The national average price for regular gas was $3.044 per gallon on Tuesday, continuing to hover around $3 per gallon.
Sunday’s total was a slight decrease from a week ago, when the average cost for a gallon of gas was $3.048, according to AAA. The most recent gas prices come as the national average continues to flirt with a $3 per gallon mark, with a GasBuddy analysis even reporting the national average falling below the threshold of $3 per gallon last week.
“Gas prices have finally fallen below $3 per gallon nationally — the earliest date we’ve seen a $2.99 national average since 2020, when COVID was the primary driver of low prices,” Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said in a statement. “Currently, 35 states have average gas prices below $2.99/gal.”
That threshold has not been reached in AAA’s assessment of gas prices nationwide, but it is trending in that direction. At the beginning of October, the national average price for a gallon of regular gas was $3.16 per gallon, before dropping to $3.121 per gallon a week into the month, according to AAA. Fuel costs had been holding steady for the last few months, slowly dropping toward the $3 per gallon national average threshold after Labor Day and as autumn began. Moreover, October’s gas prices are the least expensive since mid-December 2024.
Fuel costs have remained steady for essentially all of 2025 under the Trump administration, typically falling between $3.12 and $3.21 since January. At the end of September, the average price for a gallon of regular gas was $3.148, according to AAA. At the end of July, the national average for regular gas was $3.14 per gallon, and at the end of June it was $3.185 per gallon — the lowest price to end June since 2021. During Memorial Day weekend, traditionally the time of year when gas prices tend to increase, the national average price was $3.18 per gallon.
Fuel costs analysts have used the $3 per gallon threshold as a price point to reflect the state of affordability of national gas prices in recent years. While the national average is currently $3.053, the number of states with average prices lower than $3 per gallon has steadily increased throughout the year. At the end of September, 24 states had fuel cost averages below $3 per gallon. By Oct. 7, that number had increased to 28 states. Today, heading into the last week of October, 31 states have an average gas price below $3 per gallon, according to AAA.
NATIONAL AVERAGE GAS PRICES FALL BELOW $3 PER GALLON, LOWEST SINCE 2020
Mississippi is the state with the cheapest gas prices in the country, at $2.59 per gallon. Next is Louisiana with an average price of $2.597 per gallon. Oklahomas and Texas are next, both at $2.606 per gallon. Arkansas is now the fifth-least expensive state for gas prices, with an average of $2.634.
California remains the state with the most expensive gas prices in the country, as it has for the majority of the last few years. The average price for regular gas in the Golden State is $4.582 per gallon, over 150% higher than the current national average of $3.044 per gallon. Next is Hawaii with a statewide average of $4.479 per gallon, followed by the state of Washington at $4.331. Oregon and Alaska are the states with next most expensive average gas prices, at $3.935 and $3.827, respectively.