A new study found WA is one of the worst states to drive in. Just how low do we rank?

Nobody likes being stuck in traffic. Or the feeling of their tire dropping deep into a pothole before bouncing back out, shooting anything loose in the car high into the air. Or the costly repairs that go hand-in-hand with owning a vehicle.

Unfortunately for Washingtonians, these issues are all too common, according to a recent study from the personal finance website WalletHub.

WalletHub found Washington to be the second-worst state to drive in, ranking low for the cost of ownership and maintenance of a vehicle, and traffic and infrastructure. The Evergreen State is only beaten out for worse driving conditions by Hawaii. Washington’s neighboring states also fared much better, with Idaho ranked 6th and Oregon 24th.

Source: WalletHub

To determine the best and worst states to drive in, WalletHub used four key dimensions to formulate the rankings: Cost of ownership and maintenance, traffic and infrastructure, safety, and access to vehicles and maintenance.

Under those four dimensions are 31 relevant metrics, such as average gas prices (cost of ownership and maintenance), average commute time by car (traffic and infrastructure) and traffic fatality rate (safety).

Data was gathered from the American Automobile Association, National Insurance Crime Bureau and Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, among other sources.

Washington ranked 49th with a score of 47.48, narrowly below 48th-place Delaware (47.50) but well above last-place Hawaii (40.28). Under the key dimensions, Washington ranked 47th in cost of ownership and maintenance, 39th in traffic and infrastructure, 20th in safety and 16th in access to vehicles and maintenance.

Under the 31 metrics, Washington notably ranked 47th in both average gas price and auto maintenance cost. As of Thursday, the average gas price in Washington was $4.03 per gallon, according to AAA, and well above the national average of $3.38.

Who is ranked as low as Washington?

According to WalletHub, Iowa is the best state to drive in, scoring 62.61. The Hawkeye State is closely followed by Georgia (61.41) and Ohio (61.38).

But what about the cities that give drivers headaches and the undersides of their vehicles bumps and dings? Here are the bottom 10 states for drivers, along with their cumulative score, according to WalletHub:

41. California (51.37)

42. Michigan (51.12)

43. New Hampshire (50.58)

44. Nevada (49.91)

45. Missouri (48.72)

46. Maryland (48.09)

47. Rhode Island (47.84)

48. Delaware (47.50)

49. Washington (47.48)

50. Hawaii (40.28)