(The Center Square) – Days away from the start of what could be a record 72.2 million Americans traveling for July 4th and the nation’s 250th birthday, North Carolina gas prices are back in the lowest 10 in the country despite being top 10 in fuel taxation.
The holiday travel period is considered to start this coming Saturday and run through July 5, AAA says. The number of travelers uses a minimum 50 miles from home as the benchmark.
Monday’s average price from Murphy to Manteo for a gallon of unleaded was $3.54, another 13 cents lower than last week and 65 cents below a 9-cent overnight spike to $4.21 on May 6. Diesel is an average of $4.70 per gallon, down 15 cents in the last week and $1.11 less than a record $5.81 on April 7.
North Carolina’s 41 cents per gallon tax rate for 2026 is only less than California (61.2), Pennsylvania (57.6), Washington (55.4), Michigan (52.4), New Jersey (49.1), Illinois (48.3) and Maryland (46). Those states’ respective averages on Monday were $5.57 in California, $4.09 in Pennsylvania, $5.34 in Washington, $4 in Michigan, $3.97 in New Jersey, $4.17 in Illinois and $3.82 in Maryland.
Motor fuel taxes fund the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s highway and multi-modal projects, accounting for more than half of the state transportation resources. The revenues go into the Highway Fund and the Highway Trust Fund.
National norms are $3.92 for unleaded gasoline and $5.01 for diesel.
Energy prices have been volatile since America and Israel on Feb. 28 launched Operation Epic Fury’s military strikes into Iran. A day before it started, the statewide norm for a gallon of unleaded gasoline was about $2.75 – up modestly from a low on Jan. 5 of $2.61.
The calendar year’s percentage highs are a 61.3% increase in gas price (Jan. 5 to May 6), and 71.4% increase in diesel (Jan. 5 to April 7). From those highs, gas has gone down 15.9% and diesel 19.1%. Today, since the Jan. 5 low, gas is up 35.6% and diesel 38.6%.
Declared a conflict won by the United States within hours of its start by second-term Republican President Donald Trump, Monday represented 115 days since it began – a nearly four-month journey with hints of stoppage, ceasefires, extended deadlines, and a wedge further driven between political opponents both nationally and internationally.
Vice President J.D. Vance, with the latest update and pivotal voice in peace talks, said Iran did not close the Strait of Hormuz despite some published reports saying otherwise. Monday was Day 77 since the April 7 late-night word from Trump of a double-sided ceasefire; and Day 49 since Secretary of State Marco Rubio at a White House briefing said, “The operation is over.”
Monday also represented the one-year anniversary of War Department Secretary Pete Hegseth saying, “Iran’s nuclear ambitions have been obliterated.” A day later, Trump wrote on social media, “It has been fully agreed by and between Israel and Iran that there will be a complete and total ceasefire.”
The Strait of Hormuz is a waterway for about one-fifth of the world’s crude oil and natural gas. The rate of ships passing through was 100 per day prior to Operation Epic Fury; it remains significantly below that norm.
Combustion engine consumers make up more than 8 million vehicle registrations in the nation’s ninth-largest state.
North Carolina’s electric vehicle charging rate average, according to AAA, is 41.2 cents per kilowatt-hour. The national average is 41.8 cents per kWh. More than 100,000 zero-emission vehicles are registered in the state. At the start of 2025, the state norm was 33.5 cents per kWh and the national was 34.7 cents per kWh.
Only nine states have lower average prices for a gallon of unleaded; 18 are lower for diesel; and 22 plus the District of Columbia are lower in electric. Three states – Hawaii, California and Washington – each remain above $5 per gallon for unleaded and $6 for diesel.
Among the 14 major metro areas in North Carolina, the least expensive average for unleaded gas is in the Rocky Mount market at $3.36. The most expensive is the Durham-Chapel Hill metro area at $3.73.
Diesel is the most consumer-friendly ($4.51) in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton market.
Per Environmental Protection Agency rules, June 1 was the beginning – through Sept. 15 – of the time for less volatile summer blend fuel to be sold. In general, summer fuel is considered 10 cents to 15 cents higher per gallon.