{"id":6901,"date":"2024-10-29T12:46:52","date_gmt":"2024-10-29T12:46:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/what-20-gets-you-at-gas-stations-in-each-state\/"},"modified":"2024-10-29T12:46:52","modified_gmt":"2024-10-29T12:46:52","slug":"what-20-gets-you-at-gas-stations-in-each-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/?p=6901","title":{"rendered":"What $20 Gets You at Gas Stations in Each State"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div class=\"_3VJt4n\">\n<p class=\"_28z5Fp _3-to_p\"><span class=\"_28z5Fp _3-to_p\">Barring sudden changes, the national average price of gas looks like it could soon drop below $3 per gallon for the first time since May 2021. It\u2019s an arbitrary threshold but it feels significant. 2021 prices? That\u2019s practically pre-pandemic!<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"_3VJt4n\">\n<p class=\"_28z5Fp _3-to_p\"><span class=\"_28z5Fp _3-to_p\">As prices fall, drivers are regaining some buying power at the gas pump. To show how much, let&#8217;s say you have $20 to spend on fuel, and you\u2019re paying the national average for regular gas (as of Oct. 28). <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"_3VJt4n\">\n<ul data-currency=\"List\" class=\"_2cGsD8\">\n<li class=\"_3ho7K- _1pCihN olf-Ig\">\n<div class=\"_3wlVa6 _2247K8\">\n<p class=\"_28z5Fp _3-to_p\"><span class=\"_28z5Fp _3-to_p\">At the current U.S. average price\u00a0of $3.13 per gallon, you could buy about six gallons for $20, filling roughly half a tank. (Gas tanks typically hold between 12 and 15 gallons of fuel, according to JD Power.)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"_3ho7K- _1pCihN olf-Ig\">\n<div class=\"_3wlVa6 _2247K8\">\n<p class=\"_28z5Fp _3-to_p\"><span class=\"_28z5Fp _3-to_p\">Compare that to a year ago: Gas cost $3.50 on average, meaning you could buy a little more than 5.5 gallons for $20.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"_3ho7K- _1pCihN olf-Ig\">\n<div class=\"_3wlVa6 _2247K8\">\n<p class=\"_28z5Fp _3-to_p\"><span class=\"_28z5Fp _3-to_p\">In June 2022, when the national average peaked at $5.02 per gallon, $20 would get you just four gallons \u2014 roughly a third of a tank.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"_3VJt4n\">\n<p class=\"_28z5Fp _3-to_p\"><span class=\"_28z5Fp _3-to_p\">Gas prices<\/span><span class=\"_28z5Fp _3-to_p\"> vary widely by state. In fact, 20 states already pay less than $3 per gallon for regular gas, while it\u2019s still above $4 per gallon in three states. Here\u2019s what $20 will get you in the states where gas is priced highest and lowest:<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"_3VJt4n\">\n<ul data-currency=\"List\" class=\"_2cGsD8\">\n<li class=\"_3ho7K- _1pCihN olf-Ig\">\n<div class=\"_3wlVa6 _2247K8\">\n<p class=\"_28z5Fp _3-to_p\"><span class=\"_3VmbAf _28z5Fp _3-to_p\"><span class=\"_3VmbAf _28z5Fp _3-to_p\">Highest: California.<\/span><\/span><span class=\"_28z5Fp _3-to_p\"> 4.35 gallons at an average price of $4.60.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"_3ho7K- _1pCihN olf-Ig\">\n<div class=\"_3wlVa6 _2247K8\">\n<p class=\"_28z5Fp _3-to_p\"><span class=\"_3VmbAf _28z5Fp _3-to_p\"><span class=\"_3VmbAf _28z5Fp _3-to_p\">Lowest: Texas.<\/span><\/span><span class=\"_28z5Fp _3-to_p\"> 7.5 gallons at an average price of $2.67.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"_3VJt4n\">\n<p class=\"_28z5Fp _3-to_p\"><span class=\"_28z5Fp _3-to_p\">The table below shows how far $20 goes where you live.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"_3P4ktl zeCuXk _28z5Fp _1My7YX\" data-currency=\"Text\"><span class=\"_3P4ktl zeCuXk _28z5Fp _3-to_p\">Is $3 per gallon cheap now?<\/span><\/h2>\n<div class=\"_3VJt4n\">\n<p class=\"_28z5Fp _3-to_p\"><span class=\"_28z5Fp _3-to_p\">After <\/span><span class=\"_28z5Fp _3-to_p\">two years of high inflation<\/span><span class=\"_28z5Fp _3-to_p\">, your reaction to $3 gas (or your state\u2019s equivalent) might be complicated. <\/span><span class=\"_28z5Fp _3-to_p\">Falling prices<\/span><span class=\"_28z5Fp _3-to_p\"> might bring relief to your budget. But you also might scoff at the hoopla over a price that\u2019s still a far cry from what you\u2019d consider \u201ccheap gas.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"_3VJt4n\">\n<p class=\"_28z5Fp _3-to_p\"><span class=\"_28z5Fp _3-to_p\">Maybe $2 per gallon is more what you have in mind as the threshold for better gas prices. That was the national average 20 years ago, and we got a recent taste of it when gas prices plummeted in the early days of the pandemic in 2020. (It was a short-lived shock driven by the sudden evaporation of fuel demand.) <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"_3VJt4n\">\n<p class=\"_28z5Fp _3-to_p\"><span class=\"_28z5Fp _3-to_p\">It\u2019s true that if you were driving in 2004 and had the same 20 bucks to spend on gas, you could\u2019ve bought four more gallons than you can now. But there\u2019s a twist: In 2004, you didn\u2019t have the same $20. After all, we\u2019re talking about inflation, which not only impacts prices but also wages. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"_3VJt4n\">\n<p class=\"_28z5Fp _3-to_p\"><span class=\"_28z5Fp _3-to_p\">When comparing prices over time, the underlying question is about affordability, says Jeremy Horpedahl, an economics professor at the University of Central Arkansas. To measure affordability, it\u2019s more helpful to compare the price of a particular good to wages. \u201cThat tells you, can people buy more or less of the good than in the past?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"_3P4ktl zeCuXk _28z5Fp _1My7YX\" data-currency=\"Text\"><span class=\"_3P4ktl zeCuXk _28z5Fp _3-to_p\">Measuring the affordability of gas<\/span><\/h2>\n<div class=\"_3VJt4n\">\n<p class=\"_28z5Fp _3-to_p\"><span class=\"_28z5Fp _3-to_p\">If you think about <\/span><span class=\"_28z5Fp _3-to_p\">spending on gas<\/span><span class=\"_28z5Fp _3-to_p\"> in terms of how long it takes you to earn that $20 now compared to 20 years ago, you might be surprised at how affordable gas actually is.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"_3VJt4n\">\n<p class=\"_28z5Fp _3-to_p\"><span class=\"_28z5Fp _3-to_p\">The average worker earned $30.33 per hour in September 2024, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data retrieved from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. The data tracks the average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory employees in the private sector, and Horpedahl recommends using it because it\u2019s a broad-based metric that excludes managerial wages that would skew the numbers higher. It\u2019s also the most up-to-date.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"_3VJt4n\">\n<p class=\"_28z5Fp _3-to_p\"><span class=\"_28z5Fp _3-to_p\">For comparison, the average hourly wage was $23.68 in September 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. And the average worker earned $15.78 per hour in September 2004, when gas prices hovered around $2 per gallon.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"_3VJt4n\">\n<p class=\"_28z5Fp _3-to_p\"><span class=\"_28z5Fp _3-to_p\">Based on September\u2019s average hourly rate, it now takes about 40 minutes for the average worker to earn $20. Spending that on gas (at the current national average price) gets you a little over six gallons of gas. Buying the same amount of gas took 41 minutes of work in 2019 and 43 minutes in 2004. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"_3VJt4n\">\n<p class=\"_28z5Fp _3-to_p\"><span class=\"_28z5Fp _3-to_p\">So, for the moment, and despite the roller coaster of the last few years, it\u2019s like gas prices have hardly changed at all.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"_3VJt4n\">\n<p class=\"_28z5Fp _3-to_p\"><span class=\"_28z5Fp _3-to_p\">(Photo by Joe Raedle\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nerdwallet.com\/article\/finance\/gas-prices-falling\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Barring sudden changes, the national average price of gas looks like it could soon drop below $3 per gallon for the first time since May 2021. It\u2019s an arbitrary threshold but it feels significant. 2021 prices? That\u2019s practically pre-pandemic! As prices fall, drivers are regaining some buying power at the gas pump. To show how<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6902,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[195],"tags":[1680,290,1681],"class_list":{"0":"post-6901","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-gas","9":"tag-state","10":"tag-stations"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6901"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6901\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6902"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}