Gas Prices in California Today

In the EIA’s July 2026 (revised August 2026) table of motor fuel taxes, California’s state taxes and fees on gasoline total 73.6¢ a gallon, the highest of the 50 states and D.C. The 51-jurisdiction average is 33.8¢, and the federal tax adds 18.4¢ everywhere. The excise portion is adjusted every July 1 for inflation under a 2017 state law. The EIA notes that California gasoline also carries the cost of the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard and cap-and-trade program, which are not taxes and are not included in that figure.

California requires its own gasoline formulation, known as CARB gasoline, statewide and all year. It is cleaner-burning than federal reformulated gasoline, and few refineries outside the state make it routinely. No pipeline connects California to refineries in other regions, so when an in-state refinery has an outage, replacement supply has to come by tanker. Two refineries have closed recently: Phillips 66 stopped processing crude at its Los Angeles-area plant in October 2025, and Valero finished idling its Benicia refinery in April 2026. Together they accounted for about 17 percent of the state’s refining capacity.

That supply structure shows in the weekly data. In the week of October 8, 2012, after a power outage at the ExxonMobil Torrance refinery, California’s average rose 48.3¢ while the U.S. average rose 4.6¢. In the week of October 3, 2022, during another round of refinery problems, California rose 59.8¢ and the U.S. 7.1¢. In both cases the governor directed state regulators to allow early sales of cheaper winter-blend gasoline.

California’s seasonal pattern also differs from the other eight weekly states. Averaged over 2004–2025, its price is lowest in January (10.4% below the year’s average) and highest in May and June (5.3% above), like most states, but it stays about 3% above average through September and October. In the other eight states, October is within 3% of the annual average, and usually within 1%.

California was 2nd-cheapest in 1985, 1990 and 1991, and its least favourable ranking, 49th-cheapest (3rd-most-expensive), came in 2004 and in each year from 2012 to 2024. The 1990 average was $1.07, and the 2020 average was $2.98, when the rank was 49th-cheapest.

The 1980 rank was 46th-cheapest at $1.27, against 10th-cheapest (tied) at $0.35 in 1970. The 2000 rank was 40th-cheapest at $1.55, and the 2010 rank was 48th-cheapest at $2.99.

For 2024 the annual average was $4.42, which is $4.54 in constant 2025 dollars. The U.S. average was $3.29, and California averaged $1.13 above it. Among the 50 states and D.C., California ranked 49th-cheapest that year, or 3rd-most-expensive.

Each of the 3 bordering states averaged less than California in 2024, and the count was 3 of 3. Oregon, at $4.06, had the highest average of them, and California averaged 36.2¢ above Oregon. Nevada was at $3.96, with California 46.4¢ above. Arizona, at $3.80, had the lowest average of the three, with California 62.0¢ above.

The peak annual average was $5.15 in 2022, equal to $5.67 in constant 2025 dollars, and that was also the year of the $1.25 gap above the U.S. The weekly regular price reached $6.27 in the week of June 13, 2022. The lowest constant-dollar annual average was $2.21 in 1998. In 1991 California averaged 9.4¢ below the U.S., and in 1974 its annual average rose 45.1%.