NEW YORK, Aug. 31, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Idaho is the best state for drivers, according to new research from Bankrate.com (NYSE: RATE). The worst state for drivers is Louisiana.

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Bankrate.com ranked all 50 states according to several factors such as fatal crashes, car thefts, average commute times, gasoline spending, repair costs and insurance premiums.

Idaho topped the list due to its low gas and insurance expenses, below-average thefts and short commute times. Vermont, Wyoming, Wisconsin and Minnesota rounded out the five best states for drivers.

Louisiana placed last on the list in large part because of the nation's highest car insurance costs and an above-average fatal crash rate. California, Texas, Maryland and New Jersey comprise the rest of the bottom five.

"Population density has a big effect on these rankings," explained Chris Kahn, Bankrate.com's research and statistics analyst. "The best states for drivers have lots of wide-open spaces, whereas the worst states tend to be filled with people and cars - a bad combination for drivers' wallets."

The full list can be seen in its entirety here:

http://www.bankrate.com/finance/auto/best-and-worst-states-for-drivers-how-each-state-measures-up.aspx

Labor and parts data was provided by CarMD.com, gas spending was calculated with statistics from the Bureau of Transportation and the Oil Price Information Service and insurance costs were compiled from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Theft statistics came from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and fatal crash rates were from the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety. Commute times were determined from the U.S. Census.

About Bankrate, Inc.

Bankrate is a leading publisher, aggregator, and distributor of personal finance content on the Internet. Bankrate provides consumers with proprietary, fully researched, comprehensive, independent and objective personal finance editorial content across multiple vertical categories including mortgages, deposits, insurance, credit cards, and other categories, such as retirement, automobile loans, and taxes. The Bankrate network includes Bankrate.com, CreditCards.com, InsuranceQuotes.com and Caring.com, our flagship websites, and other owned and operated personal finance websites, including Interest.com, Bankaholic.com, Mortgage-calc.com, CreditCardGuide.com, CarInsuranceQuotes.com, Insweb.com, CreditCards.ca, and NetQuote.com. Bankrate aggregates rate information from over 4,800 institutions on more than 300 financial products. With coverage of over 600 local markets, Bankrate generates rate tables in all 50 U.S. states. Bankrate develops and provides web services to over 100 co-branded websites with online partners, including some of the most trusted and frequently visited personal finance sites on the Internet such as Yahoo!, AOL, CNBC, and Bloomberg. In addition, Bankrate licenses editorial content to over 500 newspapers on a daily basis including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and The Boston Globe.

For more information:
Adriana Perisa
Publicist
adriana.perisa@bankrate.com
(917) 368-8637

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SOURCE Bankrate, Inc.