Gasoline prices across the country remain above $4 a gallon, and motorists across the country say they’re already starting to change their spending habits if they can.
Some say they have little choice but to keep paying extra. “I have to spend the money. I have no other choice,” said Miranda Alcala, a Queens resident who drives between the sections for work.
U.S. gas prices have risen nearly $1 a gallon since early March, averaging $4.14 a gallon nationwide as of Tuesday afternoon, according to the American Automobile Association. The increase comes as the war with Iran has pushed up oil prices and increased the risk of supply disruptions.
AAA reports that driver behavior often begins to change around $4 a gallon, with about 59% of Americans saying they would change their driving habits or lifestyle at that level. When the price reaches $5, that share increases to about three-quarters.
CNBC spoke to drivers at gas stations across the country. They say they try to cut back where they can by driving less, combining trips and cutting other expenses, but there is little room to avoid higher costs in their commutes and daily lives.
New York: “There’s no other way”
At Brooklyn gas stations, regular gasoline on Thursday cost about $3.89 a gallon in cash and $4.09 on credit.
Alcala, who works two jobs at a restaurant and drives between Queens, Brooklyn and Long Island, said his gas costs have nearly doubled in recent weeks. “I used to pay like $20, $25 for a full tank and now I’m paying $40, which is crazy,” she said.
She said the additional costs were unavoidable as taking the train was not a viable option.
Alcala said costs have added up to her overall budget, from gas to food. “Right now I just cook at home because it’s cheap,” she said, adding that she might go out with friends less if gas prices continue to rise.
At the same gas station, Queens mother Barbara Skenderis, 53, said driving was not optional. “I need gas. How else will I get around? Take a train?” she said.
Skenderis said he often takes long trips around the city, including taking his children to baseball games and practices, and as a result he goes hungry more often.
At a BP station in Queens, the price of regular gas on Thursday was $4.09 cash or $4.19 with credit. Deron Davis, a Brooklyn-based carpenter who drives his car every day and pays for his own fuel, said he was caught off guard by the price when he stopped to fill up his car.
The 42-year-old estimates he spends about $60 a week on gas, and said the prices at gas stations in Astoria were much higher than what he typically pays in Brooklyn. Rather than fill up there, he put in just enough money to return to a cheaper station.
Davis said prices feel high at current levels: “No one wants to go above $4.”
Washington, D.C.: “We have to rein in the things we normally do.”
A man looks at the price of gas posted at a gas pump at an Exxon gas station in Washington, DC, on March 13, 2026.
Heather Deal | Getty Images News | Getty Images
In Logan Circle, just north of downtown Washington, D.C., regular gasoline was listed for $4.09 a gallon and premium for $4.79 as of Thursday.
Tanner Harris, a 31-year-old lawyer who lives in Bethesda, Maryland, and commutes into the city several days a week, said rising gas prices are already impacting her household finances, but her schedule leaves few alternatives.
“I work late most days, so I don’t have much control over driving,” she said, adding that she is therefore “hesitant to rely on public transportation.”
For some, the changes are more discretionary. Zainab Kareem, 70, a former Washington, D.C., resident who drives primarily for leisure, said she has already started driving less.
“I have to stop driving to other places that I would normally go to because the gas prices are really high,” she says.
Corinne Kandilis, 30, of Washington, D.C., said she works for the government and drives every weekday, but limits her driving outside of commuting hours and is more concerned about how rising fuel costs will affect the prices of other goods.
She said she hasn’t made any cuts yet, but is preparing to adjust spending. “We’re taking a hard look at the budget and seeing how much we can cut,” Kandiris said.
Nashville: ‘Exorbitant prices’
At the Kroger Fuel Center, about five miles from downtown Nashville, the price of regular gasoline was $3.89 per gallon on Thursday morning, April 2, after skyrocketing in recent weeks, according to AAA.
“It’s a crazy price,” said Mary Sawyers, 63, a retired Nashville resident who helps care for a large family’s children.
Ms. Sawyers drives her family’s SUV to shuttle her three children to and from school, daycare, and other activities. She said she doesn’t usually pay for gas herself, but the cost would be difficult to absorb.
“If I had my own car now, I think I would have moved out of town,” she says.
Mothers whose children rely on cars for work aren’t letting up.
Sawyers said the children’s mother was “not mentally affected at all.” The mother is said to be concentrating on going to work and picking up her children.
Delaware and Maryland: ‘The cost has to be absorbed somewhere’
At Royal Farms Station in Middletown, Delaware, the price of regular gasoline was $3.89 per gallon on Wednesday, April 1st.
Rebecca Johnson, 66, a semi-retired woman who works part-time in social services, said the increase in gas prices was a “huge increase.”
“It’s affected me, but not so much that I have to cut back on my medication or my diet,” Johnson said. “Right now I just have to watch where I go.”
Instead of taking the highway and paying the toll, she started taking back roads. “You trade off convenience for an extra minute or two, but the cost has to be absorbed somewhere,” Johnson said.
Some drivers say they are absorbing the latest hike and are bracing for further price increases.
“It’s going to cost more money, but I’m going to pay for it because I need gas no matter what,” said Kyle Fletcher, 34, at Royal Farms in Cecilton, Maryland. The price of a gallon of regular gasoline last Wednesday was $3.99.
“I don’t think about it too much. I just pull over and get gas, but of course I hope (the prices) go down.”
So far, he said, there has been no need to adjust the budget. “But if their (gas price) predictions are correct, I’m confident it will happen soon,” said Fletcher, who works in the construction industry.
At Molly’s Mart in Kennedyville, Maryland, about 10 miles away, the price of a gallon of regular gasoline was $4.19 per gallon.
Mark Gerber, 62, said rising costs “have a negative impact on everyone in the middle class.”
“They’re already eating us up with groceries, now they’re eating us up with oil,” said Garber, an independent Medicare broker.
He said he was responding to rising prices by driving less. “This ensures one trip instead of three,” he said.
Los Angeles: “Pretty crazy” at about $7 a gallon
On Monday, regular gasoline was priced at $6.99 a gallon in cash or $7.19 with credit or debit at Shell stations in downtown Los Angeles.
Emmanuel Gonzalez, 28, a contractor who recently moved from Virginia and works on flooring, painting and drywall projects, said the price difference is shocking.
“I’m used to $4.20 and $4.30 (in Virginia), so I think moving to the West Coast and dealing with $6.99 and $7.09 is pretty crazy,” he said.
Gonzalez said managers have asked employees to avoid crowding in expensive areas such as Downtown Los Angeles and Koreatown. But with the tank nearly empty, he said he had little choice.
“I was told to go somewhere else, but if I run out of gas, my only option is to go to the local Shell in downtown Los Angeles,” he said. Still, he added, he only put $10 worth of gas in his tank to go to a cheap gas station.
Rising fuel costs are also changing the way we schedule work. Gonzalez said his supervisors are encouraging crew members to complete the job in one visit to avoid round trips.
“My manager tells me not to waste a lot of time going to the property and having to come back and not finishing the job by the time I get back because gas is expensive. At that point, we’re just losing profit margins,” he said.
At a USA gas station in the Lincoln Heights area, regular gasoline was priced at $5.79 per gallon.
Martin Diaz, 17, a recent high school graduate who lives in the area, said rising prices have changed the way he drives and spends money.
“I used to go out a lot and waste money. Now I have to think, ‘Okay, do I really need this?'” he says. He said he is changing the way he drives to stretch each gas tank further.
“That’s the worst,” he said. “I’m wondering when it’s going to go down, but I think everyone is like that.”
