’re driving down the road, singing your favorite song, and then you hear the dreaded sounds. A clink. A clank. A squeal. All are coming from your engine.

A trip to the mechanic is in your immediate future. And you’re left to hope your household emergency fund can cover the repair.

As with most expenses, how much you’ll pay depends on where you live. GOBankingRates set out to learn the average repair cost – labor and parts included – per state, sourced from CarMD’s 2022 State Repair Cost Rankings and figure out the states where you’ll pay the least.

• Average Labor Cost: $148.66
• Average Parts Cost: $238.39
• Total Average Repair Cost: $387.05

• Average Labor Cost: $131.61
• Average Parts Cost: $255.32
• Total Average Repair Cost: $386.93

• Average Labor Cost: $135.19
• Average Parts Cost: $251.36
• Total Average Repair Cost: $386.55

• Average Labor Cost: $132.83
• Average Parts Cost: $253.37
• Total Average Repair Cost: $386.20

• Average Labor Cost: $146.21
• Average Parts Cost: $238.55
• Total Average Repair Cost: $384.76

• Average Labor Cost: $139.66
• Average Parts Cost: $244.67
• Total Average Repair Cost: $384.33

• Average Labor Cost: $143.25
• Average Parts Cost: $240.23
• Total Average Repair Cost: $383.48

• Average Labor Cost: $148.10
• Average Parts Cost: $234.51
• Total Average Repair Cost: $382.61

• Average Labor Cost: $136.74
• Average Parts Cost: $244.49
• Total Average Repair Cost: $381.23

• Average Labor Cost: $147.81
• Average Parts Cost: $231.96
• Total Average Repair Cost: $379.77

• Average Labor Cost: $140.89
• Average Parts Cost: $238.34
• Total Average Repair Cost: $379.23

• Average Labor Cost: $146.49
• Average Parts Cost: $232.36
• Total Average Repair Cost: $378.85

• Average Labor Cost: $146.02
• Average Parts Cost: $231.66
• Total Average Repair Cost: $377.68

• Average Labor Cost: $147.27
• Average Parts Cost: $230.37
• Total Average Repair Cost: $377.64

• Average Labor Cost: $147.41
• Average Parts Cost: $227.12
• Total Average Repair Cost: $374.53

• Average Labor Cost: $127.15
• Average Parts Cost: $247.30
• Total Average Repair Cost: $374.45

• Average Labor Cost: $146.87
• Average Parts Cost: $227.57
• Total Average Repair Cost: $374.44

• Average Labor Cost: $131.38
• Average Parts Cost: $239.41
• Total Average Repair Cost: $370.79

• Average Labor Cost: $143.46
• Average Parts Cost: $221.30
• Total Average Repair Cost: $364.76

• Average Labor Cost: $145.66
• Average Parts Cost: $218.96
• Total Average Repair Cost: $364.62

• Average Labor Cost: $138.95
• Average Parts Cost: $222.16
• Total Average Repair Cost: $361.11

• Average Labor Cost: $145.96
• Average Parts Cost: $214.00
• Total Average Repair Cost: $359.96

• Average Labor Cost: $145.03
• Average Parts Cost: $211.26
• Total Average Repair Cost: $356.29

• Average Labor Cost: $136.07
• Average Parts Cost: $217.69
• Total Average Repair Cost: $353.76

• Average Labor Cost: $135.35
• Average Parts Cost: $213.90
• Total Average Repair Cost: $349.25

_{Methodology: To generate these rankings, GOBankingRates surveyed and totaled the cost of buying and owning a car for one year in all 50 states. This total included four key car expenses:(1) Car sales tax, based on rates provided by PolicyGenius; taxes were based on the average car transaction amount of $48,427 in November 2023 as reported by Kelley Blue Book; (2) average annual car insurance premiums, sourced from CarInsurance.com’s 2023 report; (3) average annual gas expenses, based on an average of historical regular gas prices in each state sourced from AAA’s Fuel Gauge Report on December 11, 2023; the expense was calculated based on the assumption of a driver filling up a 14-gallon tank once a week; (4) average annual car maintenance and repair costs, sourced from CarMD’s 2022 State Repair Cost Rankings. These expenses were combined with the cost to finance a new vehicle — based on $48,427 MSRP, 20% down payment of $9,649, an average credit score of 716 as sourced from Experian, an interest rate of 6.88% as souced from Experian loan length of 60 months, which equals to $762 per month or $9,144 per year — to determine the cost to own a car for a year. GOBankingRates also attempted to calculate for title and registration fees, but with such varying degrees between states’ car excise and personal property tax laws, as well as rules for weight of vehicles, age of vehicle, and the cost of the vehicle; GOBankingRates decided to not to include these fees in its final ranking. All data is up to date as of December 11, 2023.}