Gas prices just hit their highest Memorial Day level in four years. For the millions of Americans driving somewhere this weekend, that hurts.

The national average for a gallon of regular gas sits at $4.56, according to AAA — up about three cents over the past week and a full $1.38 higher than this time last year. The last time drivers saw Memorial Day prices this steep was 2022, when the holiday average peaked near $4.61.

The timing could not be worse. AAA expects a record 45 million Americans to travel at least 50 miles from home between Thursday and Monday, and roughly 87% of them — about 39.1 million people — are going by car.

Why are gas prices so high right now?

One reason sits thousands of miles away. The prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow shipping lane that carries about a fifth of the world’s oil, has kept crude expensive for months.

Higher crude feeds straight into the pump. It also feeds broader inflation, because fuel costs ripple through groceries, shipping and airfare. AAA put it plainly this week: Memorial Day gas prices have reached italic“four-year highs,”/italic and the summer driving season is only getting started.

What will a road trip actually cost?

Here is the math that matters for your weekend.

A typical car gets about 25 miles per gallon. Fill a 15-gallon tank at $4.56 and you are paying roughly $68 — about $21 more than the same fill-up cost a year ago.

Now scale it to a trip. A 1,000-mile round trip in that same car burns close to 40 gallons of gas, or about $182. Last spring, that drive ran around $127. The Memorial Day premium on a single road trip: roughly $55 in extra fuel.

Drive a larger SUV or pickup that gets about 18 miles per gallon, and the same 1,000 miles climbs past $250.

There is one bright spot for travelers willing to skip the car. AAA says round-trip domestic airfare averages about $800 this year — roughly 6% cheaper than last Memorial Day, and the rare travel cost moving in the right direction.

Where is gas cheapest — and most expensive?

Location changes everything.

Drivers in California are paying the most in the country at about $6.14 a gallon, followed by Washington ($5.78) and Hawaii ($5.64). Fill that same 15-gallon tank in California and you are out more than $90.

The cheapest gas is across the South and lower Midwest. Mississippi leads at roughly $4.01 a gallon, with Georgia ($4.03), Indiana ($4.04), Louisiana ($4.05) and Texas ($4.09) close behind. That is a gap of more than $2 a gallon between the priciest and cheapest states — enough to swing a road-trip fuel bill by 50% or more.

Will prices come down after Memorial Day?

Maybe — but not overnight.

There is one hopeful signal. The United States and Iran have signaled progress toward a deal, and oil prices slipped last week on the news. If shipping through the Strait of Hormuz normalizes, pump prices would likely ease over the following weeks.

For now, though, the weekend is set. If you are driving, the cheapest moves are the simplest ones: fill up before you cross into a high-price state, keep your speed steady, and skip premium gas unless your owner’s manual actually requires it.

Are you still taking your Memorial Day road trip, or did the price at the pump change your plans? Tell us in the comments.

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