Gas Taxes by State [Updated March 2023]

All states have taxes. Some states have significantly higher taxes than other states. Types of taxes include: property taxes, income taxes, and sales and excise tax. A gas tax, or fuel tax, is an excise tax imposed on the sale of fuel. A gas tax is different for gasoline, diesel, aviation fuel, and jet fuel. In the United States, the federal motor fuel tax rates are gasoline tax: $0.184/gallon, diesel tax: $0.244/gallon, aviation fuel tax: $0.194/gallon, and jet fuel tax: $0.219/gallon. This article focuses on gasoline and diesel taxes.

Gas Taxes by State

The average gas tax by the state is 29.15 cents per gallon. Twenty-three states have gas taxes higher than that average, and 27 states have gas taxes lower than that average. This means that the gas tax is relatively well distributed throughout the U.S.—it skewed only slightly toward states with lower taxes. The Gas Tax by state ranges from $0.15 in Alaska to $0.58 in Pennsylvania. The five states with the highest gas taxes are:

1. Pennsylvania ($0.61)
2. California ($0.54)
3. Washington ($0.49)
4. Illinois ($0.42)
5. Maryland ($0.42)

The five states with the lowest gas taxes are:

1. Alaska ($0.08)
2. Connecticut ($0.15)
3. Hawaii ($0.16)
4. New Mexico ($0.17)
5. New York ($0.18)

Alaska also has the lowest diesel tax at $0.08, and Pennsylvania also has the highest diesel tax at $0.78. The five states with the highest diesel tax are:

1. Pennsylvania ($0.78)
2. Indiana ($0.55)
3. Washington ($0.49)
4. Illinois ($0.49)
5. New Jersey ($0.49)