I was just reading about the current high cost of gasoline. The article stated that prices in California average $2.13 / gallon (highest avg cost) and prices in South Carolina average $1.62 / gallon (lowest avg cost). Why is there such a big difference in these average prices?
A few I know of for sure:
State taxes… Here in New Jersey, there is little gas tax. So, I can fuel up for about 1.50 -1.58 right now. Over in PA, they tax gas like it’s going out of style 
and they pay about 1.80 - 1.90 per gallon.
Distribution… Depending on where you live, it’s easier to get gas to you, keeping costs down.
Winter/Summer blends and offering alternative blends (like CA)…creates more distribution nightmares. Different states have differenct requirements for different blends of fuel at different times of year.
BS. There is one and only one reason why gasoline costs more in California: We have more money. :mad:
Property values are higher so the fixed costs of the service station are higher. Gas is 50 cents per gallon cheaper in Bakersfield than it is in Montecito.
Haj
Not entirely bullshit. There are some states where laws requiring that a certain percentage of all gasoline sold must be ethanol have resulted in higher prices. I know that this happened in Illinois and Wisconsin. Gas companies still wanted to turn a profit on gas sold in those states while they set up the infrastructure for adding ethanol. In the final analysis, though, customer demand has the biggest influence. There are many places in the country where a particular city has prices twenty to thirty cents higher than in surrounding rural areas. Customers could save money by driving ten miles out of town to buy their gas, but most are just too lazy to do so.
20 miles round trip will burn one gallon of gas and take 0.5 hours.
Assume a 15 gallon gas tank and that the gas tank is totally empty when you fill up.
Assume that gas is $1.80/gallon in the city and $2.10 a gallon out of town. Difference is $0.30/gallon.
($0.30/gallon)*(15 gallons) - ($1.80/gallon)(1 gallon burned in the extra driving) = $2.70 saved.
$2.70/0.5 hr = $5.40/hr. Sorry, not worth my time.
Haj