BALTIMORE, MD—For the first time in several weeks, the nation’s average price of gasoline has inched up, rising 0.4 cents from a week ago to $3.51 per gallon this week, according to GasBuddy data compiled from more than 11 million individual price reports covering over 150,000 gas stations across the country.

The national average is down 14.9 cents from a month ago and 95.6 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has fallen 4.0 cents in the last week and stands at $3.97 per gallon, $1.59 lower than one year ago.

“With oil prices bouncing back over $70 per barrel after reaching as low as $66 in early May, we’ve seen gasoline prices move higher in some states, while others have continued to decline- the national average has seen little change as a result, but overall, gasoline prices continue to see significant relief from year-ago levels,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.

“We’re likely to soon see gasoline prices slip to their largest year-on-year deficit since Covid hit, when prices fell over $1 per gallon from 2019,” De Haan added. “So the relief at the pump has been significant, and even though the gas price decline hit pause last week, it’s looking more likely that, barring a major hurricane or series of refinery outages, the national average may not end up hitting the $4 per gallon mark—something that will make most motorists very happy. For those in Arizona that have seen gas prices spike during the spring, significant relief is starting and should even accelerate over the weeks ahead.”

The most common U.S. gas price encountered by motorists stood at $3.29 per gallon, down 10 cents from last week, followed by $3.39, $3.19, $3.09, and $3.49 rounding out the top five most common prices. The median U.S. gas price is $3.39 per gallon, up 2 cents from last week and about 12 cents lower than the national average. The top 10% of stations in the country average $4.74 per gallon, while the bottom 10% average $2.92 per gallon. The states with the lowest average prices: Mississippi ($2.94), Louisiana ($3.02), and Alabama ($3.05). The states with the highest average prices: California ($4.75), Hawaii ($4.73), and Arizona ($4.67).

See previous gas price reports here

In the Baltimore metro area, the cheapest gas this week could be found at the following locations:

Photo via Pixabay