How Many Miles We Drive Might Not Be New Jersey’s Biggest Problem

It might not be the number of miles we drive here in New Jersey that's the problem. It might be the stress per mile that is our worst enemy.

This might not be very surprising to you, since New Jersey is a small state, but we are not among the country's states that drive the most miles each year.

We are not even close to the nation's top 5 states for miles driven in a year. The top state is Wyoming, where the average driver logs just over 24,000 miles in a year, according to 2022 stats reported at The Zebra.

For the record, the study says that Alaskan drivers drove the least, clocking approximately 11,000 for that same year, but no state has fewer miles driven per year than Rhode Island, at only 9900. Washington D.C. only drives 7000 miles.

In New Jersey, we're close to the bottom of the pack. Our number came in at around 12,000 miles, putting us in the lower third of the nation.

But I don't think the number of miles we drive is the biggest issue. I think the things we deal with while trying to drive those miles are what make New Jersey the most tense place to drive in the country.

When you factor in the construction, the traffic, the toll prices, the congestion, and all the bad driving around us, New Jersey has the highest SPM (Stress Per Mile) of any state in the nation.

Yes, I made up SPM, but if you drive in New Jersey, you know it's a real thing, and if they ever had a list of the highest SPM in the nation, the Garden State would be right on top of that list.