Gas Prices Drop To Lowest Per-Gallon Average Since 2021—Ahead Of Thanksgiving Travel

Topline

The national average price of gasoline fell to $3.01 per gallon this week—its lowest level since May 2021—ahead of what experts are predicting could be a record-breaking Thanksgiving travel season.

Key Facts

The national average fell for the sixth straight week this week to $3.01 per gallon, down 1.4 cents from last week, 11.2 cents from last month and 23.7 cents from a year ago, GasBuddy reported Monday.

At least 32 states have an average per-gallon price of $2.99, though the national average continues to hover above $3 as 18 states continue to have gas prices over $3 and two have prices over $4.

Although Ukraine used U.S. long-range missiles on Russia last week, leading to Russian threats that elevated oil prices, per-gallon prices are still low as companies instituted Thanksgiving promotions ahead of high travel days, according to Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.

The lowest average gas prices can be found in Oklahoma ($2.43), Mississippi ($2.58) and Texas ($2.60).

The highest average gas prices are in Hawaii ($4.53), California ($4.37) and Washington ($3.90).

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Big Number

72%. That’s how many Americans plan to take a road trip over the Thanksgiving holiday this year, according to GasBuddy’s annual Thanksgiving Travel Survey, reflecting a massive increase from the 41% that planned to travel by car last year. Of the people who said they were not planning to travel by car, 10% said they were flying and 87% said they were not travelling.

Key Background

The Transportation Security Administration said last week it expects this year to have the busiest Thanksgiving travel period—which runs from Tuesday through Dec. 2—on record. It expects to screen 18.3 million people, which is a 6% increase from last year’s travel period. Typically, the three busiest travel days for air travel are the Tuesday and Wednesday ahead of Thanksgiving, and the Sunday after. For travelers going by car, most GasBuddy survey respondents said they were planning to leave early on the Wednesday before the holiday. AAA also predicted a record-breaking travel season, both by car and air: it projected 71.7 million people to travel by car this Thanksgiving, and 5.84 million people to travel domestically by air. AAA predicted 2.3 million people will travel by bus, cruise or train over the holiday, as well.

Crucial Quote

“As Americans prepare to hit the road for Thanksgiving, we’re seeing the lowest national average price of gasoline since 2021, with a far better economic picture than when gas prices were last this low,” de Haan said in GasBuddy’s press release.

Tangent

Thanksgiving travel from California to the East Coast may be disrupted by winter storms this week. A winter storm warning is in effect in Northern California and the Sierra Nevada mountains through Wednesday, parts of the midwest including Minnesota and Wisconsin are expected to get snow Monday, and portions of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and New York’s Eastern Adirondacks are under a winter weather advisory for freezing rain and icy road conditions on Tuesday morning. It’s not yet clear where snow might fall on Thanksgiving, but forecasters said upstate New York, New Hampshire and Maine may see snowfall.