SAN FRANCISCO — Autolist.com, an automotive buyer intelligence firm, ranked Rowan County the seventh most affordable place to buy a car in the state, according to its second quarter 2016 Most Affordable Areas Analysis.

The analysis looked at more than 72 million vehicles and 4.5 billion unique data points for vehicles of all makes and models across the nation. It found that vehicles in Rowan County were, on average, $400 less than the state average.

The top five most affordable places to buy a used vehicle in North Carolina were:

1. Pender County, $1,722 below the state average
2. Edgecombe County, $1,311 below the state average
3. Iredell County, $590 below the state average
4. Currituck County, $552 below the state average
5. Hertford County, $446 below the state average

The study found that the list prices at the state, county and city level were statistically significant across North Carolina and the country. The number of dealers in the area contributed to the different prices, and so did manufacturer community presence and geography demands.

Autolist’s study also found that Rowan County had unique price differences. The BMW 3 Series was the most affordable vehicle in the county, costing $1,983 less than the state average.

The top five most affordable models in Rowan County were:

1. BMW 3 Series, $1,983 below the state average
2. Toyota 4Runner, $1,593 below the state average
3. Chevrolet Traverse, $1,472 below the state average
4. Ford Edge, $1,468 below the state average
5. Toyota RAV4, $1,376 below the state average

“As a result, there is an opportunity for people to save hundreds if not thousands of dollars on their next vehicle by taking advantage of geographic differences in used vehicles prices,” Autolist said in a press release.