The 20 Most Expensive U.S. Cities for Summer Car Rentals

The cheapest rental car in the lot cost travelers close to $90 dollars a day in several U.S. cities this past summer.

A new survey from CheapCarRental.net looks at the average daily rate of the cheapest available rental car in U.S. cities during the months of June, July, and August. The city’s main airport served as the pick-up and drop-off point.

The most expensive city to rent a car this summer was Portland, Oregon where even the most frugal option cost travelers $86 a day. The second most expensive city was unsurprisingly New York where cars cost a least $83 dollars a day.

Florida was overwhelming the cheapest state to rent a car with an average daily rate of $18. Four of the five cheapest U.S. cities on this list were located in Florida, including Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, and Miami.

Startup Rates Are Not Much Better

There’s clearly an opportunity for travel startups and the sharing economy to make short-term car rentals cheaper. But popular car rental alternative Zipcar is not much cheaper. The daily rate is $73 and $89 a day in the respective cities, and that’s not counting membership fees.

Visitors in Portland could use peer-to-peer rental startup Getaround to drive a 1999 Honda Civic for $4 an hour, but that adds up to $96 for a 24-hour period — more than Zipcar and traditional rentals.

A cheaper option in New York is RelayRides where someone could rent a 1996 Saturn for $25 a day. But who wants to drive around a car that’s more than a decade old on vacation?

The top 20 most expensive U.S. cities to find a cheap car rental are as follows: