U.S. gas averages $4.56 per gallon

AAA said on May 21 that the national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline reached $4.56 as Memorial Day travel began, putting pump prices at their highest level for the holiday weekend in four years. The auto group said the average was up 3 cents from a week earlier and $1.38 above the same time last year. Clarksville Online published the figure on May 23 in a local pickup of AAA’s national release. The increase landed as AAA forecast record holiday driving volume, with 39.1 million people expected to travel by car over the Memorial Day period. ### Where did the $4.56 figure come from? AAA said in a May 21 release from Washington that $4.56 was its national average for regular gasoline as holiday travel got underway. The organization said that level was close to the $4.61 average drivers paid on Memorial Day in 2022, which is why it described this year’s holiday prices as the highest in four years. (gasprices.aaa.com) Clarksville Online’s May 23 report repeated the AAA figure and framed it around the start of the busy Memorial Day weekend. The local outlet also noted state-by-state variation in prices, including higher-cost markets such as California. (gasprices.aaa.com) ### How unusual is this for Memorial Day weekend? AAA said the latest reading was the highest Memorial Day weekend average in four years. ConsumerAffairs, citing the same holiday-period pricing, also reported that gasoline prices heading into the weekend were the highest since 2022. (clarksvilleonline.com) USA Today reported that AAA listed the national average at $4.56 on May 20, compared with $4.04 a month earlier and $3.18 before Memorial Day weekend last year. Those comparisons show how quickly prices rose heading into the holiday. ### What are drivers seeing around the country? (gasprices.aaa.com) California drivers were paying some of the highest prices in the country, with parts of the state above $6 a gallon for regular gasoline, ABC News reported, citing GasBuddy data. Other regions were lower, but reports cited prices above $4 in parts of Texas and above $4.50 in the New York tri-state area. (usatoday.com) AAA’s state-average pages and GasBuddy’s national and local charts provide the clearest public snapshots of those regional differences. Clarksville Online’s report pointed readers to that same variation as the national average moved higher. ### Are high prices changing Memorial Day travel plans? AAA projected that 39.1 million Americans would travel by car over the Memorial Day period despite the higher fuel costs. (abcnews.com) A broader AAA holiday forecast put total Memorial Day travel at about 45 million people traveling at least 50 miles from home from Thursday through Monday. (gasbuddy.com) ABC News reported that some travelers were adjusting by taking shorter trips or changing how far they planned to drive, while still keeping holiday plans in place. Local coverage from California also showed visitors continuing with weekend travel even as pump prices rose. (consumeraffairs.com) ### What is pushing prices higher? AAA said in its May 21 release that pump prices remained elevated as summer driving demand picked up. Other coverage tied the rise to crude oil pressures and shipping disruptions linked to the prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz. (abcnews.com) GasBuddy’s public charts show the national average rising into late May, offering a daily benchmark for whether the holiday spike continues into the broader summer driving season. AAA’s gas-price tracker is also updating daily as the weekend ends and the next round of summer travel begins. (gasbuddy.com) (gasprices.aaa.com)