Why gas is so expensive in some U.S. states but not others
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Spiking gas prices have weighed on motorists in every state this year, making daily life more expensive in myriad ways. But the burden has not been evenly distributed.
Californians were paying well over $5 a gallon months before the national average reached it on June 11. In Chicago, the average is pushing $6 but remains nearly a dollar cheaper elsewhere in Illinois. Fuel costs in rural parts of the Southeast and Midwest lag far behind those of their coastal counterparts.
So why do gasoline costs differ so much from one area to the next? Economists attribute it to an array of forces related to supply chains, the local cost of doing business, taxes and environmental policy, among other factors.
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