At a national average of just $2.28 a gallon, today’s gas prices are far lower right now than is typical for the height of summer.
Prices have been below their historic averages for weeks, hitting a low of $2.23 in June, with nearly six in 10 gas stations in the U.S. currently selling gas for $2.25 a gallon or less.
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Gas prices remain the highest on the West Coast, with drivers in Hawaii paying the most ($3.05) to fill up their tanks. Drivers in California have the second-highest price per gallon ($2.91), followed by Washington ($2.81) and Alaska ($2.78).
The cheapest gas is mostly in the South, with drivers in South Carolina paying an average of $1.98 a gallon. While prices in Missouri remain relatively low ($2.07), they saw the biggest weekly increase, with prices going up by a nickel on average.
However, the honeymoon for drivers may be over soon. A new forecast from AAA indicates that gap prices could go higher than $2.32 on average by next week, and continue increasing through Labor Day.
The projected higher prices reflect potentially record-setting demand through the end of the summer. The result could be prices that top $2.42 a gallon, the high for 2017 so far.
AAA forecasts that prices will moderate once summer’s over, with average prices for the second half of the year below $2.25. In the first half of the year, prices averaged $2.32 per gallon.
