Corrie Hachman loves living among the springs and vast fields of greenery in Gilchrist County.
However, rising fuel prices have her worried about the community and her family. Watching those around her struggle to manage living costs, she’s become more aware of grocery store deals.
“It is becoming harder for even city and rural communities to choose between fuel to go to work or food to feed the family,” the mother of eight said, “because the prices are skyrocketing on everything.”
She took a humorous approach when expressing her concerns in a Facebook post back in March.
But Hachman said her sentiment is not a joke.
Florida’s average price of gasoline rose 37% since early March. Although it fluctuates, the cost of fuel remains high, posing an extra financial burden to the 9.1% of Floridians living in rural communities.
Fuel accounts for a big portion of living costs in rural communities. Residents heavily rely on their vehicles to get around locally while often traveling farther for work and necessities.
“We don't have bus services here in the rural counties,” Hachman said in an interview. “We have shoe-leather express. We have horses, if you can afford to feed them, and we have our cars. Everything is at least 10 miles away from you.”
Randy Andrews commutes about 45 minutes each way from Union County to his job as a boiler operator at the University of Florida in Alachua County.
Andrews said he is spending roughly $400 dollars a month on fuel alone.
“If I lived local, you know, it wouldn't be like that,” Andrews said. “But right now, it's definitely, you can feel the crunch of it for sure.”
Consumer prices rose 4.2% over the 12 months ending in May, the highest annual inflation reading in three years — and this was primarily driven by surging energy cost, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics recently reported.
The 2024 Consumer Expenditure Survey reveals that rural households spent $612 more at the national level on gasoline than urban households did within a year.
Rural areas are paying for more than just the cost to fill their own tanks. They’re also disproportionately affected by transportation costs of fuel itself, said Harold York, an energy economist at Rice University.
He called this disparity “the last mile,” meaning fuel distributors travel farther to rural gas stations and often use smaller tanker trucks for better access. These factors contribute to a heightened cost of transportation.
“Rural gallons will always be at a logistical disadvantage,” York said. “The last transportation segment will be longer distances with smaller trucks.”
There are also fewer gas stations in rural communities, he added, which gives gas station owners the discretion to set gas prices flexibly. But with less nearby competition, gas customers have limited options and alternatives, ultimately making it more likely for them to pay more at the pump.
“Unfortunately, there isn't a universal formula that we can plug numbers into to determine what prices "should" be at every station,” York said. “It's a trial and error of posting prices, seeing how consumers react and then making adjustments.”
York explained how high fuel costs affect more than gasoline. He said that these rising costs contribute to inflation immensely. “Everything in modern day society relies on fuel,” Hachman said. “Your toothpaste comes on a semi; and that semi has to pay for fuel.”
Hachman said the ripple effect of higher fuel prices also hits essential services like healthcare.
“You might have a quick care center in Chiefland, and that's still 20 miles away, so you end up having to go to Gainesville, and that's way there, and you don't have the fuel to get there," Hachman said. “So you try to home doctor yourself.”
Even rural residents who work and live within the same area are being hit hard.
Morgan Alderman lives and works in Levy County. She is a county school bus aide and lives with her husband, Kenneth, their eight children and their grandmother.
Her husband owns a lawn care business that relies on fuel for its lawn mowers and equipment for day-to-day operations.
“The price of gas and goods going up with a job paying the same amount as before,” Alderman said, “the increase causes us to live on a more strict budget.”
She recalled a time when her family took vacations. She spoke of a time when she was able to reward her kids with treats after sporting events. She remembered when she was able to afford more fun activities.
“The most stressing challenge is not being able to travel as much with our children due to budgeting to make ends meet in other areas,” Alderman said.
Hachman's family faces similar challenges. Her partner owns a lawn care business that relies heavily on fuel as well, and the rising fuel costs have added additional financial stress for the business and her household.
During hurricane season, Hachman's husband would help nearby residents get rid of debris and trees that have fallen as a result.
“We used to do lawns for free sometimes,” Hachman said, “if we seen somebody that couldn't afford to have their lawn done and it was way overgrown.”
But with higher fuel costs, Hachman and her family can’t help out like they used to.
“It's hard to look a person or even a child or a friend or a stranger. I can't help you. I'm sorry. I don't have it. We can't do it. We don't have the resources,” Hachman lamented. “And you feel bad because it's either take food off your table to do it or you eat.”