Seattle-area drivers are facing high gas prices, with the region's regular unleaded roughly $1 higher than it was a year ago. The latest numbers put the greater Seattle area's average regular-gas price at $5.682 per gallon, a level that would have seemed extreme even a few months back but now looks like the new normal for Washington drivers heading into fall.
Prices Have Climbed Steadily Since August
MyNorthwest put the greater Seattle average at $5.682 per gallon — a modest discrepancy from other figures, but one that still places the region firmly among the nation's priciest gas markets, according to MyNorthwest.
Oil-price volatility and potential disruptions remain sources of uncertainty for prices, and further disruptions could push them higher.
How Seattle Stacks Up Against the Rest of the Country
What Drives Seattle’s Higher Prices?
Pump prices reflect crude oil, taxes, refining costs and profits, and distribution and marketing, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The federal motor-gasoline tax is 18.40 cents per gallon, while average state taxes and fees were 33.55 cents per gallon as of January 2026. Those figures are benchmarks rather than a Washington-specific breakdown of a typical Seattle-area gallon.
Regional differences also reflect distance from supply, supply disruptions, retail competition and operating costs. The U.S. Energy Information Administration says West Coast prices are usually the highest because the region has limited connections with other major refining centers and tight local supply and demand; higher-than-average state taxes in several West Coast states and California gasoline specifications also contribute.
Washington's gas prices aren't just high by local standards — they're high nationally. The state's average price was running roughly 30% above the national price, and Washington ranked third among all states, trailing only California at $5.929 per gallon and Hawaii at $5.595. The national average for regular gasoline, meanwhile, sat at nearly $4.12 per gallon, as reported by MyNorthwest.
Other reporting put Seattle-area prices 20 cents above Washington's state average, while another comparison placed the area's price $1.38 above the national average — both figures pointing to the same broader trend of the Seattle metro sitting at the high end of an already expensive state.
Spring's Worst Fears Haven't Come True — Yet
Back in April, Washington's average price stood at $5.386 per gallon, or $1.267 above the national average at the time, as noted by MyNorthwest. Prices had already climbed 89 cents in the span of a month and about $1 over the prior year, according to that outlet's reporting. Related coverage also mentioned $10 gasoline at some expensive stations.
The available figures do not show a statewide average above $7; related coverage mentioned $10 gasoline at some expensive stations.
Still, Records Are Falling
Even with the worst-case outcomes avoided so far, current prices are unusual for this point in the year. Washington's highest statewide average on record was $5.56 per gallon, set on June 16, 2022, MyNorthwest reported. The state's average was $5.386 on April 6, 2026, below that record.
Oil-price volatility remains a factor, even as the truly extreme spring scenarios remain, for now, unrealized.
