The national average price for regular gas increased again on Thursday, rising to $4.081 per gallon, according to AAA. It marks the fourth consecutive day gas prices have risen this week amid a trend of steadily rising gas prices since the second week of January.
Thursday’s fuel cost is almost two cents higher than Wednesday’s, when the national average price for a gallon of regular gas was $4.064 per gallon and over six cents per gallon more expensive than Tuesday’s pricing, when it was $4.018 per gallon and officially broke the $4-per-gallon threshold for the first time since 2022. Over the last month, the national average price of regular gas has risen by more than $1 per gallon.
Gas prices hit a five-year low of $2.79 per gallon on Jan. 12, shortly before the one-year anniversary of the beginning of President Donald Trump’s second term. Affordable gas prices and fuel costs had typically been a staple of Trump’s presidential terms, up to and including January 2026. However, since achieving a cost of $2.79 per gallon, gas prices started to rise. The increase was gradual, occurring over the last two weeks of January and all of February. Today’s high gas prices more closely resemble the exorbitant costs from when Trump’s predecessor, former President Joe Biden, was in office.
First, the price hike was attributed to winter storms that plagued the country and affected fuel shipments in late January and February. A month ago, the national average price for regular gas was $2.997 per gallon. It is also more expensive to fuel up at the pumps now than a year ago, when gas was $3.238 per gallon. Since Operation Epic Fury began, the national average price for a gallon of regular gas has skyrocketed. The joint military operation with Israel against Iran has caused great fluctuation in the global oil market and prices.
Thursday’s price of $4.081 per gallon is a record high for Trump’s presidential terms. It’s still a ways to go from the highest price ever recorded in June 2022, when Biden was in office, and the national average was over $5 per gallon. However, if the current trend of rising gas prices continues, it could eclipse that total sometime in May. This is especially true given the traditional hike in gas prices that occurs through Memorial Day Weekend, which is only 53 days away.
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Regardless of who the U.S. president is, fuel costs vary by section of the country. Currently, the Midwest and Plains Region has the states with the lowest gas prices. Earlier this year, it was the states along the Gulf of America. States on the West Coast have the highest fuel costs, which have been a constant for years. Washington, D.C., which is not located in either of those areas, has an average price of $4.200 per gallon on Thursday, higher than the national average.
California remains the state with the highest statewide average gas price in the country at $5.891 per gallon. Hawaii is next at $5.503 per gallon. This is followed by Washington state at $5.365. Oregon is next at $4.966, followed by Nevada at $4.942.
Conversely, Oklahoma has the nation’s most affordable gas prices, at $3.272 per gallon. Kansas is the next least-expensive state at $3.334 per gallon. This is followed by Nebraska at $3.426, North Dakota at $3.43, and Iowa, with a statewide average of $3.48 per gallon.