GasBuddy published its annual Labor Day gas price forecast for the nation and is reporting that pump prices will be the lowest since 2020.
Heading out on one last summer road trip? 🚗 Prices at the pump this Labor Day are expected to be $3.15/gal on average; 14c/gal lower than on the holiday weekend last year.
— GasBuddy (@GasBuddy) August 26, 2025
Are you hitting the road this weekend? Comment below! 👇 pic.twitter.com/YV1ch8MXEa
They would probably be lower, says the outlet, except that "gas prices in nearly half of all states have risen in the last month due to localized refinery outages."
Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said, “Labor Day marks the unofficial end of summer, and when it comes to gas prices, it’s been the cheapest summer to hit the road since the pandemic, a trend that will likely continue with the potential for the national average to fall below $3 per gallon this fall."
“We’ve seen a remarkably affordable summer to hit the road with incomes up and gas prices down, but there are some challenges that remain: hurricane season and uncertainty over trade, tariffs, and Russia’s war on Ukraine. However, I remain optimistic that as cooler weather invades, gas prices, too, will seasonally cool off," De Haan added.
Unfortunately, not all states and localities will see the price relief on gas. Traveling to and around Chicago is a lot more expensive this summer.
Getting there is pricey, because Illinois’ gasoline tax automatically rose in July to 48.3 cents per gallon. Gov. J.B. Pritzker boosted the gas tax from 19 cents in 2019 and added automatic inflation bumps so state lawmakers would never again need to vote on the unpopular taxes.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker doubled the state's gasoline tax from 19 cents in 2019 and added automatic annual increases. The state motor fuel tax increased to 48.3 cents on July 1.
The retail price per gallon averaged $3.49 in Illinois, compared to about $2.85 in Missouri and Iowa, about $3.05 in Wisconsin and $3.29 in Indiana.
The difference is taxes, with Illinois charging the nation’s second-highest rate.
Meanwhile, California Gov. Gavin Newsom is scoring Donald Trump for the president's criticism of California gas prices. Trump guessed the price at "$6-$7 a gallon."
Newsom really doesn't understand the comedy in this statement.
Despite a concerted misinformation campaign driven by Republicans – from the President to state lawmakers – to create confusion around gas prices in California, prices actually remain lower now than they were one week ago, one month ago and one year ago.
As of Tuesday morning, AAA reported the statewide average price of a gallon of gasoline to be $4.51. This is four cents lower than a week ago, 14 cents lower than a month ago and 24 cents lower than a year ago.
The rest of the country pays around $3 a gallon, and many red states sell gas for under that. Newsom is criticizing Trump for minimally exaggerating the burden on California drivers while not realizing how Trump was parodying the fact that California gas prices are a dollar more than almost every other state.
Perhaps we should ask California drivers if they'd rather pay $4.50 a gallon or $3.00?
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