Gas Pain, Week of March 9, 2026

Gas got noticeably more expensive. The U.S. average for regular jumped 49¢ in a week to $3.50 a gallon for the week of March 9, 2026. Over the past 12 weeks it was up $0.66, from $2.84 to $3.50.

California was the most expensive state at $5.09, $1.59 above the national figure, with Washington at $4.52 and Alaska at $4.21 (West Coast excl. California regional average) next. At the other end New Mexico was cheapest at $3.11 (Gulf Coast regional average), $0.39 below national, followed by Mississippi at $3.11 (Gulf Coast regional average) and Louisiana at $3.11 (Gulf Coast regional average). The gap between the priciest and cheapest state was $1.98 a gallon, which on a 15-gallon tank was $29.76 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 $0.69 to $3.46; Colorado (+$0.63) and Florida (+$0.63) also rose. No state fell more than half a cent.

At the national average a 15-gallon tank cost $52.53 to fill from empty and a 26-gallon truck tank $91.05; think mid-size sedan and full-size pickup. That was $7.30 more than the week before on the smaller tank and $12.66 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.