Gas Price Spike Hits Treasure Coast's Lowest-Earning Families Hardest, Research Shows

For a family in Port St. Lucie earning $35,000 a year, the math of the gas-price surge is brutal: drive less, pay more, have less left for everything else.

That's the central finding of new research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, released Wednesday, which documented a widening financial divide between low- and high-income Americans in the month following the outbreak of the Iran war on Feb. 28. On the Treasure Coast — where median household incomes in St. Lucie County trail both Martin and Indian River counties, and where sprawling suburban development means most residents have no practical alternative to a car — the national pattern carries particular weight.

Households earning less than $40,000 cut their gas consumption by 7% in March, the New York Fed found, yet still spent 12% more at the pump because prices rose sharply. Households earning $125,000 or more, by contrast, increased their gas spending by 19% while barely reducing consumption — just 1% — signaling that higher prices caused them little behavioral change.

Gas prices climbed roughly 25% by the end of March from where they stood when the war began, according to public consumer price data. As of this week, prices surged 50% since late February.

A separate report from the Bank of America Institute found that among the poorest one-third of households nationally, one in ten now spends 10% of their income on gas — compared to just 2.7% for higher-income households. That gap matters acutely in western Port St. Lucie and Fort Pierce neighborhoods, where longer commutes to service-sector jobs on the coast are common and public transit options are limited.

Researchers at the New York Fed described the divergence bluntly: "We find that households had very different experiences with gasoline spending. With the sharp increases in gasoline prices in March, a K-shaped pattern in gasoline consumption emerged — showing faster consumption growth for high-income households relative to low-income households."

The Bank of America Institute data also showed that discretionary spending growth — money spent outside groceries, gas and utilities — slowed among lower-income households in March while rising for middle- and upper-income groups. On the Treasure Coast, where retail corridors in Stuart and Vero Beach depend heavily on consistent consumer spending, that pullback warrants attention.

Total spending at gas stations nationally jumped 15% in March from the prior month, the New York Fed estimated. St. Lucie County's unemployment rate stood at 4.8% as of the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics local area data, a reminder that the county's workforce remains price-exposed and has little cushion if gas costs continue to climb.

This article was generated with AI assistance using publicly available information. It was reviewed and approved by a human editor before publication. TC Sentinel uses AI writing tools in accordance with FTC guidelines.