Idaho’s statewide average for regular gasoline crossed $5 a gallon Thursday, landing at $5.0028, while diesel reached an all-time state high of $6.6467, according to AAA’s Sept. 24 price report.
The regular-gas milestone will be visible on station signs. The diesel record may reach much farther. Idaho families, farmers, freight operators, contractors and small businesses all depend on fuel to keep work moving, and the latest numbers leave less room in household and operating budgets.
Regular gasoline crossed a line drivers notice
AAA listed Idaho’s regular-gas average at $5.0028 on Sept. 24. That was up from $4.9986 one day earlier, $4.8563 one week earlier and $4.4936 one month earlier. A year ago, the statewide average was $3.5141.
At Thursday’s average, a 20-gallon purchase costs about $100.06. The same amount at last year’s average cost about $70.28, a difference of $29.77 each time a driver buys 20 gallons. That is the kind of increase families feel without needing an economist to explain it.
The statewide figure also hides a wide local spread. AAA reported regular gasoline at about $5.10 in Twin Falls and Boise, $5.08 in Pocatello and $5.04 in Idaho Falls. Lewiston stood near $4.64, while Coeur d’Alene was near $4.62.
Thursday’s regular-gas price was not an Idaho record. AAA lists the state’s all-time high for regular unleaded at $5.2519, set on July 1, 2022. The significance of this week’s number is that Idaho crossed $5 again during a part of the year when drivers normally expect prices to ease.
Diesel is the bigger cost shock
Diesel reached $6.6467 statewide Thursday, the highest Idaho average in AAA’s record. It was $6.3313 one week earlier, $5.4982 one month earlier and $3.8255 one year earlier.
At the current average, 100 gallons of diesel costs $664.67. At the year-ago average, the same purchase cost $382.55. The difference is $282.12.
That matters well beyond the fuel bill for a single truck. Diesel powers farm equipment, construction machinery and much of the freight network that moves goods across a large, rural state. Higher operating costs can squeeze local employers before they ever show up as a separate line on a customer’s receipt.
For Idaho’s working economy, diesel is the number to watch. A record price can affect the cost of getting crops out of a field, materials to a job site and products onto store shelves.
Global disruptions are reaching Idaho pumps
AAA said fuel prices normally decline in the fall as summer travel fades and stations shift to less expensive winter-blend gasoline. That seasonal relief has been overwhelmed by higher crude-oil prices and disruptions along major energy routes.
In a Sept. 15 market update, AAA said crude oil had climbed above $100 a barrel after attacks on energy infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, attacks on ships in the Red Sea and continued restrictions on traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. Roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil and refined products normally moves through that narrow passage, according to AAA.
The organization said every $1 increase in crude oil tends to add roughly 2.4 to 2.5 cents to a gallon of gasoline. That helps explain how events thousands of miles away can move the price on an Idaho pump within days.
Domestic production has remained strong. AAA cited federal data showing United States crude output at 13.95 million barrels per day for the week ending Sept. 4, near record levels. Even so, oil is priced in a global market, and shipping risks can reach states far from the ports and refineries first affected.
The pressure now lands on local budgets
Idaho drivers cannot control a shipping lane in the Middle East. They still have to account for the result at home. Families can compare stations and consolidate trips, but farms, freight companies and tradesmen cannot simply stop moving equipment, supplies and people.
That is why the $5 gasoline sign is only half the story. Regular fuel has crossed a threshold every driver recognizes. Record diesel is the cost that can work its way through the rest of Idaho’s economy, one delivery, field and job site at a time.