West Virginia Gas Tax

West Virginia’s motor fuel excise has two parts, both collected at the terminal rack. The flat component is 20.5¢ a gallon. The variable component is set each year at 5 percent of the average wholesale price of motor fuel, but the law does not let it fall below 15.2¢. The EIA table lists that second part separately, labeled as a sales tax, which is why most of West Virginia’s total appears outside the excise column.

The Tax Division recalculates the variable rate annually for the calendar year. For January 1 through December 31, 2026, it set the variable rate at 15.2¢, the minimum, so the combined rate for 2026 is 35.7¢. The variable rate would rise above the floor only if average wholesale prices climbed past about $3.04 a gallon, the level at which 5 percent exceeds 15.2¢.

In the EIA’s July 2026 (revised August 2026) table, West Virginia’s state taxes and fees total 35.7¢ a gallon, tied for the 16th-highest of the 50 states and D.C., against a 51-jurisdiction average of 33.8¢. Counting only the flat component would understate the tax by nearly half. Prices at the pump are on the West Virginia gas prices page.

Kentucky is the one bordering state where West Virginia's 35.7¢ sits higher: Kentucky's total is 26.4¢ in the EIA's July 2026 table, and West Virginia's is 9.3¢ above it. The other four bordering states list higher totals, led by Pennsylvania at 58.7¢ (EIA table, July 2026), which puts West Virginia 23.0¢ below Pennsylvania.

Ohio is the nearest of the four at 38.5¢ (EIA table, July 2026), and West Virginia's total is 2.8¢ below Ohio's. Virginia's 42.4¢ (EIA table, July 2026) leaves West Virginia 6.7¢ below, while Maryland's 46.8¢ leaves it 11.1¢ below.

Set against all 50 states and D.C., West Virginia has 15 jurisdictions with a higher state total and 34 with a lower one, in the EIA's July 2026 table. The table's top figure is 73.6¢ (EIA table, July 2026) (California), and its bottom figure is 9.0¢ (Alaska). The average is 33.8¢ (EIA table, July 2026), and West Virginia's 35.7¢ is 1.9¢ above it.

Splitting the 35.7¢ in the EIA's July 2026 table gives 20.5¢ of excise tax and 15.2¢ of other state taxes and fees. Excise is 57% (EIA table, July 2026) of the state total. Add the federal 18.4¢ (EIA table, July 2026) and the state's share of the combined total is 66%.

The EIA table lists state taxes of general application and leaves out county and local taxes, and in its July 2026 edition it shows no local option gasoline taxes for West Virginia.