72% of Americans Plan to Travel by Car for Thanksgiving

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - Montana gasoline prices have dropped 15 out of the past 16 weeks. Patrick De Haan is the head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy and he provided the current numbers.

“Average gasoline prices in Montana have fallen 6.3 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $2.98 per gallon today,” De Haan said. “Prices in Montana are 20.5 cents per gallon lower than a month ago and stand 31.9 cents per gallon lower than a year ago.”

As of Tuesday morning, many stations in Missoula had their prices set to around $2.95 per gallon.

According to GasBuddy price reports, the cheapest station in Montana was priced at $2.81 per gallon yesterday while the most expensive was $3.39 per gallon.

Montana is currently ranked 26th in the U.S. when it comes to the average price of gas, which is five spots lower than last week.

“The national average price of gasoline has fallen .7 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.02 per gallon today,” De Haan said. “The national average is down 15.2 cents per gallon from a month ago and stands 27.6 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has declined 0.4 cents in the last week and stands at $3.51 per gallon.”

De Haan said several states saw gas prices jump or 'cycle' last week, a behavior in which gas prices climb significantly after falling below a station's replacement price.

“This led the national average to see little meaningful change from last week, with many states experiencing a slow decline, offsetting the few states that did see big jumps," said De Haan. "However, the good news is that those states that saw large jumps last week will likely see some of the biggest declines at the pump this week, paving the way for the national average to fall, potentially below $3 per gallon, just in time for Thanksgiving, with GasBuddy tracking 28 states already below that level."

GasBuddy just released the findings of its 2024 annual Thanksgiving Travel Survey, revealing that 72% of Americans plan to take a road trip over the holiday.

“After several years of pandemic-influenced travel changes, this year's data shows a return to more traditional Thanksgiving travel plans, with 72% of respondents indicating they will be driving to their destination - up from just 41% in 2023, 38% in 2022, 32% in 2021 and 35% in 2020," De Haan said. "This figure is closer to pre-pandemic levels when 65% drove for Thanksgiving in 2019.”

Of those not traveling by car, 10% plan to fly, and 87% are not traveling at all.