In most states, the cost of filling up increased over the past week, but as with most things, the pain was not spread equitably.
Since the start of the month, the average price of a gallon of gasoline has risen 9 cents to $2.56, up 39 cents from a year ago, the AAA said Monday.
But just how much filling up sets one back comes down to where you live, with residents of Alabama paying the least, or an average of $2.26 a gallon, followed by motorists in Mississippi, where gas is a penny higher, at $2.27 on average, then South Carolina, where a gallon averages $2.29, and Louisiana, at $2.30.
The state with the fifth cheapest gas prices at $2.31 a gallon is Arkansas, followed by Texas, at $2.31, Virginia, at $2.32, Tennessee, where a gallon will run an average of $2.34, Oklahoma at $2.35 and Missouri at $2.36.
Four states saw double-digit fluctuations at the pump, including Florida’s 13-cent rise and Indiana’s 13-cent drop. In Alaska, prices jumped 12 cents and in Ohio they fell 10 cents.
The November spike in Florida comes in the aftermath of reports of price-gouging across the state in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.
Other states with noteworthy changes include 7-cent increases in both Georgia and Oregon, and 6-cent hikes in North Carolina, Texas and South Carolina. In Illinois, the average declined 6 cents.
Underlying factors to fuel costs include strong fall consumer gasoline demand that continued into November and is cutting the nation’s gasoline inventory, AAA said, citing the latest report from the Energy Information Administration, which found total gasoline inventories dropped by 3.3 million barrels.
Still, AAA predicts that drivers will have something to be thankful for as the long holiday weekend approaches.
“While November gas prices have come in like a lion, AAA expects them to go out like a lamb,” Jeanette Casselano, AAA spokesperson, said in a statement.