Good morning, friends. I hate to start everyone’s week off with bad news, but I unfortunately have to. Gas prices are again hitting records. If it’s any consolation this was news that we saw coming, but that doesn’t really help to ease pain every time you go to fill up, does it?
First things first, the average price of a gallon of regular gas has virtually tied its all-time record set back on March 11 of this year (keep in mind this isn’t the record if you account for inflation). I say it is virtually tied, because AAA gives gas prices using fractions of a cent. So, today’s average is $4.328. Technically, that is lower than March 11’s $4.331. However, since you can’t spend part of a penny on gas, we can safely say that the price has tied the record at $4.33. You can expect the record to be broken tomorrow if this trend continues (which it will).
Unfortunately, the story is even more miserable when you look at diesel prices. The average price of a gallon of diesel has set a record every day for the last week. That’s what we in the industry call, “not ideal.”
The average price of diesel now sits at $5.54 per gallon. That’s an increase of 22 cents from just a week ago – when this latest batch of records first started. In fact, there isn’t a single state in the country where the average price is under $5.12 (Shout out to Wisconsin).
Americans are feeling the squeeze. A new Yahoo/Maru Public Opinion poll shows that about two-thirds of people in the U.S. are changing their habits because of gas prices. They surveyed just under 1,400 drivers from April 29 to May 1.
Two-thirds, or 66% of vehicle owners or households, say they have made or will make significant changes to their driving patterns if the national average cost of gasoline sits between $4.12-4.35 per gallon.
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The survey highlights the pinch consumers are facing because of higher energy costs.
These are some of the changes which respondents made or will make with prices between a range of $4.12-4.35 per gallon.
- Cut back vehicle used for just necessities (like grocery shopping/doctor visits): 62%
- Not fill the gas tank up but just putting in what is affordable: 41%
- Leave car and take public transit/take more: 35%
- Drive to different gas stations to find the best price: 34%
- Cancel planned summer holiday travels by car: 29%
Grim!
Let’s take a look at some of the numbers across the country.
Here is the highest average gas prices in the country in order of highest price for a gallon regular:
- California – $5.83 Regular | $6.02 Mid | $6.16 Premium | $6.51 Diesel
- Hawaii – $5.28 Regular | $5.48 Mid | $5.74 Premium | $5.81 Diesel
- Nevada – $5.12 Regular | $5.34 Mid | $5.54 Premium | $5.48 Diesel
- Washington – $4.83 Regular | $5.91 Mid | $5.20 Premium | $5.70 Diesel
- Oregon – $4.81 Regular | $4.97 Mid | $5.18 Premium | $5.60 Diesel
Here is the lowest average price of gasoline in the country in order of lowest price per gallon of regular:
- Georgia – $3.84 Regular | $4.19 Mid | $4.54 Premium | $5.13 Diesel
- Missouri – $3.90 Regular | $4.16 Mid | $4.44 Premium | $5.20 Diesel
- Oklahoma – $3.92 Regular | $4.21 Mid | $4.44 Premium | $5.30 Diesel
- Arkansas – $3.93 Regular | $4.22 Mid | $4.52 Premium | $5.30 Diesel
- Mississippi – $3.93 Regular | $4.23 Mid | $4.59 Premium | $5.20 Diesel
Ugh. See you guys tomorrow for the record-breaking spectacular.
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