Statewide average updated daily • Source: AAA
Hawaii consistently ranks as the most expensive state for gasoline in the entire country — typically running $1.00 to $1.50 above the national average and often exceeding even California prices. The reasons are straightforward but unavoidable — Hawaii is the most geographically isolated state in the nation, located over 2,000 miles from the continental United States in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, with no pipeline connections to anywhere and all fuel arriving by oceangoing tanker ship. The island geography, high taxes, and marine shipping costs combine to make Hawaii the most expensive fuel market in the country by a consistent and significant margin.
Hawaii’s state gas tax is approximately 16 cents per gallon in excise tax, but the state also applies its general excise tax — effectively a sales tax — to gasoline purchases, adding several more cents. County surcharges apply in Honolulu and other counties, pushing the total tax burden to around 60 cents per gallon when all layers are combined.
Beyond taxes, every drop of gasoline sold in Hawaii arrives by tanker ship from refineries on the mainland or in Asia. Hawaii has one refinery — the Par Hawaii refinery in Kapolei on Oahu — but it cannot supply all of the state’s demand, particularly for the neighbor islands. Marine shipping of finished fuel adds significant cost that is simply unavoidable given Hawaii’s location.
Each island is effectively its own isolated fuel market — Maui, the Big Island, Kauai, and Molokai all receive fuel by inter-island barge and tend to run above Oahu prices. Tourism creates sustained high demand from rental cars and visitors that provides no price relief.
Did you know? Hawaii is the only state in the country with no land connection to any other state or country — every gallon of gasoline must arrive by ship across thousands of miles of open ocean, making Hawaii’s fuel supply chain the longest and most expensive of any state. Hawaii has the highest percentage of electric vehicle adoption of any state, driven directly by extraordinarily high gasoline costs that make the economics of EV ownership dramatically more favorable there than anywhere else. The Jones Act — requiring goods shipped between U.S. ports to be carried on U.S.-flagged vessels — significantly affects Hawaii fuel costs because U.S.-flagged tankers cost more to operate than foreign-flagged vessels.
Compare today’s average in Hawaii with nearby states to understand regional price differences.
Learn more about what drives gas prices across the United States.
Crude oil prices are the biggest driver of what you pay at the pump. For U.S. and global crude oil production data updated from EIA figures, see Oil Production Live.