(NewsNation) — For the first time ever, the average price for a gallon of gasoline has topped $4 in every state in the U.S.
The national average for a gallon of unleaded is now $4.59, up more than $1.55 from a year ago. Soaring crude oil prices are to blame.
Even the usual pockets of low prices like Georgia and South Carolina haven’t been able to weather this storm, with pump prices rocketing up daily. With Memorial Day weekend coming, one of the biggest driving holidays, prices are likely to only get higher.
To put it in context: Gasoline last year put a $2,800 hole in the average family’s household budget, and that was with already-high prices. This year, estimates are that gas bill will skyrocket to $5,000. Even with rising wages nationwide, an extra $2,200 is going to make a difference for a lot of families.
While California has seen per-gallon prices north of $6/gallon frequently for a while, even as high as $7.29/gallon at a station in Beverly Hills, JP Morgan is predicting that the entire country will see the $6/gallon mark by later this year, possibly even as early as August. In the shorter term, GasBuddy expects the $5/gallon mark to fall over Memorial Day weekend.
Truckers aren’t catching any breaks, either, with diesel fuel used to keep the nation’s freight moving topping an average of $5.57/gallon, up 76% from last year. That, of course, translates into additional cost for anything transported by truck.
GasBuddy’s Patrick De Haan told NewsNation, “Both of those are heading in the wrong direction, but gasoline prices are moving more in an upward direction than diesel.”
Whatever you drive and wherever you’re going, it’s simply going to be more expensive to get there for the foreseeable future if you’re traveling in a gas-powered vehicle.