Gas Prices, Update

[reldnahkram]

State Tax Rates:

CA: 18 cents/gallon
NJ: 10.5 cents/gallon
PA: 26.6 cents/gallon

Assuming all other factors equal, if you have a 19 gallon tank, it's cheaper to pay the 3 bucks to cross the river and get gas than to buy it in PA. But other factors are not equal. IIRC, the gas stations at the intersection of Montgomery and City Line were at 2.05, and there's something out Henderson in the 2.05 range, and I didn't see much in Jersey below 1.95 whenever it was that I was over there.

From FHWA Highway Statistics, Oct. 2003
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/ohim/hs02/mf121t.htm

Comments

[rebeccapaul.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure when you were in NJ, but up here, the ridiculously cheap gas station near us just jumped from $1.91 to $1.95 in the last few days; everything else is at least $1.95 now (a week ago, it was less).

A similar phenomenon happens with highway gas stations in CT as you get closer to the NY border -- they go up very rapidly in price (up a few cents at each rest stop). Of course, there you have the nasty combination of highway prices, going toward a richer area, and going toward a state with a higher tax.