Gas Pain, Week of March 16, 2026

Gas got noticeably more expensive. The U.S. average for regular jumped 22¢ in a week to $3.72 a gallon for the week of March 16, 2026. Over the past 12 weeks it was up $0.91, from $2.81 to $3.72.

California was the most expensive state at $5.38, $1.66 above the national figure, with Washington at $4.79 and Alaska at $4.52 (West Coast excl. California regional average) next. At the other end Wisconsin was cheapest at $3.39 (Midwest regional average), $0.33 below national, followed by Tennessee at $3.39 (Midwest regional average) and South Dakota at $3.39 (Midwest regional average). The gap between the priciest and cheapest state was $1.99 a gallon, which on a 15-gallon tank was $29.85 for the same fill. The ranking counts all 50 states, with the regional average standing in wherever EIA publishes no state figure.

Idaho climbed the most, up $0.38 to $3.64; Montana (+$0.38) and Utah (+$0.38) also rose. Ohio fell the most, down $0.06 to $3.41.

At the national average a 15-gallon tank cost $55.80 to fill from empty and a 26-gallon truck tank $96.72; think mid-size sedan and full-size pickup. That was $3.27 more than the week before on the smaller tank and $5.67 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.