Comparing the Cost Price of Parking in 50 U.S. Cities

Joe Cortright digs into a surprisingly under-reported data set: how much it costs to park a car in different cities around the United States.

The price of parking cars hides in the shadows of this data rich era, according to Cortright:

There are regular comparisons of rents and housing costs between cities. The Bureau of Economic Analysis reports on regional price variations among states. But the price of parking falls into a kind of unlit corner of the statistical world.

After sifting through some of what we do know about cars in the United States, Cortright turns to the ParkMe web-based service, which, in addition to directing drivers to available parking spaces, "gathers and reports on data the price of parking cities around the country." Cortright used ParkMe to search for "parking lots and structures near the City Hall of each of the largest cities in each of the 50 largest metropolitan areas." With that geographic boundary, Cortright and team averaged the price of parking at five of the closest lots to each of those city halls to produce a couple of helpful graphics.