Feb. 10, 2025 By Alexandra Evans

LOS ANGELES — Maria Medina said she’s sure the government could do more to make life easier. It chooses not to, she said.

Medina, 38, of Inglewood, California, paid $2.45 for a gallon of gas in Arizona. In LA she paid $4.54 — more than a dollar over the national average.

“California always charges double for everything,” Medina said.

The average price of a gallon of gas in California, AAA said, is $4.67. In Los Angeles, it’s $4.60. Nationally, it’s $3.20.

The price of a gallon of gas is higher in California than anywhere else – higher even than in Hawaii, where everything has to be brought in by boat.

Further, California regulators are now considering a plan that would add another 47 cents per gallon.

For some, gas prices will be a factor in their vote in the upcoming elections. For nearly everyone, it’s a lot of stress at the pump. To others, it is just a part of living in LA.

Once a week, Israel Flores, 34, of South Central, an appliance technician, fills up his work truck, a black Toyota Tacoma. Each month, he said, he spends more than $1,000 on gas.

Like Medina, Flores said, “Everything in California is more expensive, it's just the luxury of living in California, I guess.”

Lawrence Thomas, 63, hails from Detroit. He rides in a blue GMC Sierra. His truck roars with a 5.3 Liter V8 engine. He now resides in Lakewood, California, south of downtown Los Angeles.

Thomas recalls paying less than $2 for gas at one point — less than half the LA price. He sees the gas price as an economic sign: “It’s the nature of the economy right now … $4.50 is pretty reasonable to me compared to what it could have been.”

Frederick Spells, 63, of Indianapolis, agreed with Thomas. Standing next to his white Volkswagen Golf, Spells said, “You just have to deal with the economy. That's all.”

Ashley Smith, 34, of Los Angeles fears gas prices affect her family time.

Standing with her pre-school daughter and mother at an Arco on Exposition Boulevard near the USC campus, she said she spends so much on gas for her white Toyota Rav4 that she can’t save to travel back to Guatemala, where she has extended family.

Smith said, “I just pray that change will come soon.”