Brent crude prices have reached over $85 a barrel. Oil prices are the biggest contributor to the cost of gasoline. Gas prices, average for a gallon of regular, have topped $3 in nine states, and that number appears to be growing.
The average price for a gallon of regular nationwide is $2.89, up from $2.55 a year ago, according to the AAA. That is an increase of almost 14%. Gas prices would only have to rise another 4% to average $3.00.
The states where gas prices are already above $3 (see the list of all 50 states below) are Utah, Pennsylvania, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Alaska, Washington, California and Hawaii, according to GasBuddy.
Gas prices are driven by two other factors. One is how close gasoline supply is to refineries. Therefore, gas prices in states near large oil supplies tend to be low. This includes states near the oil supply and refineries in and around the Gulf of Mexico. Among them are Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana, where the price in each state is below $2.60.
The other contributor to gas prices is state taxes and levies. The American Petroleum Institute (API) put the national average at $0.525 per gallon in July. At the top of the list, in Pennsylvania, the number is $0.771. At the bottom, the taxes and levies are $0.331 in Alaska.
The average per-gallon gasoline price by state:
- Hawaii, $3.76
- California, $3.73
- Washington, $3.39
- Alaska, $3.27
- Oregon, $3.25
- Nevada, $3.21
- Idaho, $3.12
- Pennsylvania, $3.05
- Utah, $3.04
- Connecticut, $2.99
- Montana, $2.99
- New York, $2.97
- Michigan, $2.96
- Illinois, $2.95
- Indiana, $2.94
- Colorado, $2.93
- West Virginia, $2.91
- Wyoming, $2.91
- Iowa, $2.90
- Vermont, $2.89
- Wisconsin, $2.89
- Nebraska, $2.89
- South Dakota, $2.88
- Arizona, $2.87
- Rhode Island, $2.85
- Massachusetts, $2.85
- Minnesota, $2.85
- Maine, $2.85
- North Dakota, $2.84
- New Jersey, $2.84
- Florida, $2.81
- Maryland, $2.81
- New Mexico, $2.80
- Kentucky, $2.79
- Ohio, $2.78
- New Hampshire, $2.78
- Kansas, $2.72
- Georgia, $2.70
- Missouri, $2.70
- Delaware, $2.70
- North Carolina, $2.70
- Oklahoma, $2.68
- Tennessee, $2.64
- Virginia, $2.63
- Texas, $2.62
- Arkansas, $2.62
- Louisiana, $2.58
- Alabama, $2.57
- Mississippi, $2.56
- South Carolina, $2.56
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