

A station near the highway will probably charge you a pretty penny for gas, while one down the road might be cheaper. Get away from the highway - Gas is usually more expensive near the interstate because real estate prices are higher than they are a few miles down the road.Go to the next page and we'll tell you how. One station might pay a higher rent than another or one gas station might have problems with its supplier. Even gas stations that are in the same neighborhood, or on the same road, can have radically different prices because traffic patterns might be different. Gas prices are also more expensive in areas that have fewer gas stations. In addition, oil refineries, which process crude oil into gasoline, are located in that region. That's because the Gulf Coast is the source of about 26 percent of the gasoline produced in the United States. That's why gas prices along the Gulf Coast are cheaper than gas prices in, say, Idaho. In addition, gas is usually more expensive farther from the source.


State gasoline taxes are one reason for the price difference. Easy enough to understand, right? But why are prices sometimes radically different in the same neighborhood or even on the same street?įor one thing, the retail price of gasoline is often higher in some states than others. Even when crude oil prices are stable, gas prices will change if something disrupts the supply. The price at the pump is chiefly affected by crude oil prices and the vagaries of supply and demand.
