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Most Expensive City to Park a Car Costs $37 for Two Hours of Off-Street Parking
Most Expensive City to Park a Car Costs $37 for Two Hours of Off-Street Parking
The latest North America Parking Index ranks the U.S. cities that charge the most for short-term parking.
- If you needed confirmation that parking in cities is expensive, well, Parkopedia's 2019 Parking Index has it.
- The top 10 most expensive cities for monthly parking all cost more than $200 per month, according to the parking-services company.
- One bit of good news: Parking on-street even in those cities will save you quite a bit compared to off-street.
Maybe, just maybe, cities waging wars on our cars is for the sake of saving us from ourselves. In New York City, just getting onto Manhattan by way of bridge or tunnel could cost you $15, one of the highest rates in the country. And then parking—if you can find it—could cost another $37 off-street for just two hours. The next highest, Chicago, costs about $21.
Parkopedia examined parking costs in North American cities for several situations: two hours both on-street and off-street, daily, and monthly. New York City claims the top spot in every category—not that New Yorkers particularly care, as only 45 percent of them own cars.
The top 10 most expensive cities for monthly parking all cost over $200 per month, with New York costing a hefty $655, which does sound like 655 reasons why someone wouldn't own a car there. Boston rolls in at second place at $337, and Jersey City and San Francisco in third and fourth place, respectively, both costing around $300 a month.
If you’re willing to leave your car on the street, your wallet will thank you. On-street two-hour parking in New York, when you can find it, is only about $8, making parking off-street 344 percent more expensive than parking on-street. Parking on the street in Denver will save you the most compared to parking off-street; in the Mile-High City, the difference rings in at 542 percent.
Compared with the numbers Parkopedia reported in 2017, almost every cost in every city cross-listed is higher. We're not saying people should avoid parking in these cities, just that the cost of doing so has to be factored in to the cost of that baseball game, theatrical production, or fine restaurant you're driving in for.
