Where in the US have gas prices jumped the most since the US attack on Iran?
Drivers in some states are seeing pump prices rise much faster than others.
With the US-Iran war escalating, oil markets have become the global gauge of the conflict — and American drivers are already feeling the pain at the pump.
On Sunday, crude prices surged past $110 a barrel for the first time since the early days of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022 — as tankers began avoiding the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow choke point along Iran’s coast through which roughly one-fifth of global oil supply flows every day.
Because gasoline is refined from crude — with 60% of the pump price tied to oil costs — the shock is already showing up at gas stations: the national average price of regular gasoline climbed to $3.48 per gallon on Monday, up nearly $0.50, or 17%, from February 28, when the US and Israeli strikes on Iran began, according to the American Automobile Association.
But the pain isn’t landing evenly across the country.
States that saw the sharpest percentage increases include Indiana (up 23%), Ohio (22%), Oklahoma (21%), and Texas (20.5%). While these states had relatively cheaper gasoline — below $3 a gallon, leaving more room to rise — they’re also deeply connected to the Gulf Coast refinery network, which runs on crude priced against global benchmarks. So when Middle East disruption sends those prices surging, the shock travels straight through the pipelines to local pumps.
Western states, however, saw far smaller increases. Hawaii (up 3%), Washington (6%), Oregon (7%), Alaska (9%), and Idaho (9%) saw single-digit price jumps, as the region operates largely outside the Gulf Coast fuel network, meaning the Middle East shock tends to arrive slower and softer. They also have generally higher prices to begin with.
Still, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Friday that the surge in gas prices should last “weeks, not months,” while President Trump called rising oil prices “a very small price to pay” for “safety and peace” on Sunday.
For now, US drivers are already shelling out roughly $187 million extra per day on gasoline compared with last weekend, per Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. In a Substack post on Sunday, he also said there’s roughly an 80% chance the national average reaches $4 per gallon “within the next month- or sooner.” Prediction markets broadly agree with him.
