Fuel price spikes look small in absolute terms — $1/gallon, ~$50/month per household. But as a share of disposable income (after tax, after rent, after groceries) that number varies wildly by county.
Crossed that against 2020→2024 presidential swing data. Bubble chart, one bubble per state, sized by electoral votes.
The dark irony: the states that moved most toward Trump in 2024 tend to be the ones where a fuel spike bites hardest. Not making a causal claim — rurality drives both. But the overlap is real.
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**Tools:** Claude (analysis + code), Chart.js, vanilla HTML/CSS/JS
**Sources:** MIT Election Lab (2020 & 2024 results) · ACS 2023 median household income · EIA state fuel consumption · MERIC cost-of-living indices · BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey
by scifiware
11 Comments
Now check states with regressive tax schemes.
Eh, using a percent increase in gas price isn’t very good. Blue states typically have higher gas prices from the beginning.
So it’s a chart of disposable income? Not sure what this has to do with gas.
The UK is somewhat insulated against price spikes in petrol (for vehicle fuel at least) because the price at the pumps is already high and people have just priced it in. If we pay another 10p per litre it is an increase of around 8%. The same increase of 50 cents for a US gallon would be a 17% rise if you are used to paying USD 3 per gallon.
Cant wait for them all to put I did this stickers like they did with Biden. Because they totally will right?
Gas prices might seem small, but they can really mess with budgets, especially where income after essentials is tight. Politically, rural areas that leaned more towards Trump feel it more. It’s not necessarily causation, but there’s a clear overlap. If you want to dig deeper, think about how infrastructure and local economies factor in. Transportation costs can hit rural areas harder since people drive more and have fewer public transit options. That’s why this issue gets so much attention.
I mean living in gigantic cookie cutter suburbs where you need to drive a mile just to get out onto the main road, then more miles to work, uses a lot of gas. Add to that a preference for huge SUVs and trucks and you have a lifestyle that can only exist on cheap gas.
And that lifestyle is held up as ideal in most conservative states. They’re not exactly into walkable urbanism there.
I’d be curious at what income level people stop caring about gas prices. But then again you’d also be influenced by your type of vehicle since large or expensive vehicles typically have bad mpg or require diesel/premium.
Did u use chatgpt to write that paragraph? But also cool graph
And some states (cough Indiana) instituted major gas tax increases under Biden and refuse to repeal them
So basically gas prices are all over the news because the left wing mainstream media wants to sway the election.
Tell me something I didn’t know 😂