A record 45 million Americans are expected to travel at least 50 miles over Memorial Day weekend, according to AAA, with 87% of those travelers driving to their destinations. The figure surpasses the 44.8 million who traveled over the holiday in 2025 and the 42.8 million who did so in 2019, even as drivers face the highest Memorial Day weekend gasoline prices in four years.
AAA’s national average for regular gasoline sits at $4.552 today, slightly off Thursday’s 2026 peak of $4.564 but still the highest Memorial Day weekend level since 2022, when the national average reached $4.61. The current price is $1.38 above the same time last year and roughly 53% above the pre-conflict February baseline of $2.96.
GasBuddy’s summer modeling, released Friday morning, points to a nationwide per-gallon average of $4.80 across the full stretch of the summer driving season. Should the Hormuz closure drag on well into summer, analysts warn the record pump price of $5.02 a gallon — last touched in June 2022 — could come back into range, according to CBS News reporting Friday.
Research from Brown University’s Climate Solutions Lab puts the cumulative gasoline burden on U.S. households since the Iran war began at roughly $24 billion, or close to $200 per household on average. The figure quantifies the consumer cost of the Persian Gulf supply disruption that began February 28 and has now reached its thirteenth week.
Regional dispersion remains wide. California leads the high end at $6.143 per gallon, followed by Washington at $5.77 and Hawaii at $5.64. Six states currently average above $5 per gallon. The cheapest pump markets are Oklahoma at $3.94, Mississippi at $3.98, and Louisiana at $4.00. Only Oklahoma and Mississippi average below $4 per gallon nationwide.
The EIA reported Wednesday that gasoline demand edged up last week from 8.75 million barrels per day to 8.76 million. Total domestic gasoline supply fell from 215.7 million barrels to 214.2 million. Gasoline production declined, averaging 9.3 million barrels per day. The combination — rising demand, falling supply, declining production — signals continued upward pressure on retail prices into the heart of summer.
President Trump told CBS News earlier this week he wants to suspend the federal 18.4-cent-per-gallon gasoline tax “for a period of time,” adding that once prices fall he would “let it phase back in.” Whether the suspension materializes — and whether it would meaningfully offset the structural supply-side pressure on retail prices — remains an open question.
Continuing coverage: Gas Prices by State · Oil Prices · Geopolitics.