(The Center Square) – With summer travel in full swing, Michiganders will find themselves paying less at the pump than they were last year.
The current average for regular unleaded is $3.27 a gallon, AAA reported on Saturday.
Mid-grade comes in at $3.85, premium at $4.40, and diesel at $3.69. These are just slightly higher than the national average, which Michigan consistently trends above.
While up a bit from Christmas prices, gas prices this summer are trending lower than last summer.
That will come as a relief to many Americans, with record numbers expected to be on the road this Independence Day.
AAA projects 72.2 million people will travel at least 50 miles or more from home over the Independence Day holiday period from Saturday to July 6.
“This year’s domestic travel forecast is an increase of 1.7 million travelers compared to last year and 7 million more than in 2019,” said AAA.
The majority of those, 61.6 million, will travel by car. That is a 2.2% increase over last year and the highest volume on record.
“Summertime is one of the busiest travel seasons of the year, and July 4th is one of the most popular times to get away,” said Stacey Barber, vice president of AAA Travel. “Following Memorial Day’s record forecast, AAA is seeing strong demand for road trips and air travel over Independence Day week.”
This comes even as fears about potentially high gas prices due to conflicts abroad have been largely unsubstantiated.
“The Israel Iran conflict has driven up the price of oil in recent days but not dramatically,” AAA reported.
Instead, gas prices have remained relatively stable in Michigan over the past few weeks, with gas prices being the lowest they’ve been since 2021.
Nationally, California has the most-expensive gas prices at $4.60, while Mississippi has the cheapest at $2.72.
