Commuters and drivers throughout the country will pay slightly more at the pumps this week, as the national average price for a gallon of regular gas increased to $3.161.
Monday’s price point was a marginal increase from Sunday, when the national average was $3.153 per gallon, and from a week ago, when a gallon of regular gas was $3.137, according to AAA.
Prices have remained steady all month, and, for the most part, all summer. While Monday’s fuel cost is higher than a week ago, it is approximately the same as a month ago, when the average price for regular gas was $3.16 per gallon. In August, gas prices fluctuated but primarily stayed between $3.13 and $3.16 per gallon. It’s a pattern that has existed all summer as fuel costs have avoided the seasonal gas price hike that traditionally happens after Memorial Day Weekend in May during the summer driving season.
A positive sign on gas prices this month is that they are much cheaper than a year ago, when the average price for a gallon of gas was $3.353, according to AAA. Most experts claim that this year’s affordable fuel costs have to do with the price of crude oil, which currently sits at $63.92 per barrel (at the time of publication of this article). Currently, August’s gas prices are at its lowest for an August since 2020, when it was $2.272, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
This follows the sequence of affordable gas prices in July, where the national average cost has hovered between $3.13 and $3.17. July ended with a national average price of $3.15 per gallon, the lowest national average price for gas in July since 2021, according to the EIA.
In July 2024, the average price for a gallon of regular gas was $3.60. In 2023, fuel costs were higher at $3.712 per gallon. In July 2022, gas prices were near record highs, the second-highest in the country’s history, at $4.668. Comparatively, in July 2021, the average cost for gas was $3.23.
Additionally, regarding gas prices, most analyses suggest a $3 per gallon cost as a reasonable price point in today’s market for evaluating fuel cost affordability in the country. With the price of gas decreasing in recent months, the number of states averaging less than $3 per gallon has increased. However, the number of states with gas at this price point has fluctuated over the summer.
On June 30, there were 21 states with statewide average gas prices under $3. In early July, the number of states at this threshold dropped to 20. In mid-July, it increased again to 22 states. On the penultimate day of July, it was back to 23 states, the most states with average gas prices under $3 per gallon since summer began. As of mid-August, there are now 22 states with average gas prices under $3 per gallon. On Monday, that total again dropped to 20 states.
Different regions in the U.S. have different gas prices. The area with the most affordable average gas prices is on or near the Gulf Coast. Conversely, the states with the most expensive average statewide gas prices are on the West Coast.
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On Monday, the state with the lowest average gas prices in the country is Oklahoma at $2.682 per gallon. The Sooner State overtook Mississippi for the distinction of having the cheapest gas prices in the nation, which is now second in the country, at $2.685 per gallon. Louisiana had the third-lowest gas prices in the country at $2.719, followed by Texas at $2.724 and Alabama at $2.75.
California, as has been the case most of the last three years, again has the most expensive gas prices in the country, with a statewide average of $4.559 per gallon. Hawaii is next at over ten cents cheaper at $4.453. Washington state has the third-highest gas prices in the country at $4.397. Oregon is next at $3.973, followed by Nevada at $3.774 per gallon.