How do gas prices in your state stack up against the rest of the country? Business Insider created an interactive map so you can find out.
Gas prices have been climbing steadily since late February.
The national average was $2.98 a gallon on February 27, according to AAA, and surged over $4 by March 31. By mid-May, average prices were over $4.50.
So far, states on the West Coast have been hit the hardest by rising gas prices. California’s average first topped $6 a gallon on April 30.
Some central states like Oklahoma and Kansas have consistently posted the lowest averages during the recent spike.
The differences are stark — but prices have risen dramatically in every state.
Analysts say several factors are driving the increase. Blockades by the US and Iran in the Strait of Hormuz — a key global oil transit route that carries an estimated 20% of the world’s oil — have raised global supply concerns.
Spring typically brings a switch to a more expensive summer fuel blend, and recent American Midwest refinery outages have also tightened supply in the Great Lakes region.
Those pressures are pushing prices higher even as the US remains the world’s largest oil producer, in part because oil is traded globally.
“The same oil we rely on can be moved anywhere in the world, and we’re seeing exports at record levels,” Patrick De Haan, a fuel market expert at GasBuddy, told Business Insider. “This is capitalism. When you put your house on the market, you’re not like ‘Yay, I’m going to take the cheapest bid.'”
The supply and geopolitical pressures could keep prices elevated for months — though there’s still significant uncertainty. De Haan said there’s a “huge range” of potential summer gasoline prices, with a national average of anywhere from $3.50 to $5.50 a gallon.
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