Chart

What's in a gallon: federal tax, state taxes and everything else, by state, October 2026

Regular gasoline price on October 26, 2026 for the U.S. average and nine states, split into the federal tax, state taxes and fees, and all other costs.

Credit: FactHub Research Team; data from U.S. Energy Information Administration

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Stacked bar chart of gas prices on October 26, 2026. U.S. average $4.27: 18 cents federal tax, 34 cents state taxes, $3.75 other. Washington $5.20: 18 cents federal, 60 cents state, $4.42 other. California $5.89: 18 cents federal, 74 cents state, $4.97 other. Texas $3.63: 18 cents federal, 20 cents state, $3.25 other. Colorado, Ohio, New York, Minnesota, Massachusetts and Florida fall between $4.02 and $4.46. — Taxes are about 52 cents of the $4.27 U.S. average gallon. Washington's gallon costs 93 cents more than average; its state taxes and fees are 26 cents higher, so most of the gap is other costs. California is $1.62 above average with taxes 40 cents higher. Texas is 64 cents below with taxes 14 cents lower.

What this chart asks

How much of each state's gas price is tax, and how much is everything else?

Why it is shown this way

Stacked bars show each area's full price and how much of it is tax.
The U.S. average sits beside the states so readers can compare.
The y axis starts at zero.

Data and accessibility

Download chart data · Open accessible table · Download PNG · Download SVG

Dataset us-election-day-gas-prices, analysis price-components

Sources

This chart draws on the sources of the dataset versions it visualizes.

U.S. Election Day gas prices in dollars, after inflation and in work time, 1976-2026, with state taxes

U.S. Energy Information Administration, U.S. Regular All Formulations Retail Gasoline Price (weekly), via FRED series GASREGW U.S. average retail price of regular gasoline, including taxes, each Monday, 1990-2026.
Retrieved November 2, 2026. Public domain (U.S. government work). Allowed; EIA asks to be cited.

Reliability: Government. EIA samples about 900 retail outlets at 8 a.m. each Monday; prices include all taxes. FRED republishes the series unchanged.
U.S. Energy Information Administration, Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update Weekly regular gasoline prices for the U.S., California, Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Texas and Washington for October 26, 2026, and the share of the August 2026 pump price from crude oil, refining, distribution and taxes.
Retrieved November 2, 2026. Public domain (U.S. government work). Allowed; EIA asks to be cited.

Reliability: Government. The same EIA weekly survey as the national series, published for nine states and selected cities.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Average Price: Gasoline, Unleaded Regular (U.S. city average), via FRED series APU000074714 Average retail price of unleaded regular, October-December, for the election years 1976-1988.
Retrieved November 2, 2026. Public domain (U.S. government work). Allowed; BLS asks to be cited.

Reliability: Government. Collected by BLS for the Consumer Price Index; a different survey from EIA's, used only before EIA's weekly series began in 1990.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U, All items in U.S. city average, not seasonally adjusted, via FRED series CPIAUCNS Consumer price index used to convert each price to September 2026 dollars (September 2026 = 336.940).
Retrieved November 2, 2026. Public domain (U.S. government work). Allowed; BLS asks to be cited.

Reliability: Government. The headline national consumer price index. EIA uses the same method (nominal price times the ratio of CPI values) for its own real-price series.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Average Hourly Earnings of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees, Total Private, via FRED series AHETPI Average hourly pay for September of each election year, 1990-2026, used to express a gallon in minutes of work.
Retrieved November 2, 2026. Public domain (U.S. government work). Allowed; BLS asks to be cited.

Reliability: Government. From the BLS monthly payroll survey of businesses; covers production and nonsupervisory workers, about 80% of private employment.
U.S. Energy Information Administration, Federal and state motor fuels taxes (fueltaxes.xlsx), sheets July 2026 (revised) and July 2022 (revised) Federal gasoline tax (18.4 cents) and each state's gasoline excise tax plus other statewide taxes and fees, as of July 1, 2026 and July 1, 2022.
Retrieved November 2, 2026. Public domain (U.S. government work). Allowed; EIA asks to be cited.

Reliability: Government. Compiled by EIA twice a year from state statutes and agencies. Excludes county and local taxes and taxes based on gross receipts.
The Washington Post on X The claim checked: the Post's post of November 2, 2026 linking its story on Election Day gas prices.
Retrieved November 2, 2026. Quoted for criticism and commentary. Quote only.

Reliability: News report. The newspaper's official account. The post does not name its price source; the story behind it is paywalled.

Limitations

State taxes and fees are EIA's statewide figures as of July 1, 2026. They leave out local taxes, some sales taxes, and carbon and clean-fuel program costs, which fall in the 'everything else' part.
The U.S. average state tax is a simple average of the states.
EIA publishes weekly prices for only these nine states.

Articles and datasets using this chart

Article Election Day gas is a record in dollars, not after inflation.

Version details

The exact citing versions, and the version of this chart each cites.

Article election-day-gas-price-record — version 1 (published) cites version 1

Node: chart:gas-price-taxes-by-state-2026:1