As Georgians fill up for any holiday getaways, they won’t get much of a break at the pump.
After dipping earlier in the week, the average price of a gallon of regular in metro Atlanta edged back up as getaway time approached, rising several cents through the morning Wednesday to hit $4.44 at mid-day.
Highest ever for July 4th
While down about 11 cents a gallon from the record highs earlier in June, it will still mean the highest-ever gas prices for a July 4th, said Patrick De Haan, senior petroleum analyst at Gas Buddy, which uses driver data to track the cost of retail gas across the country.
The range of options for drivers, however, has been wide.
The highest prices in the region included one Shell in Sandy Springs selling gas at $5 a gallon and eight stations around metro Atlanta at $4.99.
Below $4 a gallon
A few Atlanta-area stations were below the $4-a-gallon mark Wednesday, including an Exxon in Dallas charging $3.90 and a QT in Cumming at $3.93, according to GasBuddy.
About 1.5 million Georgians will travel 50 miles or more during the holiday weekend, most of them via car, according to AAA. Nationwide, AAA forecasts 47.9 million people will travel during the weekend.
Remember when?
Those numbers are just shy of pre-pandemic travel, but gas three years ago averaged about $2.75 in metro Atlanta.
Gas prices crashed to about $1.60 a gallon early in the pandemic when demand plummeted. As drivers returned to the road, demand rose faster than production and prices climbed to $2.91 a gallon by July 4th of last year.
They kept rising, then spiked when Russia invaded Ukraine, eventually hitting record highs.
Average metro Atlanta gas prices, one gallon of regular
Wednesday: $4.44
Week ago: $4.44
Month ago: $4.12
Six months ago: $3.13
Year ago: $2.91
Two years ago: $1.93
Three years ago: $2.75
Four years ago: $2.77
Five years ago: $2.19
Source: GasBuddy
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