--- title: Gas Prices Are Nearly $1 Cheaper Than They Were a Year Ago description: Gas prices are falling as summer approaches. The average cost of a gallon of regular gas is now about $3.50, $1 cheaper than a year ago. authors: - name: Sarah Hansen role: Senior Writer url: https://money.com/author/sarah-hansen/ bio: Sarah Hansen is a senior writer at Money covering all things personal finance. Previously, she covered economic policy and capital markets on the breaking news desk at Forbes. education: Northwestern University, New York University at_money_since: 2021 articles: 347 covers: - Economy and Politics - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes social: - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-m-hansen/ former_staff: true editors: - name: Brad Tuttle role: Senior Editor url: https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/ bio: Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals. education: Columbia University School of Journalism, MS at_money_since: 2014 articles: 366 covers: - Economy and Politics - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle - https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225 former_staff: true published: '2023-05-15T17:50:18.000Z' modified: '2024-01-10T14:49:13.000Z' section: Economy and Politics tags: - News word_count: 307 canonical: https://money.com/gas-prices-1-dollar-cheaper-year-ago/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Gas pump photo](https://img.money.com/2023/05/News-Gas-prices-cheaper-than-year-ago.jpg?crop=0px%2C48px%2C2880px%2C1620px&quality=85) Across the country, a gallon of gas now costs $3.53 on average, according to data from AAA. That’s almost $1 cheaper than this time last year, when prices averaged $4.47. And it’s about $1.50 less than last June, when [gas prices peaked](https://money.com/gas-prices-painful-facts/) at over $5 per gallon. Even though gas prices usually rise in the spring and summer, experts don’t expect a major spike in the next few months. “The relief at the pump has been significant,” Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said in a [blog post](https://www.gasbuddy.com/go/national-average-sees-slight-rise-year-on-year-drop-approaches-1-gal) on Monday. “Barring a major hurricane or series of refinery outages,” he added, “the national average may not end up hitting the $4 per gallon mark — something that will make most motorists very happy.” Much of the decline in gas prices is attributable to falling crude oil prices, which account for about half of what you pay for a gallon of gas at the pump. Right now, West Texas Intermediate crude oil prices are hovering around $70 per barrel. A year ago, prices were much higher at about $114 per barrel. Concerns about a weakening global economy and possible recession have been [pushing oil prices lower](https://money.com/gas-prices-this-week/) despite a new round of OPEC+ production cuts that took effect this spring. GasBuddy’s analysis also points to ongoing concerns over the [debt ceiling](https://money.com/debt-ceiling-questions-answers/), which is also putting pressure on oil prices. “Increasing demand for gasoline would usually drive pump prices higher, but the cost for oil has remained low lately,” AAA spokesperson Andrew Gross said in a [blog post](https://gasprices.aaa.com/treading-water-for-now/) last week. “Drivers should benefit from stable pump prices as Memorial Day draws near.” [How to Save Money on Gas](https://money.com/how-to-save-money-on-gas/) [Drivers Are Shopping Around for Cheaper Car Insurance as Premiums Soar](https://money.com/shop-around-cheap-car-insurance/) [Why Gas Prices Will Fall in 2023, According to Experts](https://money.com/gas-prices-lower-2023-forecasts/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/gas-prices-1-dollar-cheaper-year-ago/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Economy and Politics", "item": "https://money.com/economy-and-politics/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Gas Prices", "item": "https://money.com/gas-prices/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Gas Prices Are Nearly $1 Cheaper Than They Were a Year Ago" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/gas-prices-1-dollar-cheaper-year-ago/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/gas-prices-1-dollar-cheaper-year-ago/", "name": "Gas Prices Are Nearly $1 Cheaper Than They Were a Year Ago", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2023-05-15T17:50:18.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/gas-prices-1-dollar-cheaper-year-ago/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/gas-prices-1-dollar-cheaper-year-ago/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-01-10T14:49:13.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "Gas Prices Are Nearly $1 Cheaper Than They Were a Year Ago", "articleSection": "Economy and Politics", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2023/05/News-Gas-prices-cheaper-than-year-ago.jpg?crop=0px%2C48px%2C2880px%2C1620px&quality=85", "width": 1012, "height": 569, "caption": "News-Gas-prices-cheaper-than-year-ago" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sarah Hansen", "url": "https://money.com/author/sarah-hansen/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/sarah-hansen/#author", "description": "Sarah Hansen is a senior writer at Money covering all things personal finance. 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