Gas prices remain below $3 nationally, $4 in Washington

MOSES LAKE — As the year ends, gas prices across the nation are sitting at their lowest. Nationally, the gas average remains under $3 a gallon. Across Washington, although higher than the national average, fuel is sitting under $4 a gallon. 

“For the fifth straight week, the national average price of gasoline has declined, with all but a handful of states seeing prices move lower,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. 

De Haan explained that refineries are running at seasonally high output, and gasoline inventories are building, which has resulted in most states seeing continued declines. There are nearly a dozen states sitting below the $2-per-gallon mark. De Haan said he anticipates this trend continuing until January or February.  

In Grant County, there was a ten-cent decrease from Dec. 15 to the current average prices. The Columbia Basin Herald did not publish a gas report on Dec. 22. As of Dec. 29, prices in the county were sitting at $3.86, the lowest they have been since the beginning of the year. In Jan. 2025, gas prices in the county were sitting at $3.82. 

The most expensive average fuel price in the county happened in September, with prices sitting at $4.58, or 72 cents more expensive than the current price. Throughout the year, Grant County was below the $4 mark in January and December, with the average fuel price sitting above $4 throughout the rest of the year.  

In Adams County, there was a seven-cent decrease from Dec. 15 to the current average of $3.91. As of Dec. 29, prices are sitting at the same average as Jan. 1, 2025. The most expensive gas was found in April when the average in the county got up to $4.72, or 81 cents more expensive than the current price. Adams County has prices below the $4 mark in both January and December. Throughout the rest of the year, the average sat above $4. 

Grant and Adams Counties remain in the middle of the pack for gas prices in the state. King County is the most expensive county this week, sitting at $4.30. Asotin County is the cheapest county, sitting at $3.18. This means there is a range of $1.12 in the state.  

Washington State continued to see lower fuel prices this week, with the average sitting at $3.89, five cents cheaper than last week, the lowest it has been all year. This has been 15 weeks in a row where the state average has decreased this week, marking the second week in a row where the state average is below $4. Washington began the year 2025 with an average fuel price of $3.97. Prices climbed soon after, with Washingtonians only seeing a couple of weeks of gas below $4 a gallon. September was Washington’s most expensive month, with gas reaching $4.66, 77 cents more expensive than the previous month.  

Washington remains the third most expensive state to purchase fuel in, with only Hawaii at $4.41 and California at $4.29 having higher fuel prices in the nation. In mid-September 2025, Washington had its week of fame, though, leading the nation with the highest fuel prices, beating out both California and Hawaii. The following week, California took back the lead, knocking Washington into the second-place seat for one week. By the beginning of October, Washington was back in its third-place seat.

Nationally, gas is also the cheapest it has been all year, with prices sitting at $2.83, three cents cheaper than last week. This is the fifth week in a row that the national average has decreased. At the beginning of 2025, prices in the nation were sitting at $3.04, or 21 cents more expensive than the current. The highest average the nation saw was at the beginning of September, when prices were sitting at $3.20.