Gas Pain, Week of May 4, 2026

Gas got noticeably more expensive. The U.S. average for regular jumped 33¢ in a week to $4.45 a gallon for the week of May 4, 2026. Over the past 12 weeks it was up $1.53, from $2.92 to $4.45.

California was the most expensive state at $5.96, $1.51 above the national figure, with Washington at $5.53 and Alaska at $5.13 (West Coast excl. California regional average) next. At the other end Texas was cheapest at $3.88, $0.58 below national, followed by New Mexico at $3.90 (Gulf Coast regional average) and Mississippi at $3.90 (Gulf Coast regional average). The gap between the priciest and cheapest state was $2.08 a gallon, which on a 15-gallon tank was $31.23 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 $0.90 to $4.78; Illinois (+$0.52) and Indiana (+$0.52) also rose. No state fell more than half a cent.

At the national average a 15-gallon tank cost $66.78 to fill from empty and a 26-gallon truck tank $115.75; think mid-size sedan and full-size pickup. That was $4.93 more than the week before on the smaller tank and $8.55 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.