Histomap: Visualizing the 4,000 Year History of Global Power

Where Gas Is Most Expensive in America

Where you fill up can make a significant difference in what you pay at the pump.

This map shows average regular gasoline prices across the U.S. using September 2026 data from AAA Fuel Tracker. Prices are per gallon and rounded to the nearest cent.

Where Gas Prices Run Highest and Lowest

The broader divide is regional. The highest fuel prices are concentrated in the West, while much of the South sits below the $4.48 national average.

The table below ranks prices from highest to lowest in the 50 states and Washington, D.C.

Part of the difference reflects the journey fuel takes to reach a station. Longer distances from refineries, ports, and distribution terminals can mean higher transportation costs, which can push up retail prices.

States such as Louisiana and Texas also benefit from extensive oil and refining infrastructure, helping keep distribution costs relatively low.

Why California Costs So Much More

California’s premium goes beyond taxes. The Golden State requires a special gasoline blend designed to reduce air pollution, which costs more to produce. State environmental programs also add compliance costs for fuel suppliers, alongside state and local taxes.

The state’s specialized fuel comes from a relatively limited pool of suppliers. California is geographically separated from major U.S. refining centers along the Gulf Coast, and only some refineries elsewhere can produce gasoline that meets its requirements. Bringing in additional supply is therefore more complicated than simply sourcing cheaper fuel from another state.

This becomes especially important when a refinery shuts down for maintenance or experiences an unexpected outage. Replacement supplies can take time to arrive, leaving the market more vulnerable to price spikes. The same factors that keep California expensive under normal conditions can make disruptions more painful for drivers.

No Relief This Fall

Gas prices usually ease after the summer driving season. Demand falls as travel slows, while cooler weather allows refiners to use less expensive gasoline components that would evaporate too easily in summer heat. The seasonal change in fuel requirements can help reduce costs even without a decline in global oil prices.

This September, however, that usual pattern has been disrupted. Expensive crude oil and continued volatility in the Strait of Hormuz have pushed up prices at the pump. The national average of $4.48 per gallon is the highest on record for late September.

Local advantages offer only partial protection from those pressures. Gasoline prices generally track crude oil costs, so even states with lower distribution costs and taxes remain exposed to oil-market disruptions.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

To compare these prices with major global events, check out Oil Prices and Geopolitical Events on Voronoi.

Where Does the Top 0.1% Own More Than the Bottom 80%?

How concentrated does wealth have to become before the richest 0.1% own more than the bottom 80% of the population combined?

This world map identifies the countries where that threshold has been crossed, using the latest World Inequality Database estimates (2024). The estimates cover personal wealth among adults aged 20 and older in each country.

Where Wealth Is Most Concentrated

The countries shown in red span economies with very different histories and institutions, from the United States and South Africa to India and Sweden.

Even within this group, there is wide variation in the degree of wealth concentration. In South Africa, for example, the bottom 80% hold less than 5% of the country’s wealth. Meanwhile, the richest 0.1% hold nearly 30%, a share exceeded only by Russia among these 27 countries.

The table below ranks the 27 countries by the share of wealth held by their richest 0.1%.

Percentages of total wealth do not add up to 100% because the remainder is held by people between the 80th and 99.9th percentiles.

Wealth inequality and income inequality measure different things. Income captures money earned over a period of time, while wealth reflects accumulated assets such as homes, businesses, investments, and savings, minus debts. Inheritance can therefore shape wealth disparities long before differences in annual earnings do.

The Persistence of Wealth Gaps

Owning assets creates opportunities that wages alone do not. A home can appreciate, shares can pay dividends, and a business can generate profits. Reinvesting those returns can build wealth further, while someone without savings must first create room in their budget to begin accumulating assets.

South Africa offers a striking example of how durable these differences can be. One study covering 1993–2017 found no sustained decline in wealth inequality after the end of apartheid. Financial assets dominated the portfolios of the richest 0.1%, while housing and pensions were the main holdings of the bottom 90%.

These findings point to inheritance and relative starting positions as important factors. Accumulating wealth over a lifetime does not necessarily erase advantages established at the beginning, helping explain why wealth gaps can persist across generations.

Why Does Sweden Stand Out?

Countries such as Brazil, Colombia, or India may be less surprising in this context, but Sweden stands apart because of its reputation for relatively low income inequality and a strong social safety net.

However, relatively equal incomes can coexist with concentrated asset ownership. Generous healthcare, childcare, education, and retirement programs mean many lower-income Swedes have less need to accumulate private financial assets to pay for essential services.

Sweden’s tax system also treats income and accumulated wealth differently. The country abolished its gift and inheritance taxes in 2004 and its net wealth tax in 2007.

No other country in the European Union appears in this group. However, that does not necessarily mean other EU countries have broadly equal wealth distributions.

The Top 0.1% in Wealth vs. Bottom 80% For Every Country

The table below lists countries and territories worldwide alongside the shares of wealth held by their top 0.1% and bottom 80%.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

To see how inequality in Europe is changing, check out The Euro Area Saw a Slight Decrease in Inequality Over Past 5 Years on Voronoi.