Memorial Day weekend is right around the corner, and Americans this year will be paying significantly more to reach their summer destinations.
WASHINGTON — Every state in the United States has an average gas price above $4 less than a week before Memorial Day weekend, bumping prices for travelers nearly three months into the nation’s war with Iran.
As of Wednesday, the average price for a gallon of gas in the U.S. sits around $4.55. It’s not a big shift from the $4.51 average a week ago, but the underlying prices driving the average are beginning to climb in the states with the cheapest gas.
Georgia has the lowest gas prices in the U.S., with the state’s average just over $4 at $4.006 per gallon. But according to the American Automobile Association, it’s one of only 11 states in the lowest tier of gas prices, averaging below $4.21 per gallon.
On the other side of both the country and cost spectrum, California has the highest average gas prices in the country, with a gallon costing about $6.145 in the state.
Gas prices have slowly but steadily risen over the past three months, since President Donald Trump authorized the strikes on Iran on Feb. 28 that began the conflict.
Diesel prices in the country have also increased significantly over the past few months, with Wednesday’s average of $5.652 about 16 cents off from the highest average ever recorded.
The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway south of Iran through which about a fifth of the worlds oil supply flows, remains closed despite a shaky ceasefire between the Iranian government and the Trump administration.
Memorial Day will have Americans on the road and spending more
AAA predicts that around 45 million Americans will travel over Memorial Day weekend, despite the higher gas prices.
The organization’s travel forecast shows a subtle uptick in domestic travel this year, which could set a new Memorial Day weekend record with 39.1 million people traveling by car and 3.66 million expected to travel by plane.
Americans are likely to travel at least 50 miles from home between May 21 and May 25.
Analysts from fuel-savings platform GasBuddy also predict an uptick in travel and the costs associated with that travel over the upcoming weekend.
“This is the most volatile summer at the pump in years, and the Strait of Hormuz closure is at the center of it,” Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said in a statement. “Americans are going to pay billions more to get where they’re going this summer, and even after the Strait reopens, it could take a year or more for gas prices to fully recover.”
In its 2026 pre-Memorial Day survey, GasBuddy found that 56% of Americans plan to hit the road at some point during the summer, starting with Memorial Day and ending with Labor Day in the fall.
“Cost is now the dominant travel consideration, cited by 53% of respondents as a top priority, with 67% saying gas prices are directly impacting their driving plans and 36% saying rising costs are causing them to take fewer road trips altogether,” the company’s analysts wrote.
Highest average gas prices ever?
The record for the highest average price of a regular gallon of gas was set on June 14, 2022, with a national average of just over $5 during the early months of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The highest recorded average gallon of diesel, $5.816, came just five days later on June 19, 2022.
Trump looks to cut gas prices
President Donald Trump said last week he wants to suspend the federal gas tax amid soaring prices at the pump.
Trump told CBS News in a phone interview he would like to pause the federal 18.4 cents a gallon tax on gasoline and 24.4 cents a gallon tax on diesel “for a period of time.”
However, suspending the federal gas tax would require an act of Congress.
Back in March, Democratic Senators Mark Kelly and Richard Blumenthal introduced legislation to suspend the federal gas tax through Oct. 1.
Following Trump’s comments on Monday, Republican Senator Josh Hawley said he would also be introducing legislation to suspend the gas tax.
For every gallon of gasoline sold in the U.S., 18.4 cents is federally taxed, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That tax amount has been in place since 1993.
The majority of states impose an additional tax on fuel. The average total sales taxes per gallon, as of July 2024, were 32.61 cents on gasoline and 34.76 cents on diesel. Several states have recently suspended or have considered suspending their taxes to alleviate the price amid high gas prices.
Indiana and Georgia have both temporarily removed their gas taxes in response to the war’s impact on prices.
Earlier this month, Indiana Gov. Mike Braun suspended his state’s 36-cent excise tax on gas for 30 days. Georgia has been doing without its gas tax since March, after Gov. Brian Kemp suspended its 33-cent excise tax for 60 days.