Where gas prices really hurt

A moth rests near the price indicator on a pump at Roy Saulsberry Jr.’s convenience store. Wilcox County has the unhappy distinction of having the nation’s highest percentage of income spent on gasoline; residents spend more than 13% of their monthly income on gas, according to the Oil Price Information Service. By contrast, the average Los Angeles County household spends 3.9% of its monthly income on gasoline.  (Michael E. Palmer / For The Times)

Earl Westry pumps gas at Saulsberry’s store.  (Michael E. Palmer / For The Times)

Job are scarce in Coy, Ala. Some people work in the county seat, 13 miles away, or venture farther away. But driving to those jobs costs money -- a tough equation in a town where raising the cash to pave a basketball court is just a dream.  (Michael E. Palmer / For The Times)

Retiree Clarence Perryman is a regular at Saulsberry’s store. He watches neighbors come and go. “They used to pull up and say, ‘Fill it up,’” Perryman says. “Not anymore.”  (Michael E. Palmer / For The Times)

Roy Saulsberry sees hauling gasoline into town to sell at his store as a kind of public service. He makes about 10 cents profit on each gallon — just enough to pay the store’s light bill.  (Michael E. Palmer / For The Times)