Energy

Only 6 States Have Gas Prices Below $2

Douglas A. McIntyre

Published: May 9, 2016 10:00 am

Last Updated: January 13, 2020 9:42 am

As oil prices rise, and the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline reaches $2.21 (against $2.04 a month ago), only six states still have gas prices below $2.

According to GasBuddy, those states are Oklahoma ($1.92), Missouri ($1.97), Kansas ($1.97), Louisiana ($1.98), Texas ($1.99) and Arkansas ($1.99). All of them are oil-rich states or relatively near clusters of refineries, like the huge ones south of Houston on the Gulf of Mexico.

Oil production by state alone does not mean low gas prices. Both gas taxes and proximity to refineries do. The average price for a gallon of regular in Alaska is $2.45. Most of its gasoline comes from refineries hundreds of miles to its south. The high price in Alaska is despite the state having the lowest taxes and levies in the nation at $0.3065 per gallon. The national average for these taxes and levies is $0.4865.

Among states with gas prices below $2, the gas taxes are less than the national average, according to the American Petroleum Institute. The taxes in Oklahoma are fourth lowest in the nation at $0.354 a gallon. In Missouri, they are fifth lowest at $0.357, and in Kansas $0.4242.

With oil prices above $45 a barrel, compared to $30 earlier in the year, gas prices in all states likely will be above $2 soon, and in some states the price is moving toward $3. In California, the price is already above $2.81.

GasBuddy’s methodology:

With an army of more than 30 million users updating fuel prices throughout the United States and Canada and on-staff experts to interpret what it all means, no other source offers better insight, benchmarks and analysis than GasBuddy. More than 100,000 stations are seeing multiple price updates each and every day.

The GasBuddy Media site is designed to provide the press with multiple indices, rankings, and comparisons in one convenient location. Whether you cover fuel prices at the local, regional, or national level, no other site offers more insight at a glance than GasBuddy.