The new year started with the most expensive gasoline prices since Jan.1, 2014, according to AAA, averaging $2.49 a gallon.
The price increase is attributed to holiday travel, which caused prices to increase 5 cents a gallon.
“Although prices at the pump shot up over the holidays, now that the holiday season in the rearview mirror, motorists can expect gas prices to trend cheaper this month as we are likely to see a significant drop in gasoline demand,” Jeanette Casselano, AAA spokesperson, said.
The West Coast is the nation’s most expensive market. Five of the states that had the largest prices change, compared to 2017, are in this region. Alaska saw the largest yearly change at 39 cents.
The Atlantic and Northeast states are the second most expensive market. All states in this region had increases, and the average price is more than $2.50 a gallon.
In the Great Lakes and Midwest region, all the states had increases. Ohio had the largest increase, 10 cents in a week. Four states have prices more than 10 cents higher than the start of December.
The South and Southeast are the nation’s least expensive markets. Despite this, only New Mexico saw a decrease. The other states had increases between 5 cents and 9 cents.
The Rockies was the only region where all states witnessed a decrease.