Every number on FuelPriceScout comes from a public source, and we show the date next to it. Here is where our data comes from, how often we update it and what its limits are.
Gas and diesel prices
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update. The EIA surveys retail gas stations every Monday and publishes average prices for the U.S., seven regions, nine states and ten cities, usually the same afternoon.
How we use it: we update our prices each week after the EIA release. Nine states (California, Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Texas and Washington) have their own EIA average. For every other state we show the average of its EIA region and say so. Regional averages are usually within a few cents of the state average, but not always.
Cheapest and most expensive states
Source: AAA Gas Prices, which publishes daily state averages. We use AAA’s figures for our top 10 lists and show the date.
Crude oil
Source: EIA spot prices for weekly averages of U.S. (WTI) and Brent crude. We also link to the live futures pages of CME Group and ICE.
Gas taxes
Source: Tax Foundation for state gas tax rates, plus the federal gas tax of 18.4 cents a gallon.
Best day to buy gas
Source: GasBuddy’s annual day-of-week study. We summarize the findings and credit GasBuddy; we don’t copy its price data.
Propane prices
Source: EIA Heating Oil and Propane Update. The EIA publishes weekly residential propane prices from October through March. Grill tank prices vary by store, so we use typical ranges from retailers and industry sources and say so.
Gas mileage
Source: FuelEconomy.gov, run by the U.S. Department of Energy and the EPA. Our trip calculator loads official city, highway and combined MPG ratings for cars from 1990 on.
Gas station locations
Source: OpenStreetMap contributors, a free map made by volunteers, searched with OpenStreetMap Nominatim. Locations for ZIP codes come from Zippopotam.us and for place names from OpenStreetMap Nominatim. We don’t collect prices from individual stations.
Rewards programs and memberships
We check fees, discounts and terms on each program’s official website and note when we last reviewed them. Terms can change without notice.
Corrections
If you find an error, email contact@fuelpricescout.com with the page link. We review every report and update the page when a correction is confirmed.