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# Gas pains for BR poor, middle class
- URL: https://www.redeyebr.com/gas-pains-for-br/
- Published: 2026-03-18T21:55:27.000Z
- Updated: 2026-03-18T21:55:27.000Z
- Description: High gas prices hit harder in our parish than most other places
- Author: Mukul Verma

Higher gas prices hit Baton Rouge harder than much of America. The city is poorer than the country as a whole, heavily dependent on cars, and poorly served by public transit. For many residents, taking the bus comes with its own tax: long waits for CATS. 

The **middle class is not spared**, either, with pinched households having to cut back on things they enjoy.

**The details:** Gas prices have jumped since the war with Iran began.

- Nationally, the average price of regular gasoline has climbed to **$3.84 a gallon**, according to AAA, from roughly **$3** before the war.
- In Baton Rouge, a gallon of regular averaged **$3.50** this week, up from **$2.47** a month ago—a **41% increase**.
- Filling a **Toyota Camry** now costs about **$45.50**, up from **$32.11**.
- Filling a **Ford F-150** now costs about **$94.50**, up from **$66.70**.
- Prius owners, rejoice.

**For poor households:** The increase is not merely irritating. It is punitive.

An Urban Institute study found that commuters below the poverty line in a region that includes Louisiana spend about **4% of their income getting to work and back**. At current fuel prices, that burden rises to roughly **7%**.

**Yes, but:** Middle-income households are hardly spared.

*RedEye* calculates that a middle-income Baton Rouge household now spends roughly **5% to 6% of pretax income** on gasoline—more than double the national per-capita average of about **2.3%**. Every **$1 increase per gallon** adds about **$1,000 a year**, or **$83 a month**, to that household’s costs.

**What that means:** This is not ruinous in the way it is for poorer families. But it is enough to erode the spending that keeps a local economy humming: dinners out, new spring clothes, a new car. 

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