Economic News
GasBuddy Data Shows Gas Prices Continue to Rise Nationwide
With more Americans hitting the road once again, motorists may be noticing rising gasoline prices. In fact, new data from the gas price tracking tool GasBuddy shows that the average price at the pump increased yet again last week. According to the latest figures compiled by the app (using data collected from more than 150,000 stations across the nation), the average gas price climbed to $3.18 per gallon. With this increase, the average price is now 3.5¢ higher than where it was last month. Moreover, prices have increased by $1.02 when compared to this time last year. Meanwhile, prices for diesel fuel have also increased, climbing 2¢ this week to reach an average of $3.29 per gallon.
Although $3.18 was the mean gas price, the most common gas price consumers encountered was $2.99 per gallon and the median price per gallon was a nearly identical $3.00. Elsewhere, the average cost per gallon among the most expensive 10% of stations came in at $4.23. On the other end, the week saw an average price of $2.71 among the cheapest 10% of stations.
Looking at specific states, the most expensive gas prices were found in California, Nevada, and Hawaii. In the Golden State, the average cost per gallon was a whopping $4.37 while Nevada and Hawaii also topped the four-dollar mark with a $4.04 average. As for the states with the lowest average prices, Mississippi edged out Louisana and Texas to claim the title. The Magnolia State’s average price came in at $2.77 per gallon followed by $2.79 in Louisana and $2.82 in Texas.
Despite prices rising slightly this week, there’s reason to believe that the trend could soon be turning. As GasBuddy’s head of petroleum analysis Patrick De Haan explains, “Motorists have seen average gas prices edge slightly higher over the last week, even as the price of oil saw selling pressure. This leads me to believe that the tide may soon turn on gas prices, so long as we don’t see hurricanes target the country.” De Haan continued, “In addition, GasBuddy data showed a decline in gasoline demand last week as we inch towards the end of the summer driving season, a time when demand softens. With the factors that drive prices higher now softening, I’m hopeful that in the next few weeks, we’ll start to see average gas prices declining.” That said, he warns that drivers will likely need to wait for these lower prices, noting, “[L]arger declines will likely not come until late September and October, as we transition back to cheaper winter gasoline.”
Given the unique circumstances that kept gas prices low last year, it’s certainly understandable that the year-over-year figures would show big increases. Of course, there are far more moving parts that ultimately dictate these fluctuations. The good news is that it seems some relief may be on the way as summer fades. In the meantime, drivers can monitor gas prices and navigate to the cheapest stations using such tools as GasBuddy and earn rewards on gas purchases using various credit cards.
