BALTIMORE, MD—As motorists hit the road for the July 4 holiday weekend, the nation’s average price of gasoline has fallen 4.1 cents from a week ago, declining to $3.54 per gallon, 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 price of diesel has fallen 3.4 cents in the last week and stands at $3.80 per gallon.

“Just ahead of Independence Day, the national average has fallen to its lowest level since late April, with oil prices remaining under considerable pressure due to a cloudy outlook for the global economy. We could see gasoline prices under some additional pressure soon, especially as we head into the closing innings of summer next month,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.

“For now, gasoline demand will likely ramp up as we enter the peak of the summer, with millions of Americans set to take to the roads with some of the season’s lowest average gasoline prices,” DeHaan added. “At the halfway point of the year, the national average is right at the level we anticipated for a full-year average. While that’s good news, I believe we may see prices close out the second half of the year below our expectations. This would be welcome news for motorists as the national average could fall below $3 per gallon this fall.”

The most common U.S. gas price encountered by motorists stood at $3.19 per gallon, down 10 cents from last week, followed by $3.29, $3.49, $3.39, and $3.09 rounding out the top five most common prices. The median U.S. gas price is $3.39 per gallon, unchanged from last week and about 11 cents lower than the national average. The top 10% of stations in the country average $4.78 per gallon, while the bottom 10% average $2.99 per gallon. The states with the lowest average prices: Mississippi ($2.93), Louisiana ($3.03), and Tennessee ($3.05). The states with the highest average prices: Washington ($4.92), California ($4.79), and Hawaii ($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