10 States With the Highest and Lowest Gas Prices in America

This year, the simple of act of filling up at the gas pump has become a financial nightmare for millions of drivers, as the price of gas has soared into the stratosphere.

No area of the country has escaped the unhappy trend. However, depending on where you live, the increase is anywhere from relatively modest to wallet-busting.

Each day, AAA surveys the landscape and reports the average cost of a gallon of gas in all 50 states. Following is where you will find the most and least expensive gas in the U.S. right now. In each of these states, the average cost of regular gas is either well above or well below the current national average of $4.10 per gallon.

States with the highest gas prices

10. Illinois

In a theme you will see repeated many times on this list, Illinois’ relatively high gas prices come down to taxes. As the Peoria Journal Star reports:

“The state raised its motor fuel tax on July 1, 2021, by a half-cent to 39.2 cents per gallon in addition to other assorted sales taxes. That’s on top of a federal gas tax of 18.4 cents. Municipalities also may impose gas taxes, so Peorians pay an added 5 cents per gallon.”

In fact, drivers in Illinois pay the second-highest gas taxes in the nation, according to the American Petroleum Institute — 78 cents per gallon. And that combined total of state and federal taxes doesn’t include local levies.

Average price for regular gas:

• Today: $4.34 per gallon
• One month ago: $4.57 per gallon
• One year ago: $3.05 per gallon

9. Idaho

Meridian, Idaho, farmer Neil Durrant says higher gas prices have hit him squarely in his livelihood. The fourth-generation farmer needs diesel fuel to fill up his tractors, but the price of doing so has doubled since 2021.

Durrant told television station KTVB in March, when the national average price of gas hit a record high:

“We are feeling it really bad here on our end, but those costs are going to be carried on to the consumer and they are going to feel it when they go to the grocery stores.”

Average price for regular gas:

• Today: $4.40 per gallon
• One month ago: $4.36 per gallon
• One year ago: $3.07 per gallon

8. Utah

Surging prices at the pump have caused some states to cut their gas taxes. However, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox has voiced reluctance to suspend the state’s gas tax. As he said in a March press conference:

“If I were to unilaterally remove the gas tax, I would also have to lay off all of UDOT’s employees, which is not great. That’s a really bad idea.”

Average price for regular gas:

• Today: $4.50 per gallon
• One month ago: $4.36 per gallon
• One year ago: $3.17 per gallon

7. Arizona

Higher gas prices are resulting in visible changes in Arizona. Phoenix worker Diane Bohonko told Cronkite News she has been taking a commuter bus from Chandler for several years and recently has noticed an influx of new riders:

“I think there are more people on the bus because gas prices are going up. Before we had eight to 10 people (ride), and now it’s like 10 to 20 every day.”

Average price for regular gas:

• Today: $4.60 per gallon
• One month ago: $4.59 per gallon
• One year ago: $3.08 per gallon

6. Oregon

As with other Western states, gas costs in Oregon tend to be substantially higher than in other parts of the U.S.

Nicole Petersen, spokesperson for GasBuddy, tells USA Today that states on the West Coast have fewer refineries, which drives gas prices higher in the region.

Average price for regular gas:

• Today: $4.66 per gallon
• One month ago: $4.74 per gallon
• One year ago: $3.19 per gallon

5. Washington

The tax ax falls hard on Washington drivers. The state’s gas tax is among the highest in the country, at 49.4 cents per gallon. That helps keep fuel prices higher.

On the bright side, the taxes the state collects have helped fund many highway projects, according to KOIN 6 News.

Average price for regular gas:

• Today: $4.67 per gallon
• One month ago: $4.73 per gallon
• One year ago: $3.34 per gallon

4. Alaska

You can run all the way to Alaska, but you can’t hide from higher gas prices.

Larry Persily, an oil and gas analyst, tells KTUU that many factors drive gas prices higher in the Last Frontier. Chief among them is the fact that the gas refinery in Nikiski is relatively small, especially compared with others in the U.S.

Average price for regular gas:

• Today: $4.67 per gallon
• One month ago: $4.72 per gallon
• One year ago: $3.13 per gallon

3. Nevada

As with other Western states, a lack of oil refineries in Nevada translates to higher prices there.

Dan Bubb, a travel expert and professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, tells local television station KTNV that “since we don’t have many, if any oil fields in Nevada, per se, we tend to pay a little bit more.”

Average price for regular gas:

• Today: $5.10 per gallon
• One month ago: $4.93 per gallon
• One year ago: $3.36 per gallon

2. Hawaii

Few things are cheap in Hawaii, which makes sense for an island in the middle of the ocean that has to import so many goods.

Gas, too, tends to be expensive, largely because of taxes. As CoPilot — a company that helps shoppers find great deals on new cars — recently wrote:

“In Hawaii, more than 50 cents per gallon goes to taxes. The Federal Excise Tax gets about 18 cents while the state and local sales taxes tacks on another 16 cents. More than that, the counties themselves add about 16 to 23 cents, depending on where you live.”

Average price for regular gas:

• Today: $5.24 per gallon
• One month ago: $4.94 per gallon
• One year ago: $3.72 per gallon

1. California

Folks in California always pay more for gas than drivers elsewhere — and often by a wide margin.

That is no accident of fate. Nicole Petersen, a spokesperson for GasBuddy, tells USA Today that the Golden State has “unique requirements” for its fuel blends. That makes California gas friendlier to the environment, but more hostile to drivers’ wallets.

In fact, California drivers fork over 86.55 cents per gallon in state and federal gasx taxes — the highest in the nation, according to the American Petroleum Institute.

Average price for regular gas:

• Today: $5.75 per gallon
• One month ago: $5.73 per gallon
• One year ago: $3.94 per gallon

States with the lowest gas prices

10. Iowa

President Joe Biden is expected to announce during an April 12 visit to an Iowa ethanol plant that his administration will allow for the sale of E15 — a cheaper gas blend that contains 15% ethanol — this summer, USA Today reports.

The newspaper explains:

“Elected officials, both Republicans and Democrats, from Iowa and other corn belt states, as well as farm groups and biofuel producers, have pressed Biden to use his emergency powers to allow summer use of E15.”

Average price for regular gas:

• Today: $3.80 per gallon
• One month ago: $3.92 per gallon
• One year ago: $2.77 per gallon

9. Wisconsin

Just two years ago, gas prices had plunged in Wisconsin. In fact, in April 2020, four convenience stores in Wautoma were selling gas for less than $1 a gallon.

Those days are long gone, but Wisconsin still has some of the cheapest gas in the nation.

Average price for regular gas:

• Today: $3.75 per gallon
• One month ago: $4.04 per gallon
• One year ago: $2.72 per gallon

8. Georgia

Here’s a bit of rare good news: Gas prices are plunging in Georgia. The state recently cut its gas tax to offer drivers relief, and the move appears to be paying off.

Average price for regular gas:

• Today: $3.75 per gallon
• One month ago: $4.29 per gallon
• One year ago: $2.71 per gallon

7. South Carolina

Being located close to the nation’s Gulf Coast oil-refining center has its privileges, as South Carolina drivers know. That fact — and low gas taxes — keep fuel affordable in the Palmetto State.

Average price for regular gas:

• Today: $3.74 per gallon
• One month ago: $4.08 per gallon
• One year ago: $2.58 per gallon

6. Maryland

Like Georgia, Maryland has cut its gas tax in an effort to take some of the hot air out of rising prices. And it appears to be working here, too.

Average price for regular gas:

• Today: $3.72 per gallon
• One month ago: $4.28 per gallon
• One year ago: $2.76 per gallon

5. Texas

The home of Big Oil has some of the lowest gas prices in the nation. But that doesn’t stop some of the state’s residents from driving across the U.S. border to Mexico, where they can save more than $1 a gallon when filling up.

Average price for regular gas:

• Today: $3.70 per gallon
• One month ago: $4.01 per gallon
• One year ago: $2.58 per gallon

4. Arkansas

At 43.2 cents per gallon, the gas tax burden in Arkansas is relatively light. That helps make the state one of many in the middle of the country to enjoy especially affordable fuel prices.

Average price for regular gas:

• Today: $3.70 per gallon
• One month ago: $3.90 per gallon
• One year ago: $2.68 per gallon

3. Oklahoma

A number of factors contribute to Oklahoma’s low gas prices. Chief among them are modest gas taxes and the fact that the state has more gasoline retail locations per capita than any other state.

As we all learned in Econ 101, more competition means lower prices.

Average price for regular gas:

• Today: $3.67 per gallon
• One month ago: $3.87 per gallon
• One year ago: $2.62 per gallon

2. Kansas

Kansas is another among a slew of states in the middle of the country that have lower gas prices than in many other parts of the nation. The relatively low state and federal gas tax burden of 42.43 cents per gallon helps keep the cost of driving across the prairie in check.

Average price for regular gas:

• Today: $3.67 per gallon
• One month ago: $3.82 per gallon
• One year ago: $2.68 per gallon

1. Missouri

The Show-Me State proudly displays the lowest gas prices in the nation. Gas taxes here are the fourth-lowest in the U.S., at just 38.32 cents a gallon.

Those low taxes are among the factors that make Missouri the cheapest place to fuel up from coast to coast.

Average price for regular gas:

• Today: $3.66 per gallon
• One month ago: $3.85 per gallon
• One year ago: $2.63 per gallon

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