State Gas Tax Comparison 2026

How Gas Taxes Work

Every gallon of gasoline sold in the US is subject to at least two layers of fuel tax: a federal excise tax and a state excise tax. Some states add further county or municipal taxes, environmental surcharges, or underground storage tank fees on top of those.

The federal gasoline excise tax is 18.4 cents per gallon, a flat rate that has not changed since 1993. It funds the Highway Trust Fund, which pays for federal highway and transit programs. This 18.4 cents applies uniformly across all 50 states — it’s the baseline that every driver pays before state and local taxes are added.

State excise taxes vary enormously — from under 9 cents per gallon in Alaska to nearly 60 cents in California and Pennsylvania. These taxes fund state road maintenance, bridge repair, transportation agencies, and in some states, public transit systems. A handful of states (like Indiana) use variable rates tied to the average wholesale price of gasoline, which means the tax itself rises and falls with market prices.

Some states also levy their general sales tax on gasoline, which effectively means you pay tax on the tax — the sales tax applies to the total pump price including the excise taxes. California does this, which is one reason its effective tax burden is the highest in the nation.

Figures below are taken directly from the EIA’s federal and state motor fuels tax table, updated July 2026 — the same spreadsheet we use, so you can check every row. They exclude county local-option taxes and carbon programme costs embedded in the wholesale price. See our methodology for how we handle those.

Highest Gas Tax States

These five states have the highest state excise tax rates, meaning drivers pay more per gallon in taxes before any market-based price factors.

Lowest Gas Tax States

These five states have the lowest state excise taxes. Note that low taxes don’t always mean cheap gas — geographic factors and supply chain costs matter too.

All 50 States Ranked by Gas Tax

Sorted by total state burden — excise plus other per-gallon taxes and fees — because excise alone is misleading. California’s excise is 63.4¢, but its real per-gallon state burden is 73.64¢ once fuel sales tax is counted. Illinois and Indiana diverge the same way.

Figures come directly from the EIA’s federal and state motor fuels tax table, updated July 2026. “Other taxes & fees” covers per-gallon inspection, environmental and storage tank charges plus the per-gallon equivalent of state sales tax on fuel where a state levies one. Local-option taxes set by counties and cities, and carbon-pricing costs embedded in the wholesale price (California and Washington), are not included, so a driver’s real burden in those states is higher still. See our methodology.

Taxes Are Only Part of the Story

It’s tempting to look at the tax table above and assume states with low excise taxes always have cheap gas. The reality is more complicated. Alaska has the lowest state excise tax in the country — but Alaskan drivers still pay some of the highest fuel prices in the nation because all fuel must be shipped to remote communities with no road connections, adding substantial transportation cost.

Similarly, California’s sky-high taxes are a major factor in its prices, but not the only one. The state’s unique CARB fuel formula, which can only be produced by a limited number of refineries, means supply is geographically constrained. Any refinery outage or pipeline disruption has an outsized price impact that can temporarily dwarf even the tax differential between California and lower-tax states.

The states with the most consistently low pump prices tend to combine low taxes and supply advantages: Texas and Louisiana sit atop the Gulf Coast refining complex (PADD 3), which handles roughly half of all US refining capacity. Short pipeline distances to retail stations minimize distribution costs, and intense competition among a large number of retail fuel operators keeps margins thin.

For the most accurate picture of what you’ll actually pay at the pump in any given region, check the live EIA-sourced data on GetPumpRate — which captures the full market price including all taxes, supply costs, and competitive dynamics, updated every week from the federal government’s retail price survey.