PHOENIX — There is no denying this has been a wild year for gas prices.
The average price at the pump in Arizona hit record highs in June, and fell slightly during the summer before jumping again in September.
Prices have been on a gradual decline since.
The gas price tracking company GasBuddy tracks daily averages for gas prices across the country.
The rollercoaster in Arizona began in March with the average daily price of regular rising above four dollars due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Prices peaked at $5.70 in June before dropping again to under four dollars by late August.
It then rose a dollar in September and has since fallen back to about $4.
One interesting data point of the wild ride is the gap between the average prices in Arizona’s two largest markets.
GasBuddy’s five-year daily price history shows that the widest and most narrow gap between Phoenix and Tucson both occurred in 2022.
In early March, during the first runup in gas prices the difference between Phoenix and Tucson gas shrunk to $0.05.
The widest gap happened in October when Phoenicians were paying almost $1.60 more than Tucsonans for a gallon of regular gas.
Today, the gap is about seventy cents, more than double the five-year average.
According to data from AAA, regional averages in Maricopa County have fallen about $0.50 in the past month.
Stations in the East Valley are averaging $4.04.
People filling up in Glendale are paying the lowest average for regular at $3.88.
The highest average prices in the Valley are found in Scottsdale where stations are averaging $4.23. Phoenix gas prices are averaging $3.96.
Outside of the Valley of the Sun, gas prices are also falling but not as dramatically.
Tucson motorists are paying $3.38.
Yuma has one of the highest averages in southern Arizona at $3.83.
In the northern portion of the state, Flagstaff stations average $3.99 and Prescott is $3.93.
The drop in prices outside of Maricopa County compared to last month ranges from fifteen cents to twenty-six cents.
Gas price analysts at Gasbuddy expect prices to continue to fall in December. The U.S. average could fall under three dollars by the first week of January.
