Better benchmark for gas prices

Warren Meyer added a twist to Mark Perry's analysis of what 1,000 gallons of gas costs as a percent of per-capita disposable income (click on graph for larger image). The key for households, Warren maintains, is not how much it costs to buy 1000 gallons, but how much it costs to buy the gas required to drive their typical annual miles. Using 15,000 as an average driving miles per year per person, he gets the result above. So, while I too think paying $4 for gas is not my favorite way to dispose of my income, in terms of average household pain created, gas prices are quite far from their historic highs.