Cost of gas for a road trip, worked out by car and state
The cost of gas for a road trip depends on your car and where you fill up: 3,000 miles at 25 mpg costs $435.84 in Texas and $706.56 in California.
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How do I calculate the gas cost of a trip?How much does it cost to drive 100 miles?Cost of gas for a road trip by stateHow much will a 3,000-mile road trip cost in gas?What real cars cost on real tripsWhat this means for your tripHow we checkedThe cost of gas for a road trip is your miles divided by your car's mpg, times the price per gallon where you drive. With EIA prices for the week of October 26, 2026, a 3,000-mile trip at 25 mpg costs $435.84 in gas in Texas and $706.56 in California.
All prices here are for regular gasoline and are EIA weekly averages for a state or region, not the price at any one station.
How do I calculate the gas cost of a trip?
Divide the trip's miles by your car's mpg to get gallons, then multiply by the price per gallon.
- Find the total miles. For a round trip, double the one-way distance.
- Look up your car's EPA combined mpg on fueleconomy.gov.
- Look up the average price for the state you'll drive through in the EIA Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update.
- Gallons = miles ÷ mpg. Cost = gallons × price.
EPA combined mpg is a starting point. Your real mileage moves with load, speed and air conditioning, so a packed car at highway speed in summer will burn more than the label says.
How much does it cost to drive 100 miles?
At 30 mpg and the US average of $4.269 a gallon, 100 miles takes 3.3 gallons and costs $14.23 in gas. That works out to $0.142 a mile, using EIA's average for the week of October 26, 2026.
Change either number and the answer moves. A thirstier car needs more gallons for the same 100 miles, and a state with pricier gas raises the cost of each one.
Cost of gas for a road trip by state
The state you drive through changes the price of every gallon. In the week of October 26, 2026, EIA's average for a gallon of regular ran from $3.632 in Texas to $5.888 in California.
EIA weekly retail gasoline prices, checked November 1, 2026
New York, at $4.249, sat just under the US average. Ohio, at $4.38, was a little above it.
How much will a 3,000-mile road trip cost in gas?
A 3,000-mile round trip at 25 mpg burns 120 gallons. At EIA's averages for the week of October 26, 2026, that comes to $435.84 in Texas ($3.632 a gallon) and $706.56 in California ($5.888 a gallon). The gap is $270.72 for the same miles in the same car.
Longer trips scale the same way. A 5,000-mile round trip at 34 mpg, priced at Ohio's $4.38 average, uses 147.1 gallons and costs $644.12, or $0.129 a mile.
What real cars cost on real trips
These trips use each model's EPA combined mpg from fueleconomy.gov and the EIA average for where the driving happens, checked November 1, 2026.
| Trip | Car | EPA combined mpg | Price per gallon | Gallons | Gas cost | Per mile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 270 miles round trip, California | 2024 Toyota RAV4 | 29 | $5.888 | 9.3 | $54.82 | $0.203 |
| 900 miles round trip, New York | 2024 Honda CR-V | 34 | $4.249 | 26.5 | $112.47 | $0.125 |
| 2,000 miles one way, Nevada | 2020 Subaru Forester | 29 | $4.868 | 69 | $335.72 | $0.168 |
Trim matters too. The 2024 RAV4 ranges from 28 to 30 mpg by trim, so the same California trip runs $52.99 to $56.78. The 2024 CR-V spans 29 to 40 mpg, which puts its 900-mile trip anywhere from $95.60 to $131.87.
The Forester row is priced at EIA's average for the West Coast region outside California, $4.868 a gallon. People planning a move often ask how much gas a 2,000-mile drive takes. At the Forester's EPA rating and that regional price, the answer is about $336 one way, before a heavy load or high speeds push it up. When two estimates for the same move are far apart, the usual reasons are the mpg each one assumed, the load, and which states the route crosses.
What this means for your trip
Start with your own car's EPA combined mpg and the average price in the states you'll actually drive through. A single national average can be far off: in the week of October 26, 2026, the US figure was $4.269, while California's was $5.888 and Texas's was $3.632. Then leave some room for a loaded car and highway speeds. If the trip is part of holiday travel, our look at Thanksgiving flights covers the flying side.
How we checked
On November 1, 2026, Divux priced each trip with EPA combined mpg from fueleconomy.gov and EIA weekly average prices for regular gasoline for the week of October 26, 2026, from the EIA Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update. Costs are fuel only. Station prices differ from these averages.
Add mcp.divux.si to any AI agent that supports MCP, like Claude, ChatGPT, Grok or Muse, to price your own trip by car and state.
