New research examined how gas spending has changed across income groups. Howard Schnapp/Newsday RM via Getty Images

New research shows that there's a K-shape emerging in gas spending.

Higher earners are fine with buying gas at higher prices, but lower earners are pulling back.

People can try to control their spending by consolidating their trips and checking reward programs.

Gas prices aren't just causing headaches at the pump — they're also worsening a growing economic divide .

A new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York finds that spending on gas mirrors — and deepens — the chasm between America's higher and lower earners.…