(NEXSTAR) – Prices at the pump have been on the rise this month following the Trump administration’s military operations in the Middle East, including an overnight spike of 10 cents per gallon last week and a 27-cent increase over four days.
A survey released Monday found most Americans expect prices to surge even higher over the next year, and recent data shows prices only continue to climb.
Monday’s national average, according to AAA, was $3.478 for a gallon of regular gas. That jumped roughly six cents overnight, with Tuesday’s national average sitting at $3.539.
Ten states saw the average price for a gallon of regular gas spike by 10 cents or more overnight, AAA data shows. The hardest-hit was Utah, where gas was $3.18 a gallon on Monday. As of Tuesday, that price sits at $3.40. Double-digit jumpers were also reported in Idaho, Wyoming, Florida, New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, Nebraska, New Jersey, and Tennessee.
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None of those states has seen the largest week-to-week increase. That title is held by California, where the average cost for a gallon of regular gasoline last Tuesday was $4.67. This Tuesday, AAA data shows the price has increased to $5.29, an increase of 62 cents.
California remains the only state in the U.S. with gas over $5 a gallon. The next closest is Washington state, where the average gallon costs $4.687 as of Tuesday. In three other states — Hawaii, Nevada, and Oregon — the average gallon of regular gasoline has exceeded $4. Nevada and Oregon were below that benchmark last Tuesday.
Only Kansas has a statewide average price of regular gasoline below $3, though AAA data shows the price sits at $2.962 as of Tuesday. That’s up 26 cents, week over week. A week ago, Kansas and 26 other states were below the $3 mark. By Thursday, that tally had dropped to 17.
Marcus Hopkins, a street performer, does a backflip in front of advertised gas prices Monday, March 9, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Meanwhile, since March 1, the national average is up more than 55 cents, spiking by 43 cents in the last week alone, AAA data shows. The average in 19 states jumped even more than that, according to AAA.
The interactive map below shows where gas prices have jumped the most over the last week, as well as each state’s average price for a gallon of regular gasoline as of Tuesday, and how much prices have increased since Monday.
Some U.S. metros were even harder hit last week, data reviewed by Nexstar found.
Oil prices have been up and down this week, exceeding $100 per barrel before settling back down after Trump indicated he was “thinking about” taking over the Strait of Hormuz. Roughly a fifth of the world’s oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf.
“We’re putting an end to all of this threat once and for all, and the result will be lower oil prices, oil and gas prices for American families,” Trump said at a news conference Monday. The war, he said, is “just an excursion into something that had to be done.”
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It’s not clear how long the global oil supply will be impacted by the conflict in the Middle East. Mark Finley, a nonresident fellow in energy and global oil at Rice University’s Baker Institute who formerly served as a senior U.S. economist for BP, told Nexstar’s The Hill that this is “the biggest disruption the world’s oil market has ever seen.”
Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates, said we’re losing 20 million barrels a day. As the “supply situation deteriorates,” prices will continue to climb, he explained.
It’s worth noting that gas prices were climbing before the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran. Refiners have been switching over to the more-expensive summer blends of fuel.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
