If you’re feeling sticker shock at the pump, it’s not without reason.

See where the national average price-per-gallon sits at today.¹

From May 2021 to May 2022, overall gasoline prices rose 48.7% according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.²

And Empower proprietary data shows that consumers spent 35% more per transaction during that same time period.*

Cost of inflation

The thing about inflation is this: Not all industries have been impacted the same. Overall, consumer inflation was up 8.6% in May 2022.

The price of medical care services, for instance, was up by 4% while the cost of airline fares surged by 37.8%.³Gas prices, further exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, are high compared to the year prior.⁴

The good news? Given the rise of remote work, not everyone feels the pinch on their overall budget. For remote workers, the pandemic may have offered both an incentive and an opportunity to cut costs.

The bad news? For workers who have to commute every day, it probably stings.

U.S. gas prices

To draw a comparison, we took a look at gas prices using data from AAA. National average prices from June 2022 are:⁵

• Regular unleaded: $4.113
• Mid-grade: $4.561
• Premium: $4.856
• Diesel: $5.193
• E85: $3.386

For comparison, in June 2021, the national average prices were:

• Regular unleaded: $3.075
• Mid-grade: $3.422
• Premium: $3.692
• Diesel: $3.217
• E85: $2.584

As you can see, the average national gas price is over $1 more than it was the year prior.

So how does your state compare to the rest of the nation? Check out the full list below (as of June 2022).

Average gas prices by state

Highest and lowest spend by state

That’s just the cost per gallon. Looking at Empower Personal Dashboard^TM users, we examined how much people are spending every time they fuel up. Costs vary widely by state.*

Here are the 10 states with the highest and lowest expenditures during each visit to a gas station in May 2022.

“There are many factors that can go into gas prices,” says Daniel Goldfarb, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional. “In states with lower gas prices, it’s possible that there is less demand or it’s easier to transport the gas in those states.”

He says that in places where gas is the most expensive, it’s a combination of various factors.

“In California, there is a large population with high demand, and the fuel taxes in that state are also set higher than other states,” he says. “Consumers are often unaware of how high the percentage is that they pay for taxes in each gallon that they purchase at the fuel pump. Alaska is another state with increased delivery costs; therefore, the state has higher gas prices to offset these additional costs.”