(The Center Square) – Drivers going through Kentucky this Thanksgiving weekend will be paying, on average, about 14 cents a gallon less for the fill-ups this year.
Data from AAA released on Wednesday found the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded is $2.831. While the price went up 3 cents from Tuesday and more than 6 cents from a month ago, it’s down 4.6% from a year ago, when drivers were paying $2.969.
Kentucky’s average is roughly 8% less than the national average of $3.073.
Eastern Kentucky counties had the highest and lowest average prices. Motorists in Bell County in the southeastern corner of the state are paying an average of $2.519 for a gallon of regular unleaded. In Menifee County, roughly 120 miles north, the average price is $3.309.
Menifee and Pendelton ($3.074) counties are the only counties across the state with prices above the national average.
Kentucky’s two largest population centers have average prices less than $3. Jefferson County’s average is $2.962, and Fayette County’s is $2.967.
Drivers going through the state will find significantly cheaper prices just outside of Louisville. On the Interstate 65 corridor, stations in Hardin County, roughly 45 miles south of Louisville, are selling for an average of $2.68. Bullitt County, directly south of Jefferson, has an average of $2.743.
The average price is higher along the I-75 corridor. Most counties along that major north-south highway have an average of $2.90 or higher.
Kentucky’s average price is lower than most of its neighboring states. Only Tennessee’s $2.697 is lower among the seven surrounding states. Illinois drivers are paying $3.268 a gallon, with Indiana’s paying $3.104 and Ohio’s paying $3.043.
While the Bluegrass State has the country’s 14th cheapest average for regular unleaded, the same cannot be said for its electric vehicle charging stations. AAA ranked Kentucky as the seventh-most expensive state for charging an EV, with the average cost per kilowatt-hour at 41.8 cents. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the median range for a 2024 EV is 37kWh per 100 miles, so it would cost about $14.50 per 100 miles.
