Fuel costs have trended downward over the last thirty days, but even with the decreases, gas prices have stayed within a five-cent range for the most part. For example, Monday’s national average price was less expensive than a month ago, when the average cost for a gallon of regular gas in the country was $3.194. Wednesday’s price was cheaper than last month, when a gallon of regular gas was $3.185. For the most part, there has not been the customary summer surge in gas prices this year, due to crude oil prices remaining around $65 a barrel, according to AAA.

Fuel costs this summer have been much less expensive than in recent years, with the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline being the cheapest since 2020, when it was $2.272, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. In July 2024, the average price was $3.60 per gallon. In 2023, fuel costs were higher at $3.712 per gallon. Gas prices surged in July 2022, costing $4.668 per gallon, the second most expensive monthly average in the country’s history. In July 2021, the average cost for gas was $3.23.

Most fuel cost commentaries have highlighted the $3 per gallon price point as a barometer of 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, that has changed a few times over the last month. On June 27, 17 states had average prices under $3. By Monday, June 30, that total rose to 21 states. In early July, it dropped to 20 states. A week ago, it rose back to 22 states. Today, the total is back to 23 states, the most states with average gas prices under $3 per gallon since summer began.

In the United States, different regions have different gas prices, sometimes substantially. The region of the nation with the highest average statewide gas prices is located on the West Coast. Comparatively, the states with the lowest average statewide gas prices are along the Gulf Coast. 

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Mississippi has the cheapest gas prices in the country, with an average of $2.702 per gallon. Louisiana is now the state with the second-cheapest gas prices in the country at $2.766. Tennessee is next, just ever-so-slightly higher at $2.767. Oklahoma is next at $2.771, followed by Texas, which has a statewide average price for a gallon of regular gas of $2.779.

Conversely, Hawaii has overtaken California as the state with the most expensive gas in the country. This is the first time since 2024 that has occurred. A gallon of regular gas in the Aloha State costs $4.479, followed by California at $4.475. Washington state has the third-highest average gas price in the country, at $4.388. Next is Oregon, at $3.971, and then Alaska, with a statewide average price of $3.758.