Michigan Gas Prices: Stimulus Checks Could Help Pay for Rising Costs

Gas prices are off the charts, and lawmakers are looking at creative ways to help ease the burden on Americans. I'm glad my car has good gas mileage. I can't imagine what it's like to drive a huge truck right now, with the cost of gas, or even some of my "dream cars," which are gas-guzzling sports cars.

Now, a group of Congressional Democrats is proposing a new form of stimulus payments to assist Americans trying to pay rising gas prices.

Reps. Mike Thompson, D-California, John Larson, D-Connecticut, and Lauren Underwood, D-Illinois, have introduced the act, called the Gas Rebate Act of 2022. The idea would be to send Americans an “energy rebate” or $100 per month, as well as an added $100 per dependent for the rest of 2022 in any month where the national average gas price is higher than $4 a gallon.

“Americans are feeling the impact at the pump of Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, and right now we must work together on commonsense policy solutions to ease the financial burden that my constituents are feeling,” Thompson said in a statement. “The Putin Price Hike is putting strain on our economy, and I am proud to be working with Reps. Larson and Underwood to introduce this legislation to provide middle-class Americans with monthly payments to ease the financial burden of this global crises.”

The rebate would follow the same guidelines as the most recent Economic Impact Payment, meaning that $100 would go to single filers earning less than $75,000 phasing out at $80,000, and $100 would go to joint filers earning less than $150,000 and phasing out at $160,000. Right now, AAA reports that the national average price for a gallon of gas in the U.S. is $4.24. The proposal is just one of many ideas lawmakers are circulating to help ease the pain of high gas prices.

If you're wondering which cities in Michigan have residents with the lowest median household income, we have the tally for you. This list just goes to show how the cost of living varies greatly throughout Michigan- and, of course, the same is true of the U.S. After all, Michigan is diverse demographically, so it's to be expected that some areas of the state have a higher cost of living than others.

The staff at Zip Atlas has published a fresh list of the median household incomes across Michigan using a variety of data. The site offers a “structured collection of zip code, area code, city and state demographic, social and economic profiles,” according to their official website. They add, “Here you will find employment and unemployment rates, industry statistics, household and personal income reports, property value assessment, housing unit occupancy and vacancy breakdown, mortgage and rent analysis, age, gender, ancestry and racial profiles, education attainment levels and school enrolment among many others.”

If you're wondering, according to the study, none of the 10 cities in the U.S. with the highest median household income are in Michigan. No. 1 is Short hills, New Jersey, at $185,466, followed by Purchase, New York and Villa Maria, Pennsylvania. Michigan didn't even make the top 100 cities in the U.S. when it came to highest median household income. As for the lowest median household income, Michigan starts at $11,667 and goes up from there.

So, which Michigan cities have the lowest median household incomes? View the list of cities below, and see if your city made the cut. For more information, visit the Zip Atlas website here. Note that some of these are college towns, so that factors into the median household income. In reality, the non-students in those cities likely have a higher median household income.

Source: ZipAtlas.com

$11,667.00

$14,375.00

$16,576.50

$17,105.00

$17,917.00

$18,750.00

$19,375.00

$19,716.00

$20,833.00

$21,250.00

$21,250.00

$21,500.00

$21,659.00

$22,109.00

$22,608.00

$22,717.00

$23,125.00

$23,194.00

$23,444.00

$23,750.00

$23,750.00

$23,854.00

$23,889.00

$24,000.00

$24,125.00

$24,125.00

$25,139.00

$25,417.00

$25,711.00

$25,777.00

$25,962.00

$25,968.00

$26,150.00

$26,233.00

$26,250.00

$26,250.00

$26,250.00

$26,265.00

$26,361.00

$26,429.00

$26,477.00

$26,478.00

$26,667.00

$26,771.00

$26,773.00

$26,773.00

$26,782.00

$26,973.92

$27,019.00