Gas Pain, Week of February 23, 2026

The U.S. average for regular gasoline edged up 1¢ to $2.94 a gallon for the week of February 23, 2026. Over the past 12 weeks it had finished exactly where it started.

California was the most expensive state at $4.44, $1.50 above the national figure, with Washington at $4.14 and Alaska at $3.72 (West Coast excl. California regional average) next. At the other end New Mexico was cheapest at $2.53 (Gulf Coast regional average), $0.40 below national, followed by Mississippi at $2.53 (Gulf Coast regional average) and Louisiana at $2.53 (Gulf Coast regional average). The gap between the priciest and cheapest state was $1.91 a gallon, which on a 15-gallon tank was $28.63 for the same fill. The ranking counts all 50 states, with the regional average standing in wherever EIA publishes no state figure.

Ohio climbed the most, up $0.17 to $2.89; Washington (+$0.13) and Alaska (+$0.11) also rose. Colorado fell the most, down $0.12 to $2.58; Idaho (−$0.08) and Montana (−$0.08) also fell.

At the national average a 15-gallon tank cost $44.05 to fill from empty and a 26-gallon truck tank $76.36; think mid-size sedan and full-size pickup. That was $0.19 more than the week before on the smaller tank and $0.34 on the larger one. Of the ten states at the extremes, 8 were shown at a regional average, because EIA publishes a weekly state figure for only 9 states and the rest take the average of their PADD region. Every figure here was from EIA's weekly retail gasoline series for that week.