The cost of gas is up on this Monday. Gas prices in Yakima are up 8 pennies a gallon over the last week selling for an average of $3.60 per gallon Monday. GasBuddy officials say prices in Yakima are 4.0 cents per gallon higher than a month ago and stand 25.0 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has fallen 7.2 cents in the last week and stands at $4.56 per gallon.

Worth the drive for you to find cheaper gas?

The cheapest gas in the valley today is in Wapato selling for $3.03 per gallon on Sunday.
The national average price of gasoline has risen 2.5 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.28/g today. GasBuddy officials say the national average is up 14.9 cents per gallon from a month ago and stands 2.2 cents per gallon lower than a year ago, according to GasBuddy data compiled from more than 11 million weekly price reports covering over 150,000 gas stations across the country.

Could our gas prices hold flat this week? We hope so

"We've seen somewhat of a mixed week at the pump with some states seeing gasoline prices rise, while others have stabilized for the time being. The good news as of late has been the continued decline in average diesel prices, which fell over a penny per day last week," says Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. "Oil prices have seen a bit of a rally, finishing last week at nearly $80 per barrel again as Chinese demand starts to jump as expected, but with Covid cases and deaths now also surging in China, the jump in demand could be short-lived. Gas prices may nudge up slightly in the week ahead in some areas, while others could hold flat. The window on price drops however, appears to be coming up on the horizon as we get closer to what's likely to be a significant refinery maintenance period ahead of summer.

Remember when?

Historical gasoline prices in Yakima and the national average going back ten years:
January 16, 2022: $3.85/g (U.S. Average: $3.30/g)
January 16, 2021: $2.68/g (U.S. Average: $2.39/g)
January 16, 2020: $3.00/g (U.S. Average: $2.57/g)
January 16, 2019: $2.83/g (U.S. Average: $2.24/g)
January 16, 2018: $2.86/g (U.S. Average: $2.54/g)
January 16, 2017: $2.66/g (U.S. Average: $2.33/g)
January 16, 2016: $2.23/g (U.S. Average: $1.91/g)
January 16, 2015: $2.17/g (U.S. Average: $2.07/g)
January 16, 2014: $3.25/g (U.S. Average: $3.30/g)
January 16, 2013: $3.29/g (U.S. Average: $3.29/g)

Neighboring areas and their current gas prices:
Tacoma- $3.74/g, down 2.6 cents per gallon from last week's $3.77/g.
Seattle- $4.12/g, up 9.2 cents per gallon from last week's $4.02/g.
Washington- $3.87/g, up 8.6 cents per gallon from last week's $3.79/g.

LOOK: See how much gasoline cost the year you started driving

To find out more about how has the price of gas changed throughout the years, Stacker ran the numbers on the cost of a gallon of gasoline for each of the last 84 years. Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (released in April 2020), we analyzed the average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline from 1976 to 2020 along with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for unleaded regular gasoline from 1937 to 1976, including the absolute and inflation-adjusted prices for each year.

Read on to explore the cost of gas over time and rediscover just how much a gallon was when you first started driving.

Gallery Credit: Sophia Crisafulli

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