Gas Pain, Week of April 20, 2026

Relief at the pump this week. The U.S. average for regular fell 8¢ to $4.04 a gallon for the week of April 20, 2026, the kind of drop that shows on the first fill of the week. Over the past 12 weeks it was up $1.18, from $2.87 to $4.04.

California was the most expensive state at $5.65, $1.60 above the national figure, with Washington at $5.22 and Alaska at $4.93 (West Coast excl. California regional average) next. At the other end Texas was cheapest at $3.59, $0.46 below national, followed by New Mexico at $3.62 (Gulf Coast regional average) and Mississippi at $3.62 (Gulf Coast regional average). The gap between the priciest and cheapest state was $2.06 a gallon, which on a 15-gallon tank was $30.91 for the same fill. The ranking counts all 50 states, with the regional average standing in wherever EIA publishes no state figure.

Colorado climbed the most, up $0.13 to $3.81; Idaho (+$0.04) and Montana (+$0.04) also rose. Ohio fell the most, down $0.17 to $3.68; Texas (−$0.15) and Alabama (−$0.12) also fell.

At the national average a 15-gallon tank cost $60.66 to fill from empty and a 26-gallon truck tank $105.14; think mid-size sedan and full-size pickup. That was $1.19 less than the week before on the smaller tank and $2.05 on the larger one. Of the ten states at the extremes, 7 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.