President Joe Biden's historic decision to end his bid for reelection and drop out of the 2024 race for the White House undoubtedly has had far-reaching implications. But for now, you won't see that reflected at the pump.
The national average for a gallon of regular unleaded was $3.49 on Tuesday, according to GasBuddy. That's down just 1.8 cents from a week ago and 6 cents from the same time last year.
Analysts don't expect to see much change in the coming weeks, despite Biden's big announcement. That's because the outlook for gas prices is mainly driven by energy-market fundamentals rather than "political discourse," Kenny Zhu, an income research analyst at Global X ETFs, told MarketWatch.
"The amount of time and effort required to influence U.S. gasoline markets is enormous [with] significant lag times before they're ever felt by the end consumer," Zhu said.
In fact, we could even see pump prices continue to slide as summer goes on due to slumping demand.
"Most of the country has seen a reprieve from rising gasoline prices, thanks to weaker-than-expected gasoline demand, building supplies and a quiet period in the tropics," Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said in a statement. "For now, as we approach the end of summer vacations, I'm hopeful gas prices will continue to edge slightly lower in the week ahead."
Hawaii currently leads the nation in high gas prices with an average of $4.67 per gallon, according to AAA.
Top 10 most expensive markets
1. Hawaii - $4.67
2. California - $4.66
3. Washington - $4.25
4. Illinois - $3.97
5. Oregon - $3.95
6. Nevada - $3.93
7. Alaksa - $3.80
8. Washington, D.C. - $3.72
9. Michigan - $3.68
10. Indiana - $3.67
On the flip side, the cheapest gas is in Mississippi, where the average price is nearly two dollars cheaper than Hawaii at $2.98 per gallon, per AAA.
Top 10 least expensive markets
1. Mississippi - $2.98
2. Louisiana - $3.08
3. Oklahoma - $3.08
4. Texas - $3.09
5. Tennessee - $3.11
6. Arkansas - $3.13
7. Alabama - $3.15
8. Kansas - $3.15
9. South Carolina - $3.20
10. Missouri - $3.20