10 States with the Highest Gas Taxes

Fortunately for drivers, the federal government’s gas tax hasn’t budged from 18.4 cents per gallon since 1993. However, every state and the District of Columbia add their own taxes, too, ranging from 14.66 cents a gallon in Alaska to 61.20 cents a gallon in California.

Whether you’re simply saving a few bucks while road-tripping or saving big bucks on regular fill-ups all year long, crossing state lines for gas can pay off. For someone who drives 12,000 miles a year in a car that averages 25 miles per gallon, for example, paying an extra 34 cents per gallon of gas — the difference in state taxes between California and Nevada — would cost about $163 more a year. (Yes, we realize other factors will narrow that theoretical price gap.)

A reminder, though: U.S. gas taxes are among the world’s lowest. In Canada, the federal tax is roughly double what it is in the U.S., and provincial taxes can be steep as well; Ontario’s is 55 cents per gallon (or roughly 41 cents per gallon in U.S. dollars).

Here are the 10 states with the highest gas taxes, including a look at how the states do on other big tax metrics, such as sales tax.

Gas and diesel prices are from the American Petroleum Institute. Sales taxes are from the Tax Foundation and, when listed as "average," represent a population-weighted value meant to capture local option taxes. Tobacco and vapor taxes are from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids as well as individual state tax websites.

1 of 10

New Jersey

Minale Tattersfield via Flickr

State Fuel Tax: $0.4140 gasoline, $0.4850 diesel

State Sales Tax: 6.625%

Tobacco Taxes:

• Cigarettes and little cigars: $2.70 per pack
• Snuff: $0.75 per ounce
• Cigars: 30% of the wholesale price
• Chewing and smoking tobacco: 30% of the wholesale price
• Vapor products: Closed systems, $0.10 per milliliter; Containers, 10% of the wholesale sales price

For details on other state taxes see the complete guide to taxes in New Jersey.

2 of 10

Michigan

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State Fuel Tax: $0.4198 gasoline, $0.4344 diesel

State Sales Tax: 6.00%

Tobacco Taxes:

• Cigarettes: $2.00 per pack
• Other tobacco products: 32% of the wholesale price

For details on other state taxes see the complete guide to taxes in Michigan.

3 of 10

Florida

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State Fuel Tax: $0.4229 gasoline, $0.3527 diesel

Average Sales Tax: 7.05%

Tobacco Taxes:

• Cigarettes: $1.34 per pack
• Cigars: No tax
• Other tobacco products: 85% of the wholesale price

For details on other state taxes see the complete guide to taxes in Florida.

4 of 10

New York

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State Fuel Tax: $0.4503 gasoline, $0.4481 diesel

Average Sales Tax: 8.52%

Tobacco Taxes:

• Cigarettes and little cigars: $4.35 per pack (in New York City, an extra $1.50 per pack is due)
• Moist snuff: $2 per container one ounce or less, $2 per ounce for larger containers
• Cigars: 75% of the wholesale price; however, a complex discount program makes the effective rate about 30%.
• Other tobacco products: 75% of the wholesale price
• Vapor products: 20% of the retail price

For details on other state taxes see the complete guide to taxes in New York.

5 of 10

Indiana

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State Fuel Tax: $0.4662 gasoline, $0.5000 diesel

State Sales Tax: 7.00%

Tobacco Taxes:

• Cigarettes: $1.00 per pack
• Moist snuff: $0.40 per ounce
• Other tobacco products: 24% of the wholesale price

For details on other state taxes see the complete guide to taxes in Indiana.

6 of 10

Hawaii

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State Fuel Tax: $0.4837 gasoline, $0.5043 diesel

Average Sales Tax: 4.44%*

Tobacco Taxes:

• Cigarettes and little cigars: $3.20 per pack
• Cigars: 50% of the wholesale price
• Other tobacco products: 70% of the wholesale price

*Hawaii’s sales tax is computed on virtually every transaction in the state, and so has a much greater pocketbook effect than the percentage would suggest.

For details on other state taxes see the complete guide to taxes in Hawaii.

7 of 10

Washington

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State Fuel Tax: $0.4940 gasoline, $0.4940 diesel

Average Sales Tax: 9.21%

Tobacco Taxes:

• Cigarettes and little cigars: $3.03 per pack
• Moist snuff: $2.53 per 1.2-ounce container
• Cigars: 95% of sale price, with a cap of $0.75 per cigar
• Other tobacco products: 95% of the wholesale price
• Vapor products: Containers larger than five milliliters are taxed at $0.09 per milliliter; all others, $0.27 per milliliter

For details on other state taxes see the complete guide to taxes in Washington.

8 of 10

Illinois

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State Fuel Tax: $0.5365 gasoline, $0.6190 diesel

Average Sales Tax: 9.08%

Tobacco Taxes:

• Cigarettes and little cigars: $2.98 per pack, Cook County has an additional tax of $3.00. Three localities, all in Cook County, add to that: Chicago ($1.18) Evanston ($0.50) and Cicero ($0.16). A pack purchased in Chicago has the highest total tax in the country: $7.16 per pack.
• Moist snuff: $0.30 per ounce
• Other tobacco products: 36% of the wholesale price
• E-cigarettes: 15% of wholesale price/$0.20 per milliliter in Cook County/$0.80 per unit plus $0.55 per milliliter in Chicago

For details on other state taxes see the complete guide to taxes in Illinois.

9 of 10

Pennsylvania

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State Fuel Tax: $0.5870 gasoline, $0.7520 diesel

Average Sales Tax: 6.34%

Tobacco Taxes:

• Cigarettes and little cigars: $2.60 per pack. The City of Philadelphia levies an additional $2.00 local tax per pack
• Cigars: No tax
  • Other tobacco products: 55 cents per ounce
  • Vapor products: 40% of the wholesale price

  For details on other state taxes see the complete guide to taxes in Pennsylvania.

10 of 10

California

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State Fuel Tax: $0.6060 gasoline, $0.8630 diesel

Average Sales Tax: 8.66%

Tobacco Taxes:

• Cigarettes: $2.87 per pack. Localities are not allowed to add to this, but San Francisco tacks on a $0.75 “Cigarette Litter Abatement Fee.”
• Other tobacco products and vapor products: 63% of the wholesale price

For details on other state taxes see the complete guide to taxes in California.