Gas Tax Changes by State in 2026: Which States Raised or Lowered Fuel Taxes?

Between January 2025 and January 2026, 27 states and Washington, D.C. changed how much gas tax drivers pay at the pump. Twenty-four states left their rates alone. Most of these changes were small enough that drivers probably never noticed. A few states made moves big enough to matter.

Washington had the largest increase in the country, up 6.2 cents per gallon. Michigan came in second at 5.6 cents. New Jersey was third at 4.2 cents. On the other end, Kentucky had the largest decrease, down 1.4 cents.

Those three states got most of the attention when this data came out. But when we went back through the full table state by state, two other states posted increases just as large, and neither one made headlines. More on that below.

How we checked the numbers

We used the U.S. Energy Information Administration's state motor fuel tax tables. This piece compares the January 2025 table to the January 2026 table, which the EIA revised in March 2026.

Every change in this article was calculated straight from those published tables, not from news summaries about them. That matters, because at least one state's own figures were corrected after they were first reported, and we wanted to work from the final numbers.

We measured what the EIA calls the Total State gasoline tax. This includes the excise tax plus other charges the state adds on: inspection fees, environmental fees, and sales-tax-equivalent charges. We left out the federal gas tax of 18.4 cents per gallon, since it is the same in every state and doesn't explain why one state costs more than another at the pump.

Data Source: This analysis uses the Federal and State Motor Fuels Taxes tables published by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, comparing the January 2025 edition to the January 2026 edition (revised March 2026).

Why gas tax numbers differ across websites

If you've ever looked up your state's gas tax on two different sites and gotten two different answers, this is usually why. Some sites report only the excise tax. Others, including this analysis, report the Total State tax, which includes every mandatory state charge on a gallon of gas.

The gap between those two numbers can be small or it can be large, depending on the state.

New Jersey is the clearest example. Its excise tax is only 10.5 cents, one of the lowest in the country. But its Total State tax is 49.2 cents, because most of what New Jersey charges comes from a separate fee called the Petroleum Products Gross Receipts Tax, not the excise tax itself. A site that reports only the excise number would make New Jersey look like a low-tax state. It isn't.

Texas and Connecticut, on the other hand, don't add much on top of their excise tax, so both numbers land close together.

Where gas taxes rose the fastest

Washington's increase is almost entirely a straight tax hike, not a pile of small fees. The state's own excise tax went from 49.4 cents to 55.4 cents, a 6-cent jump on its own. The handful of smaller charges Washington also collects, like its Hazardous Substance Tax and Oil Spill fees, barely moved. If you see a source blaming Washington's jump on a mix of fees, that's not quite right. It was mostly one line item.

Michigan's story is different. The state ended its old prepaid sales tax on fuel starting January 1, 2026, and raised the excise tax to make up for it and then some. Michigan's Total State gas tax went from 47.8 cents to 53.4 cents.

New Jersey's increase came from its quarterly-adjusted Petroleum Products Gross Receipts Tax, which moved from 34.4 cents to 38.6 cents on gasoline. That single tax now makes up most of what New Jersey charges on a gallon of gas, more than three times its actual excise tax. You can check your own state's gas tax rate or look up New Jersey's page directly for the full breakdown.

Two states nobody was talking about

Here's something we didn't expect to find. Mississippi and Rhode Island each raised their gas tax by exactly 3.0 cents per gallon, the same size jump as several states that made national news. Neither one got much coverage.

Mississippi's Total State tax went from 18.4 cents to 21.4 cents, driven by a straight excise tax increase from 18.0 cents to 21.0 cents. Rhode Island's went from 38.1 cents to 41.1 cents, on an identical excise increase from 37.0 cents to 40.0 cents.

Put another way: if you only followed headlines about Washington, Michigan, and New Jersey, you'd have missed two states where drivers are paying the same extra 3 cents a gallon. Neither state has the population or media market of the states above them, which is likely why their increases went mostly unnoticed. You can check the Mississippi gas tax page or the Rhode Island gas tax page for current rates.

Where gas taxes fell

Seven states lowered their gas tax between January 2025 and January 2026.

Most of these decreases weren't the result of a new law. They came from formulas already written into state tax code. Kentucky adjusts its rate every year based on the average wholesale price of fuel, so when wholesale prices drop, the tax follows. New York does something similar with its Petroleum Business Tax, which adjusts automatically each January.

That's worth knowing, because it means a falling gas tax in one of these states doesn't necessarily reflect a policy choice. It's closer to a built-in thermostat than a decision made by lawmakers.

Highest and lowest gas taxes in 2026

Mississippi shows up on both lists, which sounds like a contradiction but isn't. Its tax rose 3.0 cents this year, one of the biggest jumps in the country, but it started from such a low base that it's still one of the 10 cheapest states in the country to buy gas, tax-wise.

Note that Arizona, not Arkansas, holds the fourth spot on the lowest-tax list. Arkansas's 25.0-cent rate is actually a bit above the middle of the pack once every state is lined up.

What this means for drivers

Small per-gallon changes add up over a year of driving.

If you want to see where your own state lands, check the state-by-state gas tax rates or estimate your own annual cost with our Gas Tax Calculator.

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