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[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

During our recent Branson visit for grandsons and their parents I 
bought one of those little booklets about the year one was born. For 
me, that was 1936, in January, the month before the first Social 
Security checks were mailed. The booklet is somewhat more useful than 
mere nostalgia.

There is a page titled 1936 Cost of Living. The average income then 
was $1,713 per year and the cost of gasoline was 12 cents per gallon. 
I multiplied that by 500 gallons, for a cost of $60.00. Divided by the income,
the family hit for that much gas was 3.5 percent of income.

A quick Google found the average household income today is about 
$45,000. (Household income in 1936 meant "his." Today it means 
"theirs.") The average cost of gasoline today is about $2.75, so 500 
gallons of gas is $1,375. Divided by income, that is 3 percent.

In 1936 a family may well have used much less than 500 gallons of 
gas, so the household budget hit was less. Today, beyond the 
woe-is-me hand-wringing, gas usage, while arguably more necessary, is 
still a choice, mostly the choice of deciding how far to live from 
one's employment and also whether it makes sense for both to work, 
and therefore likely need two cars.

Bottom line, gas costs less today than 70 years ago.