Gas Prices Are Dropping — Just in Time for Holiday Road Trips

Currently, there are about 20 states with an average price of gas below $3 per gallon.

‘Tis the season for saving money at the pump as gas prices continue to fall ahead of the holidays.

The national average price of gas fell to $3.14 per gallon this week, according to AAA, a 12 cent drop compared to last week and a significant decrease from the summer when gas reached an all-time high in the United States. Now, there are about 20 states with an average price below $3 per gallon.

“The cost of oil, gasoline’s main ingredient, has been hovering in the low-to-mid $70s per barrel, and that’s $50 less than the peak last Spring,” Andrew Gross, a AAA spokesperson, said in a statement. “Combined with low seasonal demand, gas prices could slide a bit more before leveling off.”

The least expensive state to fill the car up in is Texas, where the average is $2.62 per gallon, followed by Oklahoma with an average of $2.64 per gallon, Arkansas with an average of $2.69 per gallon, Missouri with an average of $2.71 per gallon, and Mississippi with an average of $2.74 per gallon.

The lower gas prices come as 112.7 million people are expected to travel for the holidays from Dec. 23 through Jan. 2. Of those, nearly 102 million of them are planning to drive.

While many people are expected to travel this week, winter in general tends to translate to fewer people on the roads due to shorter days and bad weather, according to AAA.

At its peak over the summer, the average price of a gallon of gas reached as high as $5.014 nationally with 21 states and Washington, D.C. all seeing more than $5 per gallon at the pump. At the time, gas even topped more than $6 per gallon in California.

Today, the national average price is 54 cents less than a month ago and 16 cents less than a year ago.

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