Photo: Tony Webster / CC BY 2.0 (2024)
Americans are voting with the national average price of regular gasoline near $4.15 a gallon, the highest nominal level recorded on a congressional Election Day, according to AAA. Prices have eased over the past week but remain well above a year ago.
AAA’s November 3 price table put regular gasoline at $4.1493 a gallon nationally, compared with $4.2661 a week earlier and $3.0360 a year earlier. The Washington gas station pictured above is a May 2024 archive image; its sign does not show today’s prices.
In a Tuesday release, AAA Oregon/Idaho said the previous congressional Election Day high was about $3.80 a gallon in 2022. The comparison is in dollars paid at the time, without an inflation adjustment.
An Election Day record, not an all-time peak
The date-specific record does not mean gasoline has never cost more. AAA lists its all-time national regular-gasoline high at $5.0165 a gallon on June 14, 2022, substantially above Tuesday’s average. Nor does the Election Day comparison establish a record after accounting for inflation.
Different price trackers also produce slightly different readings. The Hill reported a GasBuddy average of about $4.11 Tuesday afternoon and cited a roughly $3.75 comparison for Election Day 2022. Those figures should not be mixed with AAA’s series; both accounts describe unusually high Election Day pump costs, not an all-time gasoline record.
Using AAA’s figures, a 15-gallon purchase at the national average costs about $62.24, compared with about $45.54 a year earlier. That is roughly $16.70 more for the same quantity, although the actual bill depends on the station, fuel grade and local taxes.
Recent relief has not erased the increase
AAA Oregon/Idaho attributed the latest weekly decline to less expensive winter-blend gasoline, refinery maintenance winding down and the seasonal drop in demand. Its public affairs director, Marie Dodds, said: “Filling up is packing less of a punch to family budgets as fuel prices fall.” She cautioned that elevated crude costs limit how far pump prices can decline.
The organization said the national average was $2.98 on February 28, when the U.S. and Israel launched airstrikes against Iran. It linked ongoing oil-market volatility to the conflict and shipping disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz, alongside the usual seasonal forces that affect refining and demand.
Diesel remains another source of pressure for businesses that move goods. AAA’s Tuesday table showed a national average of $6.2875 a gallon, down from $6.3521 a week earlier but up from $3.6800 a year earlier. That raises the fuel bill for users of diesel even as prices retreat from recent highs.
National averages also mask large regional differences. AAA Oregon/Idaho’s November 3 state table put California at about $5.89 for regular gasoline and North Carolina at about $3.38. A national headline therefore does not describe what every motorist pays.
The figures add a concrete household expense to the Election Day cost-of-living debate. They do not establish how any voter will cast a ballot or what effect fuel prices will have on the outcome. For drivers and businesses, the immediate question is whether the recent decline continues despite the risks to oil supplies.
JBizNews Desk | New York
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