Rhode Island Gas Prices This Week

In the EIA’s July 2026 (revised August 2026) table of motor fuel taxes, Rhode Island’s state taxes and fees on gasoline total 41.1¢ a gallon, the 11th-highest of the 50 states and D.C. The 51-jurisdiction average is 33.8¢, and the federal tax adds 18.4¢ everywhere. Since 2014, state law has adjusted the rate every two years for inflation. It rose to 40¢ on July 1, 2025, and is set to stay there through June 30, 2027, after which the two-year inflation adjustments resume. An environmental protection fee adds 1¢.

Rhode Island has no refineries. Its gasoline arrives by tanker and barge at terminals on the Port of Providence, part of the marine supply system the EIA describes for New England. The EPA lists the whole state as a federal reformulated-gasoline area.

In the EIA’s annual state series, Rhode Island’s average gap to the U.S. figure was 4.2¢ above in the 1980s, 11.9¢ above in the 1990s, 8.7¢ above in the 2000s, 11.5¢ above in the 2010s, and 6.2¢ above in 2020–2024. It ranked 45th-cheapest of 51 in 1990, 44th in 2000, and 38th in 2024. Its inflation-adjusted peak is 2012, at $5.25 in 2025 dollars, on a nominal average of $3.74, 19.7¢ above the U.S. figure. The highest nominal average is $4.03, in 2022, 13.8¢ above the U.S. average. The largest one-year increases were 1980 (39.3%) and 1974 (37.6%); the largest declines were 2015 (29.3%) and 2009 (25.6%).

Rhode Island has no weekly EIA series, so its seasonal pattern is best read from the weekly New England region (PADD 1A): averaged over 2004–2025, 7.7% below the year’s average in January, still 0.5% below in April, and 6.1% above in June.

Rhode Island averaged below the U.S. figure in 11 of 55 years from 1970 to 2024: 1973–1982 and 1984. The largest amount below was 3.4¢ in 1982. In the other 44 of 55 years it averaged above, and the largest amount above was 20.4¢ in 2013.

Its cheapest ranking in any year was 8th-cheapest in 1975, 1976, 1978. It was 31st-cheapest in 1970 and 15th-cheapest in 1980. Its least favourable ranking was 50th-cheapest (2nd-most-expensive) in 1991. It stood 37th-cheapest in 2010, 32nd-cheapest in 2020, and 38th-cheapest in 2024, which is 14th-most-expensive.

The annual average was $0.36 in 1970, $1.22 in 1980, $1.25 in 1990, $1.59 in 2000, $2.83 in 2010, and $2.20 in 2020. In 2024 it was $3.34, against $3.29 for the U.S., putting Rhode Island 5.3¢ above. The 2024 figure in constant 2025 dollars was $3.43. The lowest inflation-adjusted annual average was $2.27 in 1998.

From 2014 to 2024 the average at the pump fell 4.8%, and in constant 2025 dollars it fell 28.2%. The EIA estimates each year after 2010 from the change in the state's region, so the year-to-year moves since 2011 are the region's moves.

In 2024 Connecticut averaged $3.37, with Rhode Island 2.9¢ below it. Massachusetts averaged $3.33, with Rhode Island 1.0¢ above it. Of the 2 bordering states, 1 of 2 averaged less than Rhode Island in 2024.