These States Now Above $4 for Gas as Ukraine Crisis Creates Historic Surge

Amid the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, gas prices in the U.S. continue to surge to historic highs in every state.

As of Tuesday, the national average price for a gallon of gas in the U.S. hit an all-time high of $4.17, shooting past the previous record of $4.11 in 2008. As a result, AAA data collected by Newsweek shows that the average prices in most states are now above $4 a gallon.

Also on Tuesday, President Joe Biden announced a ban on oil and energy imports from Russia as a consequence of its continued invasion of Ukraine. This will likely mean continually rising gas prices in the U.S., as Russia is the third-biggest producer of oil in the world, behind the U.S. itself and Saudi Arabia.

"The decision today is not without cost here at home," Biden said in a statement from the White House. "Putin's war is already hurting American families at the gas pump. Since Putin began his military build-up at Ukrainian borders, just since then, the price of gas at the pump in America went up 75 cents and with this action it's going to go up further. I'm going to do everything I can to minimize Putin's price hike here at home."

Based on the AAA data, 28 states and Washington, D.C., have average gas prices of over $4. The states are as follows: Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, and Washington.

Among those states, California, long known for its high cost-of-living across the board, leads the pack as the only one with an average higher than $5, a staggering $5.44. It is trailed by Hawaii ($4.72), Nevada ($4.67), Oregon ($4.59), Washington ($4.55), and Alaska ($4.50), with common threads being West Coast states and states disconnected from the contiguous U.S.

The lowest average over $4 can be found in Utah, $4.01, followed by North Carolina ($4.03), Georgia ($4.06), and Idaho ($4.06).

The following states' average prices remain under $4, as of Tuesday: Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Oklahoma trails all other states with the lowest average price, $3.72, narrowly beating Missouri at $3.73. Oklahoma, according to World Population Review, also has the second-lowest cost-of-living in the U.S., beaten only by Mississippi. Ohio, on the other hand, has the highest average price under $4 with $3.99 a gallon.