Chicago gas prices highest in the nation, drivers pawn to pay bills
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By Patrick Elwood, FOX 32 News at Noon Co-Anchor - bio | email
CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) -
With Chicago gas prices ranked highest in the country, many drivers turn to unconventional measures - like selling personal items at pawn shops - to fill in the budget gaps.
The price of filling up keeps going up. It's worse here in Chicago than anywhere else in the country. The price of gasoline is up $0.07 over the past two weeks.
Chicago has the highest prices in the nation, at $4.22 per gallon.
People who wouldn't normally qualify as pawn shop customers have been coming in and cashing out just to try and make ends meet.
They're not pawning their goods to take a vacation or gamble in Vegas. They are pawning their valuables to get to work and pay the bills, or simply wait for the other shoe to drop.
Randy Cohen owns Royal Pawn on Clark Street in the South Loop. He doesn't expect things to get better until after the presidential election.
According to the Lundberg Survey, a gallon of regular unleaded now averages $3.76 nationwide.
El Paso, Texas has the lowest prices in the nation, at $3.32 per gallon.
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