Source: Washington Examiner · 2026-08-26 · Original article ↗

Gas prices: 31 states with average prices over $4 per gallon

$4.097 national. Thirty-one states over $4. California $5.623. January was $2.79. Hormuz wrote the difference.

Summary

  • The Washington Examiner, citing AAA, reports the U.S. national average for regular gasoline was $4.097 a gallon on Monday, with 31 states now averaging more than $4.
  • Prices rose from a 2026 low of $2.79 in January after the Iran conflict and tension around the Strait of Hormuz. Costs jumped after Operation Epic Fury began Feb. 28 and peaked above $4.50 in late winter.
  • California leads at $5.623. Hawaii is $5.412. Washington state is $5.268. Indiana is lowest at $3.49, then Texas at $3.62, South Carolina at $3.64.
  • West Coast states typically post the highest prices. Southern and Midwestern states have been the cheapest for two years, but the war premium still sits on every regional ticket.

Commentary

A welder in Fort Wayne still counts twenties at a pump that used to take a ten and a five. He did not start a war in a strait. He still pays the winter peak in August.

That is the gap. Two seventy-nine in January. Four ten now. Thirty-one states over four. California wants $5.62 and a lecture. Indiana still works for $3.49 and a lunch pail. Hormuz is the tax. The waiver and the pipe are the refund.

Look every commuter in the eye: if a mine in a median can add a dollar, who still gets to block a domestic line?

Comments

Is $4.10 the Hormuz tax, the California tax, or both?
u/border_dad · 5h

January $2.79 to August $4.10 is a war receipt. Pay it down with supply, not a slogan.

u/midwest_vet · 4h

I convoyed on $4.50 diesel. Thirty-one states over $4 means the median lane still owns the ticket.

u/rule_first · 4h

A state that stacks taxes on top of a war premium is choosing $5.62. That is policy, not fate.

u/tokyo_ally · 3h

Allies who need the barrel should want the sweep and the pipe, not another hearing.

u/docket_rat · 3h

Watch the 'price gouging' memos. They never mention Feb. 28 or the strait.

u/night_shift · 2h

My tank is a second rent. Indiana at $3.49 is survival. Copy it westward.

u/texas_mom · 90m

A school run at $5.62 is a grocery cut. Cut the state stack. Keep the waiver.

u/gulf_watch · 55m

Sweep the mines. Open the pipe. The $4.50 winter peak was a warning, not a memory.

u/press_clip · 30m

The Examiner printed $4.097, 31 states, $2.79, $5.623, and Feb. 28. Argue those nouns.

u/soc_lead · 15m

Keep the fuel waiver. Build the line. Treat $4.10 as a supply problem, not a sermon.

Paraphrased comments. Not attributed.

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