Here’s what to expect for gas prices this Memorial Day

By Auzinea Bacon, CNN

(CNN) — Gas prices are holding steady for the nearly 40 million Americans expected to hit the road on Memorial Day.

The average cost of a gallon of regular unleaded in the United States on Sunday was $3.18, according to AAA, the lowest over a Memorial Day weekend since 2021, when the average was $3.04.

Gas prices are sharply lower compared with this time last year, when the national average was roughly $3.59, and far lower than 2022, when the average was $4.60.

More Americans are expected to be on the road over Memorial Day weekend. AAA estimates about 39.4 million Americans will be driving, an increase of 1 million, or about 3%, from 2024, and a 4.6% increase from 2019.

Low gas prices have been a bright spot for the US economy amid an overall gloomy outlook due to President Donald Trump’s trade war and a decline in consumer sentiment.

AAA noted the cost of gas hasn’t seen its usual seasonal spikes.

“Demand is expected to rise, and pump prices may creep up along with it. Gas prices typically peak in the summer and start coming down when schools go back in session in the fall,” AAA wrote on May 12.

Average gas prices have hovered around their current levels since the start of 2025.

Gas prices for the holiday are also near historic lows. In 2003, gas was priced at $1.50 a gallon leading into the holiday, which, adjusted for inflation, is roughly $2.65. The holiday gas prices haven’t been below $2 since 2020 — during the Covid-19 pandemic — when the Memorial Day average was at $1.87, according to AAA.

“We expect (gas prices) to continue to decline because of the president’s energy policies,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday at a news conference.

Trump has focused intensely on lowering energy prices by promising to unleash domestic production, slash red tape and push OPEC to add supply. US oil prices have plunged about 20% since Trump’s second term began in January.

Analysts say that drop has been driven in part by Saudi Arabia and OPEC’s sharp production increases — moves that Trump publicly called for days after taking office during a high-profile speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

“A lot of the reason crude prices have fallen is pessimism about the economy and Saudi Arabia and OPEC producing more,” Bob McNally, president of consulting firm Rapidan Energy Group, told CNN last week.

Oil prices crashed to four-year lows in early April when Trump’s sky-high tariffs sent recession fears skyrocketing. Crude rebounded after Trump paused many of those tariffs.

Also behind lower oil prices: Trump’s decision not to follow through on former President Joe Biden’s final-hours move on January 10 to target Russia’s energy sector with harsh sanctions.

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CNN’s Matt Egan contributed to this report.