Gasoline prices at the end of 2019 were 31 cents higher than on Dec. 31, 2018, according to AAA.
The national average was $2.58 a gallon, 4 cents higher than the previous week, but nearly the same as the end of November.
The price hike is attributed to an increase in holiday road travel.
“The majority of states saw gas prices increase in the last week – some by as much as a nickel to a dime, but any spikes in gas prices that motorists are seeing will be short-lived,” Jeanette Casselano, AAA spokesperson, said. “AAA expects gas prices to decrease following the holidays.”
Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois had that nation’s largest price increases, spiking between 7 cents and 12 cents.
Conversely, eight of the 10 least expensive markets are in the South and Southeast. Missouri had the nation’s least expensive gasoline prices at $2.21.
The Rocky Mountain region and the West Coast both saw price declines, although Hawaii and California are the most expensive markets in the country.
In the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions, prices increased by as much as 6 cents except in Vermont and Massachusetts, where prices were steady.
The national average price for 2019 was $2.61 a gallon.