DENVER – “Ridiculous.” “Outrageous” “sacrifices” needed.
From New York to California, Florida to New Jersey, the little red numbers at gas stations remind Americans that it’s now significantly more expensive to drive. Drivers across the country spoke to USA TODAY reporters as gas prices hit a national average of $4 a gallon, the highest since Aug. 8, 2022, according to price tracking service GasBuddy.
It’s not just the prices that are surprising some drivers, but the magnitude of the increase as a result of President Donald Trump’s attack on Iran. Prices rose $1.05 in one month, the largest single-month increase ever recorded by GasBuddy.
Drivers say shocking price increases are changing the way they live, work and travel, with soaring commuting costs cutting into their incomes and high prices making it harder to visit family or go on vacation.
Amit Verma, who lives in Arlington, Virginia, has had to completely rethink the way he drives after rising prices. On March 31, Verma, 30, paid $70 to fill up his 2015 Audi S7 before making the 35-minute commute to Bethesda, Maryland. He said it takes about 15 minutes to commute by subway, but it will be worth it if gas prices remain high.
“This seems like a problem that our administration may have unnecessarily created for itself, and a lot of people are going to have to pay for it,” said Verma, who works in the investment industry. He said he is concerned that higher gas prices will further burden Americans, who have felt the threat of inflation for years under Presidents Biden and Trump.
Doug Gaster, 71, a Sacramento-based landscaper, said he lost more than $800 in profit from his business due to high fuel prices. He said it costs nearly $100 per tank just to refuel his work truck, and he also has a leaf blower, lawn mower and trimmer to refuel.
“In the last few weeks, we’ve lost five or six customers because we’ve had to raise our prices. It’s all because of gas prices,” Guster said as he filled up at a Foods Company gas station in Sacramento. “I didn’t want to do that. But otherwise, it’s going to come out of my pocket and have overhead costs.”
Near Denver International Airport, Michael Bates, a Texas-based life coach, said he hopes rising gas prices will cause President Trump to change course on Iran. Bates, who returned his rented Jeep Wrangler with a full tank of gas at $3.69 a gallon, said he voted for Trump in 2024 in part because he wanted lower prices.
“I’m not very happy with the way he’s doing it. I voted for him,” Bates said. “And if he can’t do anything about this, it’s going to hurt him. Hopefully this will be the push we need to get us out of this illegal war.”
Trump took office last year pledging to lower the cost of living, specifically raising the price of gas to $2 a gallon. Many of the administration’s efforts are aimed at rolling back environmental and other regulations that the White House blamed for soaring gas prices during the Biden administration.
But President Trump’s decision to attack Iran on February 28 has dramatically increased the price of fuel, from diesel to airplanes to gasoline purchased by hundreds of millions of American drivers. The president has long argued that the United States should produce more oil and gas domestically to protect consumers from international fluctuations.
The president touted low gas prices in his State of the Union address in February, but has largely avoided talking about high prices since ordering the attacks. Some of his supporters also predict that gasoline prices will fall as fighting decreases near the Strait of Hormuz and more oil tankers pass through.
On March 26, the EPA announced a temporary exemption that will allow more ethanol-based gases to be blended into fuels starting May 1. Most gas already has some ethanol mixed in, but the exemption could allow up to 15% across the country and reduce pump prices for a month. Ethanol, typically made from corn, is produced in the United States, but gas is often cut off during the summer due to air pollution concerns.
Nationwide, gasoline prices remain below the all-time high level compiled on June 14, 2022, when the national average reached $5.01 per gallon.
For many Americans, gas prices were the driving force behind the 2024 presidential election. For Tim Southern, 60, of Virginia, the current high gas prices are a small price to pay for supporting Trump. Southern, who was filling up at a Wawa in Charlottesville, Va., for $3.99 a gallon, said he sees no evidence that people are changing their driving habits.
“I believe in what the president is doing, so if it means spending a little more gasoline to free some people in other countries…that’s a small sacrifice on my part,” he said.
An informal survey of USA TODAY drivers found Southern is in the minority.
The experience of drivers like Tasha Hill, 36, was far more common. After driving 700 miles along the east coast from Viridina, Hill stopped to refuel near Orlando’s tourist-heavy International Drive section. Hill and his family of four drove to Disney and Universal parks, paying less than $4 a gallon for gas as they passed through the Carolinas and Georgia.
The family rented a car for the long drive, choosing a hybrid Toyota Camry that the rental company employee assured them would save money on gas. Hill said she was happy with her choice to rent a fuel-efficient car after seeing gas cost more than $4 ($4.29 per gallon) for the first time on this trip.
“That’s outrageous,” she said as she watched gallons flow into the Wawa.
In New Jersey, Kim Lekweg said she’s adjusting her budget because of high prices. Reckweg spent the equivalent of $10 on his 2015 Honda Civic while his 4-year-old grandson played in the back seat. She was grateful that she paid $3.99 per gallon instead of the higher price of $4.19 she saw a mile away.
“It makes it harder to travel and get around,” she said. She picks up her grandson every day in Haddon Township and cares for him and two other grandchildren at her home in Washington Township, about 25 miles away.
Higher gas prices “eliminate ‘extra’ expenses like going out to eat once in a while,” she says.
In New York City, prices sometimes exceeded $6 per gallon. At Mobile, near Times Square in midtown Manhattan, cars slowly rolled into the pumps, where the price was $6.09 a gallon. Taxi driver Mamadou Kohn said her hybrid Toyota RAV4 is expensive, but she can’t stop driving if she wants to make money.
“I’m a driver, so I don’t have a choice,” said Cohn, 61, a father of five who lives in East Harlem. “Now we’re paying the price,” he said.
Janaelle Grullon, 47, a Manhattan resident who works for a flower company, said she rides an electric skateboard to work to cut down on personal expenses. Luckily, he said, his job pays for the gas to fuel his Ford Transit van.
“No one will be able to cope with it because the price is too high,” Grarón said in Spanish.
Schuyler McKinley, AAA’s regional communications director, said drivers typically start changing their driving habits when gas prices rise above $4 a gallon. A 2022 AAA study conducted the last time gas prices rose to this level found that 64% of drivers responded immediately, primarily by driving less, combining travel, and spending less on shopping and dining out.
“If prices go up further, things get even more dramatic,” McKinley said.
McKinley said the challenge for policymakers is that those who can most afford higher gas prices — white-collar workers working from home — are the ones who can most easily adapt. He said the hardest-hit drivers are those commuting to minimum-wage jobs that require them to be present at restaurants and other workplaces.
Tatiana Garcia, 23, drives her 2011 BMW 535i every day from her home in Centerville, Virginia, to destinations sometimes 55 miles away for her dog walking business, The Furry Paw Friends. Garcia said profit margins have shrunk as gas prices have risen, and he has had to rely on pet caretakers to care for customers far away so he doesn’t have to drive as much.
She said she can no longer afford extra treats for the animals she observes and is preparing to soon raise her prices for the first time since she started her business two years ago.
“I’m not making as much money now because I’m paying more for gas,” Garcia said. “That’s the worst.”
Garcia paid $72 to fill up his tank with about 16 gallons of premium gas on Tuesday, March 31st. This is about the same amount as some families who own an electric car spend charging it for a month.
Tatiana Garcia said she’s considering buying a Tesla after seeing gas at the pump go over $70.
At an Exxon gas station in Philadelphia, Andre Williams watched as the gas in his 2017 Chevrolet Malibu cost about $60, up from $40 a few months ago. Williams said he now rides the train more often and blamed “the current president” for his pump pain.
Nearby customer Daniel Perez, 37, agreed, paying $4.19 a gallon to fill up his Honda CRV on March 31. Perez said he rides his bike more often and has his bike repaired nearby to avoid high gas prices.
“I definitely think it’s Trump’s fault,” Perez said.
Near Denver, Breya Lewallen, 28, stopped at a KwikTrip pump to fill up her Toyota 4Runner for the first leg of a 12-hour drive back to her home in Texas. Lewallen drove to Colorado with her young child and dog to visit family, leaving her husband at home at work. I walked up to the pump, paid with my credit card, and pretended to protect my eyes as the $3.65-per-gallon gas was poured into the tank.
“Hmm,” she said when the total was over $42. “I don’t even want to know.”
Contributions: Trevor Hughes, Dinah Powder, Karissa Waddick, Brianna Frank, Mike Stunson, Phaedra Trethan, Edward Cuevas, Noah Padilla, caitlin mccormick
