The national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline dropped to $4.20 on Friday, continuing a slow but steady slide that has shaved 9 cents off pump prices over the past week. It is still a rough deal for drivers compared to a year ago, when the average sat at $3.03 a gallon — meaning Americans are paying roughly $1.17 more per gallon than they were in October 2025.
Friday's national figure, reported by mlive.com, marks a 2-cent daily drop and continues a downward trend that has been underway for weeks. Just a day earlier, the average stood at $4.22 per gallon, according to cleveland.com, which cited AAA figures showing prices down 5 cents over the week and 23 cents over the previous month. Not every outlet is landing on the same number, though — ABC News reported the national average standing at $4.27 per gallon, a discrepancy that underscores how volatile and inconsistent day-to-day pump pricing has become heading into the weekend.
Prices Have Barely Dipped Below $4 Since Summer
Despite the recent declines, the national average has not fallen below $4 per gallon since late July, per the same cleveland.com report. That streak reflects a stretch of elevated pricing that saw the national average set records in August and September before appearing poised to do so again in October. Crude oil trading above $100 per barrel has blunted the seasonal dip in prices that typically arrives each fall as travel demand cools and refineries switch to cheaper winter fuel blends.
Analysts cited by ABC News point to a tangle of global pressures keeping prices elevated — ongoing fighting in the Middle East that has damaged oil infrastructure and costlier means of transporting crude. Separately, Russia has pulled back on diesel exports. Those same analysts say drivers should not expect the national average to dip below $4 before Election Day on Nov. 3, even as prices inch downward week over week. Gas prices, as a rule, tend to fall more slowly than they rise, since retailers work through higher-cost inventory before passing savings on to customers at the pump.
Hawaii and Two Other States Buck the Trend
While prices fell in 43 states over the seven days ending Oct. 29, Hawaii stood alone Friday as the only state where the average price did not drop, per the mlive.com report. Looking at the broader weekly trend, Colorado, Hawaii and Wisconsin were the only three states where prices actually climbed rather than fell.
State-by-state swings varied widely. California's average fell from $6.08 to $5.95 over the course of the week, still among the priciest in the country, while North Carolina dropped from $3.55 to $3.43 and South Carolina slid from $3.85 to $3.72, according to cleveland.com's figures. New Mexico also saw relief, with its average dipping from $4.29 to $4.18. Ohio moved the opposite direction, climbing from $4.08 on Oct. 22 to $4.27 by Oct. 29 — a 19-cent jump that stood out against the broader national decline.
Diesel Tells a Different Story
The gas-price slide has not extended to diesel, which has shattered its previous ceiling. Diesel blew past its 2022 record of $5.81 per gallon and recently touched around $6.50, according to freightwaves.com. Gasoline, by contrast, remains roughly 70 cents below its own 2022 peak — a gap that has left truckers and everyday drivers facing very different fuel realities at the same moment. Freightwaves also notes that retail stations typically lag wholesale price shifts by one to three days on the way up, and stay stickier on the way down, which helps explain why pump relief trails broader market moves.
Looking ahead, the slow downward drift may continue, though no one is promising fast relief. For now, drivers filling up this weekend will pay less than they did seven days ago — just not nearly as little as they were a year ago.
