Thanksgiving is Thursday, November 26, 2026, and most people will get there by car. For Thanksgiving 2025, AAA projected a record 81.8 million travelers, and about 73 million of them, nearly 9 in 10, planned to drive.
This year the drive costs more. The national average price of regular gas jumped from about $2.94 a gallon in late February 2026 to $4.50 by mid May, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Below are 20 classic holiday drives between major cities, priced with real road distances and this week’s gas prices. The numbers update every week through the holiday.
What 20 Thanksgiving drives cost in gas this week
Prices are for the week of September 21, 2026 from the U.S. Energy Information Administration and update weekly. The national average for regular is $4.48 a gallon, $1.42 more than in Thanksgiving week last year ($3.06). At this week's prices, these round trips run from about $34 for Philadelphia to New York up to $295 for Washington to Orlando.
| Drive | Miles each way | Drive time | Gas, round trip | Trip Planner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia to New YorkPA to NY | 96 | 2 h 7 min | $34 | Plan it |
| Seattle to PortlandWA to OR | 181 | 3 h 21 min | $77 | Plan it |
| Austin to DallasTX to TX | 196 | 3 h 8 min | $61 | Plan it |
| Houston to San AntonioTX to TX | 197 | 3 h 8 min | $62 | Plan it |
| Nashville to MemphisTN to TN | 212 | 3 h 38 min | $74 | Plan it |
| New York to BostonNY to MA | 216 | 4 h 49 min | $76 | Plan it |
| New York to WashingtonNY to DC | 228 | 4 h 41 min | $81 | Plan it |
| Miami to OrlandoFL to FL | 235 | 4 h 3 min | $79 | Plan it |
| Dallas to HoustonTX to TX | 239 | 3 h 45 min | $75 | Plan it |
| Atlanta to NashvilleGA to TN | 248 | 4 h 27 min | $85 | Plan it |
| Los Angeles to Las VegasCA to NV | 270 | 4 h 28 min | $120 | Plan it |
| Tampa to MiamiFL to FL | 280 | 4 h 45 min | $94 | Plan it |
| Chicago to DetroitIL to MI | 283 | 5 h 4 min | $100 | Plan it |
| Chicago to St. LouisIL to MO | 297 | 5 h 13 min | $104 | Plan it |
| San Diego to Las VegasCA to NV | 332 | 5 h 31 min | $148 | Plan it |
| Phoenix to Los AngelesAZ to CA | 372 | 6 h | $165 | Plan it |
| Los Angeles to San FranciscoCA to CA | 383 | 6 h 30 min | $184 | Plan it |
| Minneapolis to ChicagoMN to IL | 408 | 7 h 2 min | $143 | Plan it |
| Denver to Salt Lake CityCO to UT | 535 | 8 h 6 min | $188 | Plan it |
| Washington to OrlandoDC to FL | 851 | 14 h 3 min | $295 | Plan it |
Round trip in a car that gets 25MPG. Drive times assume no traffic. “Plan it” opens the trip in the Trip Planner, where you can enter your own MPG and add stops.
Each drive links to its full route guide, with costs for other vehicles, tolls, and the cheapest places to fill up along the way.
How we priced each drive
Distances are real driving routes from downtown to downtown, calculated with OpenRouteService, the same routing our Trip Planner uses. Every trip is priced for a car that gets 25 MPG, a typical figure for a car.
Gas prices are EIA’s weekly retail prices for regular gasoline. EIA publishes its own price series for 9 states, and for the rest, including Washington, DC, we use the average for the region.
The drive out is priced at the gas price of the state you leave from, and the drive home at the price of the state you start back from. That is how the Trip Planner prices every leg, so opening a drive there shows the same cost.
Adjust the table for your car
To get your own cost, multiply the table’s number by the factor for your car’s highway MPG. A 20 MPG SUV costs 25 percent more than the table shows, and a 50 MPG hybrid costs half.
| Your car’s MPG | Multiply the table by |
|---|---|
| 15 MPG | 1.67 |
| 20 MPG | 1.25 |
| 25 MPG | 1.00 |
| 30 MPG | 0.83 |
| 35 MPG | 0.71 |
| 40 MPG | 0.63 |
| 50 MPG | 0.50 |
Will gas get cheaper before Thanksgiving?
History says it usually does. We looked at EIA’s weekly U.S. average price of regular gasoline around every Thanksgiving since 2014. In 9 of those 12 years, prices were lower in Thanksgiving week than five weeks earlier, in mid October, and the typical change was a drop of about 10 cents a gallon. Prices rose in only three years, 2017, 2021 and 2025, and never by more than 8 cents.
| Year | Mid October | Thanksgiving week | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | $3.120 | $2.821 | Down 30¢ |
| 2015 | $2.277 | $2.094 | Down 18¢ |
| 2016 | $2.257 | $2.155 | Down 10¢ |
| 2017 | $2.489 | $2.568 | Up 8¢ |
| 2018 | $2.879 | $2.611 | Down 27¢ |
| 2019 | $2.638 | $2.579 | Down 6¢ |
| 2020 | $2.150 | $2.102 | Down 5¢ |
| 2021 | $3.322 | $3.395 | Up 7¢ |
| 2022 | $3.871 | $3.648 | Down 22¢ |
| 2023 | $3.576 | $3.289 | Down 29¢ |
| 2024 | $3.144 | $3.044 | Down 10¢ |
| 2025 | $3.019 | $3.061 | Up 4¢ |
There is no price jump right after the holiday either. The week after Thanksgiving was cheaper than Thanksgiving week in 11 of the 12 years. The slide usually continues into Christmas week, which was cheaper than Thanksgiving week in 10 of the 12 years.
Part of the reason is seasonal. Stations switch to winter blend gasoline in the fall, which is cheaper to make, and demand eases after the summer driving season. A pattern is not a forecast, though. 2026 has been an unusually volatile year, and a hurricane or refinery problem can push prices up at any time, so budget with this week’s price and treat any drop as a bonus. You can follow the trend on our gas price history chart.
When to leave and when to fill up
Plan around traffic, not gas prices. For Thanksgiving 2025, the traffic data company INRIX expected Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons to be the most congested times to leave, and heavy traffic for most of the day on the Sunday drive home. Leaving early in the morning avoids the worst of it, and less stop and go driving means better mileage.
Since prices rarely jump for the holiday, fill up whenever it suits you before the rush. Skip stations right at busy highway exits, which often charge more than stations a short drive away, and check prices along your route with the gas price tracker or a gas price app.
Five ways to spend less on the drive
- Skip the rooftop cargo box if you can. A large roof box can cut fuel economy by 6 to 17 percent on the highway and 10 to 25 percent at 65 to 75 mph, according to fueleconomy.gov. A cargo carrier mounted on the back costs far less, about 1 to 5 percent on the highway.
- Ease off the speed. fueleconomy.gov estimates that each 5 mph you drive over 50 mph is like paying an extra $0.30 a gallon. Our guide to cruise control and gas mileage shows how to hold a steady speed.
- Pack light. Every extra 100 pounds in the car cuts mileage by about 1 percent.
- Check your tires before you go. Tire pressure drops about 1 PSI for every 10 degrees colder it gets, and soft tires waste gas. See our guide to tire pressure and gas mileage.
- Fill up in the cheaper state. Compare prices on the gas prices by state page. The Trip Planner also flags when the next state on your route is noticeably pricier.
Plan the whole holiday trip
Gas is only one line in a holiday budget. Our holiday road trip gas budget planner covers cold weather, a loaded car and a simple budget template for Thanksgiving and Christmas. To price your own route, the Trip Planner prices every leg with live regional gas prices, and the fly vs drive comparison helps if you are weighing a flight.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does gas cost for a Thanksgiving road trip?
Divide your round trip miles by your car's MPG, then multiply by the price per gallon. A 500 mile round trip in a 25 MPG car uses 20 gallons, so it costs $90 at $4.50 a gallon. The table on this page does the math for 20 common drives using this week's EIA gas prices.
Do gas prices go up for Thanksgiving?
Not nationally. In 9 of the last 12 years, the U.S. average price of regular gasoline was lower in Thanksgiving week than in mid October, and the week after Thanksgiving was lower still in 11 of those 12 years, according to weekly EIA data.
What is the best day to buy gas before Thanksgiving?
Weekly national prices do not jump for the holiday, so pick the day that avoids the crowds. Fill up before the Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon rush, and skip stations right at busy highway exits, which often charge more than stations a mile or two away.
Why isn't the round trip cost exactly double the one way cost?
Each direction is priced at the gas price of the state you leave from, the same way the GasBudgeter Trip Planner prices each leg. When the two ends of a drive are in states with different prices, the way out and the way home cost different amounts.
Are tolls included in these costs?
No. The table covers gas only. Tolls can add $20 or more each way on some Northeast routes, such as New York to Boston, so budget them separately.
How much more gas does a car use in cold weather?
In city driving, a gas car's mileage is about 15 percent lower at 20°F than at 77°F, and up to 24 percent lower on short trips of 3 to 4 miles, according to fueleconomy.gov. On a long highway drive the engine warms up quickly, so the loss is smaller.
Sources: EIA weekly retail gasoline prices; AAA Thanksgiving 2025 travel forecast, including INRIX traffic timing; fueleconomy.gov on cold weather and driving habits; routes by OpenRouteService.