Insee Première · September 2026 · n° 2125

Fuel Expenses Place a Greater Burden on the Budgets of Rural Households

In 2021, 2.2 million households—or 10.6% of car‑owning households—spent more than one month’s worth of their annual income on fuel. The number of these households with budgets strained by fuel purchases varied significantly depending on prices at the pump. They would have been more than twice as many if they had faced a surge in fuel prices comparable to that of spring 2026. However, the areas most affected would have remained the same.

In 2021, in rural intermunicipal areas, 13.5% of households spent more than one month’s worth of their annual income on fuel, compared with 9.0% in urban intermunicipal areas. Indeed, in rural areas, car trips are longer on average and incomes lower, leading to a heavier burden of this type of expense.

Car travel within a given area depends heavily on commuting trips. The availability of public transportation, as well as proximity of everyday goods and services (supermarkets, bakeries, schools, etc.), helps to reduce such travel.