How gas prices have changed in Illinois in the last week

by STACKER

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Gasoline prices, on average, continued to soar past the $4.50 per gallon mark over the last week and into Monday. Diesel, at $5.55 per gallon, has cooled off by two cents from its record high set on May 18, according to AAA.

Experts note that while crude oil prices are down from the highs seen in March, gasoline is still breaking records on a national and local level. While these prices generally tend to move in sync, the current mismatch is due primarily to refining costs — or the crack spread — being so high. The crack spread is the difference between the purchase price of crude oil and the selling price of finished products after refining. This added cost is absorbed by consumers. Historically, the refining process added $10.50 to the overall cost per barrel. Today, that crack spread is over $40 per barrel.

Illinois by the numbers

Stacker compiled statistics on gas prices in Illinois using data from AAA. Gas prices are as of May 23. Cheapest gas stations are from GasBuddy. The state gas tax data is from World Population Review.

• Gas current price: $4.98
  • Week change: +$0.15 (+3.1%)
  • Year change: +$1.75 (+54.2%)
  • Gas tax: $0.39 per gallon (#6 highest among all states)
  • Historical expensive gas price: $4.98 (5/22/22)
• Diesel current price: $5.30
  • Week change: +$0.00 (+0.0%)
  • Year change: +$2.08 (+64.7%)
  • Historical expensive diesel price: $5.30 (5/19/22)

Metros with most expensive gas in Illinois

1. City of Chicago: $5.39
2. Chicago Metro: $5.20
3. Lake County: $5.09
4. Elgin: $5.00
5. Quincy: $4.89
6. Rockford: $4.88
7. Kankakee-Bradley: $4.87
8. Champaign-Urbana: $4.85
9. Peoria-Pekin: $4.84
10. East Saint Louis: $4.82
11. Carbondale-Marion: $4.80
12. Bloomington-Normal: $4.79
13. Danville: $4.77
14. Springfield: $4.72
15. Davenport-Moline-Rock Island (IL only): $4.70
16. Decatur: $4.68

States with the most expensive gas

1. California: $6.07
2. Hawaii: $5.38
3. Nevada: $5.25

States with the least expensive gas

1. Oklahoma: $4.04
2. Kansas: $4.05
3. Arkansas: $4.12

States with the highest gas tax per gallon

1. Pennsylvania: $0.59
2. California: $0.53
3. Washington: $0.52

States with the lowest gas tax per gallon

1. Alaska: $0.0895
2. Hawaii: $0.16
3. Virginia: $0.162