Jesse Scheckner
After a steep drop in the last week of August, Florida drivers will hit the road on Labor Day Weekend paying the lowest holiday gas prices since the onset of the COVID pandemic in 2020.
The state average for regular unleaded stood at $3.11 per gallon on Friday, according to AAA — The Auto Club Group, well below last year’s $3.30 and far from the record high of $4.89 set in June 2022.
Nationally, gas averages $3.20 on Friday morning, also the cheapest since 2020, when demand collapsed during lockdowns.
Prices did jump this week, by nearly 20 cents in Florida, following flooding that temporarily knocked offline the BP Whiting Refinery in Indiana, the Midwest’s largest. That outage drove the national average up more than 7 cents to $3.21, according to AAA.
Still, the overall trend remains favorable, with the national average expected to be $3.15 per gallon by Labor Day, 14 cents lower than in 2024.
President Donald Trump’s administration celebrated the forecast.
“From Memorial Day to Labor Day, Americans have been saving significant money at the pump all summer long with the cheapest gas prices in 5 years,” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers told the New York Post. “President Trump promised to unleash American energy and make everyday life more affordable for families, and he delivered.”
Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, told CNN that falling oil prices and strong global production are keeping pump prices in check.
“The timing is up in the air and depends on hurricane season,” he said, “but the stars look aligned for sub-$3 gas this Fall.”
Oil prices hovering near $64 a barrel and OPEC’s willingness to keep supply strong suggest stability for motorists.
Lower fuel costs offer relief to households still squeezed by high grocery, rent and utility bills. Analysts note that Americans are spending less of their income on gas than in past years, a notable shift since the $5-per-gallon shock of 2022.
Joe LaVorgna, counselor to the U.S. Treasury Secretary, told CNN that lowering energy costs “translates to an immediate increase in household cashflow and helps middle and lower-income Americans who are often living paycheck to paycheck.”
As of Friday, the cheapest metropolitan markets for unleaded gas in Florida is the Crestview-Fort Walton Beach area, where drivers and motorcyclists are paying $2.88 per gallon, followed by Panama City ($2.90) and Pensacola ($2.95).
The most expensive are West Palm Beach-Boca Raton ($3.27), Naples ($3.18) and Ocala ($3.16).
Florida sits in the middle of the pack nationally. The most expensive states for gas-dependent drivers is, as usual, California, where a gallon cost $4.59 on Friday morning, followed by Hawaii ($4.48) and Washington ($4.39).
Mississippi motorists are enjoying the most affordable fuel, $2.73 per gallon, followed by Arkansas ($2.77) and Louisiana ($2.78).
