Regular for $4.19 and Diesel for $6.09 at the Exxon near the intersection of I-83 and Route 177 in Fairview Township, York County, on March 30, 2026. (USA Today Network via Reuters Connect)
The average price for a gallon of gas in Pennsylvania has jumped from $3.12 to $4.07 since the US and Israel went to war with Iran on Feb. 28.
With oil prices rising sharply after President Donald Trump vowed to escalate attacks on Iran in his prime time address Wednesday, the average price for a gallon of gas in Pennsylvania hit $4.07 Thursday morning, an increase of almost one dollar since the US and Israel went to war with Iran on Feb. 28.
According to motor club AAA, the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline jumped to over $4.08 on Thursday, up from $3.98 last week—and from $2.98 before the US and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28.
Pennsylvania’s $4.07 average price is up from $3.95 last week, and $3.12 just before the war started.
The last time prices spiked this high in Pennsylvania was in spring and summer 2022, when gas surpassed $5 per gallon during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and lingering pandemic disruptions.
Mifflin County currently has the highest average price for a gallon of gas in the commonwealth at $4.17.
Montour County has the lowest average cost, at $3.91 a gallon.
Here’s a breakdown of the current average gas cost per gallon in Pennsylvania’s top 10 metro areas, with last week’s prices in parentheses:
- Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton: $4.08 ($3.93)
- East Stroudsburg: $4.09 ($3.96)
- Erie: $3.96 ($3.97)
- Harrisburg-Carlisle: $4.09 ($3.92)
- Lancaster: $4.11 ($3.94)
- Philadelphia: $4.13 ($4.00)
- Pittsburgh: $4.05 ($3.96)
- Reading: $4.14 ($3.96)
- Scranton-Wilkes-Barre: $4.10 ($3.94)
- York-Hanover: $4.07 ($3.90)
How is the war impacting gas prices?
In response to US and Israeli attacks, Iran has severely limited traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of global oil passes.
Concerns about how long disruptions could last for the production and transport of oil and natural gas in the region, and the possibility of even more, are what’s driving the higher prices.
President Trump has been pressuring allies and trade partners to send warships and reopen the strait, hoping to lower oil prices.
Britain accused Iran on Thursday of holding the world’s economy hostage as diplomats from more than 40 countries held talks on ways to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The US did not attend the virtual meeting, after Trump made clear that he thinks securing the waterway is not America’s job.
How Pennsylvania lawmakers are trying to ease pain at the pump
Pennsylvania’s gas tax is 57.6 cents per gallon, the fourth-highest gas tax in the country behind only California, Washington, and Illinois.
State and federal gas taxes provide more than 70% of the state’s highway and bridge funding. Some of that money goes to municipalities to support locally owned roads as well as the Pennsylvania Turnpike and the Pennsylvania State Policegas
Democratic state Sen. Lisa Boscola (Lehigh/Northampton) has introduced a proposal to suspend the state’s gas tax for 60 days. A similar effort failed in 2022, when legislators responded to a spike in oil prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
When gas prices jumped just after the war began, Democratic state Reps. Joe Ciresi (Montgomery) and Jim Haddock (Lackawanna/Luzerne) called on the Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday’s office to investigate gas price gouging, alleging that gas prices started rising in Pennsylvania “as soon as the first bomb struck in Iran,” even though gas flowing at the pumps then had already been paid for.
What is the White House saying?
Before the war, President Donald Trump once bragged about keeping gas prices low. But he’s since pivoted to try and paint high oil prices as a positive outcome for the US. Trump said that because the US is now the largest crude producer in the world—“when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money.”
How to find the cheapest gas prices
Whether you’re traveling or at home, the website GasBuddy offers information to find the cheapest prices for gasoline.
Enter your state, city, or ZIP code to find the cheapest fuel prices in the area.
Information from the Associated Press and USA Today via Reuters Connect was used in this report.
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