(The Center Square) – Washingtonians have seen the sixth straight week of price declines at the pump. Despite the weeks-long downward trend, nationwide this will be the most expensive Thanksgiving travel weekend at the pump in the 22 years AAA has been tracking the data.
On Monday, the average price of a gallon of regular unleaded in the Evergreen State was sitting at $4.67 down from $4.80 the week prior, a 13 cent decrease according to AAA data.
“The national average has fallen sharply since the June peak of nearly $5.02,” said AAA spokesperson Andrew Gross in a statement Monday. “But this Thanksgiving will be about 20 cents higher than a year ago, and a dollar more per gallon than a pre-pandemic 2019. However, we can be thankful that gas prices are moving in the right direction for now.”
Compared with the national average drop of 11 cents per gallon over the last week, Washington’s 13 cents decline was enough to secure a place in the week’s ten largest declines, coming in 9th just behind Oregon’s 16 cent drop and tied with Nevada’s 13 cent drop.
Intra-state variance remains high spanning a range of 84 cents per gallon depending on where you are in the state. The outliers being Wahkiakum County in the West and Stevens County in the east at $5.15 and $4.24 per gallon respectively. This price variance still largely follows the Cascade Range, with residents to the west paying the higher fuel premium than residents to the east.
Washington still finds itself firmly in the top ten most expensive fuel markets nationwide. Holding at fourth nationwide from the week prior, Washington’s pump prices were again only beat out by Nevada, Hawaii, and California who filled out third to first on the list.
Washington state residents also have a new cap-and-trade tax to look forward to starting Jan. 1 which, as previously reported by The Center Square, would drive fuel costs an estimated 46 cents per gallon higher. This will come on top of Washington’s current rate of 49.4 cents per gallon of state tax.