RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina has moved to the bottom of the national gas price rankings, with drivers here now paying less on average for a gallon of regular than anywhere else in the country.
The drop follows Session Law 2026-62, which Gov. Josh Stein signed on Oct. 9. Starting Oct. 10, the state set its motor fuel excise tax at zero cents per gallon, and the pause runs through Nov. 30. The tax normally adds 41 cents to every gallon.
Even before the full effect reached the pump, AAA had North Carolina at $3.70 for regular in its Oct. 15 survey, the lowest of any state and ahead of Georgia at $3.77, Texas at $3.83 and Tennessee at $3.88. The national average that day was $4.33.
By Sunday, regular in the Raleigh area averaged $3.62, close to 35 cents below the week before. Diesel there sat at $5.62, a drop of about 28 cents over the same week.
Relief has been slower than many drivers expected. Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said stations first had to sell off fuel they had bought with the tax already built in, which is why it took roughly a week for the cut to show up fully. He also cautioned that the pause does not lock prices in place, because crude oil has climbed over the past week and conflict involving Iran keeps the market unusually hard to forecast.
Prices remain far above last year. On Oct. 18, 2025, regular cost about $2.78 and diesel about $3.52 in the same area, and AAA puts the national average more than a dollar higher than a year ago as crude hovers near $100 a barrel.
The new law also gives farmers some help with diesel. It waives certain penalties for using dyed diesel in highway vehicles for farming or agricultural work in North Carolina. The state fuel tax is scheduled to return on Dec. 1.
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