Still more than $3 in California.

California is tier 3 gas which is more costly to produce. I think the rest of the US has to 2025 to change over.

Doesn't California have crazy fuel taxes? Or is there some other reason for their always high prices?

"Crazy" isn't the best choice of words. It has a loaded (negative) connotation.

California has high fuel taxes relative to other US states. It has low fuel taxes compared to most other countries. From random source [1], California is $0.35 per gallon. Fuel taxes in Canada vary from $0.64 to $1.55 per US gallon [2].

[1] https://www.salestaxhandbook.com/california/gasoline-fuel

[2] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_fuel_taxes_in_Canada

Right now in vancouver bc, lowest I seen is 0.934$ cad per liter.

That's about $2.51 USD/galon.

We had the highest gas in north America for awhile (we might still do) in part taxes... we were one of first unfortunate folks to have high taxes and carbon taxes for years.

-i have paid more than 5$ USD/gallon for 91 octane gas =/

Without getting too far off topic: I sincerely wish we had higher taxes on fuel in the rest of Canada (and commensurate increase in relief for lower income folks whom it would disproportionately affect). Everyone complains about the price of gas, but no one cares to change their behaviour and purchasing habits in response. I drive the smallest, most fuel efficient hatchback I could buy 8 years ago, and intend to buy an electric car whenever I move on from this one. I do it for environmental reasons, but the economics don't hurt, either! I've saved 4000+ liters of gas compared to the SUVs/MUVs that most people buy these days.

Don’t fret, it was $5.09 here a couple years ago. And we don’t even have the high fuel taxes :/

Yeah, we have pretty high fuel taxes but it's a good deterrent for driving since we have high smog too. Adding taxes and having high emissions standards really helped reduce a ton of smog in the air since the 80s

In the summer we use a special blend of gas that costs more due the heat causing an inversion(?) I think

High smog in all of California? Or just in those awful cities? Seems crazy to dictate taxes across the entire of a large state just because the urban areas have smog.

Urban areas tend to have higher smog concentrations, but most gases aren't known for their tendency to avoid travel and diffusion. Emissions have non-local effects. Some might even say global.

Additionally, gas taxes are about the most straightforward road use fee right now.

Still, non-metro areas tend to get a break. Never understood exactly why but my theory is either additional county/muni taxes, or real estate tends to be cheaper and with it station overhead. This goes out the window if it's an isolated refill chance, though, in which case it's whatever the market will bear.

No, gas tax in California is just 2 cents higher per gallon than in Pennsylvania, while the price at the pump is 80 cents higher (as per https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/02/06/states-with-... ). The oil companies claim it has to do with the special formulation decreasing the competition in the local market. Then again, maybe they're successfully acting as a cartel.

This article is a good summary of the various factors:

https://www.kqed.org/news/11755264/why-is-gas-so-expensive-i...

Special formulation for gas limits supply as well.

In Sacramento area it's like 2.40, I have seen it as low as 2.19 at the cheapest place.

$2.40 to $2.60 in San Jose, CA.

This is mostly due to tax.

similar - places around us (outside raleigh) are still $1.89 last several days.

this is likely due to lower demand still buying through gas from weeks prior. Prices are usually updated at the pump when a new truck brings a new delivery.

apex costco - $1.49