The U.S. average retail price for regular-grade gasoline was $4.07 per gallon on the Monday before Labor Day, according to an in-brief analysis published September 4 by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Regional averages diverged sharply from that national figure. The West Coast averaged $5.21 per gallon and the Rocky Mountains $4.27 per gallon, both above the national price. The Midwest averaged $3.85 per gallon, the East Coast $3.94 per gallon and the Gulf Coast $3.62 per gallon.
The EIA said regional gasoline prices vary because of local supply and demand conditions, state fuel specifications and state taxes.
Refining margins running about $1 a gallon above last year
The agency attributed the elevated pump prices in part to crack spreads, which it describes as indicators of the profitability of refining crude oil into petroleum products such as gasoline and diesel. One common version of the measure subtracts the spot market price of a gallon of crude oil from the wholesale price of a gallon of refined product.
Since May, the gasoline crack spread at New York Harbor has averaged about $1 per gallon higher than in 2025, when the spread peaked around 60 cents per gallon, the EIA said. The agency said the spreads are elevated primarily because of tight gasoline supplies globally.
According to the EIA, those tight supplies stem from disruptions to refining activity in Russia, China and the Middle East. The agency said the disruptions have both raised the cost of imported gasoline and increased demand for U.S. gasoline exports.
Imports down 32% from the five-year average
Since March, total U.S. imports of gasoline — including finished gasoline and blending components — have run 32% below the five-year average for 2021 through 2025, the EIA said. The East Coast and West Coast rely on imports to supplement local production.
Shipments from the U.S. Gulf Coast on vessels operating under limited Jones Act waivers have partially offset the reduced imports, according to the agency.
Distillate margins higher still
Crack spreads are higher for distillate fuel oil and jet fuel than for gasoline, the EIA said, because the disrupted refineries tended to supply larger volumes of those fuels to global markets. Since March, the New York Harbor distillate fuel oil crack spread has averaged 74 cents per gallon more than the gasoline spread.
U.S. refiners have shifted product yields to maximize production of distillate and jet fuel in response to the higher spreads, according to the agency.
In the week ending August 28, U.S. distillate inventories were 14% below the 2021–2025 five-year average, compared with gasoline inventories at 6% below average.
The EIA said international demand for distillate fuel is particularly elevated because of lost production from refineries in Russia and the Middle East that produce relatively large yields of that fuel.
How the components are measured
In the EIA’s accounting, the refinery margin is the difference between the price of a gallon of wholesale gasoline at New York Harbor and the spot market price of a gallon of Brent crude oil. The category the agency labels retail, distribution and taxes — covering retail margins, distribution costs, and federal and state taxes — is the difference between the U.S. average regular gasoline retail price and the New York Harbor wholesale price. The crude oil component reflects the spot market price of a gallon of Brent.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, “Elevated crack spreads and crude oil prices contribute to higher prices at the pump” (Today in Energy, in-brief analysis; principal contributor Jimmy Troderman), released September 4, 2026. Data sources cited are the EIA Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update and Bloomberg L.P. The EIA notes that data for the week ending September 5 are estimated based on data through September 3.