Fresno drivers feel gas pain as prices hit $5.75 a gallon

A Fresno driver filling a 15-gallon tank at about $5.75 a gallon is paying roughly $86.25, about $2 more than the same stop cost a month ago. That difference shows up fast in a county where people cannot easily avoid driving, from school runs and grocery trips to long commutes across the Valley.

California’s regular gasoline average was $5.839 on April 19 and $5.847 on April 23, compared with $5.616 a month earlier and $4.839 a year earlier. A 20-gallon fill-up now runs about $116.78 statewide, versus $112.32 a month ago and $96.78 a year ago. The gap with the nation is just as stark: the U.S. average was $4.048 on April 19, making California nearly $1.80 higher per gallon.

The pressure lands especially hard in Fresno County, where 1,024,125 people live across 5,958.6 square miles. The mean travel time to work is 24.2 minutes, and 72% of workers drive alone, a reminder that gas prices are not an abstract market chart here. With a median household income of $75,585 and 18.3% of residents below the poverty line, even a few extra dollars at the pump can force families to trim somewhere else.

That is why higher fuel costs ripple far beyond the station. Residents have been cutting back on trips out of town, nonessential outings and other extras, while keeping a closer eye on groceries, daycare and basic household spending. For commuters, farmworkers and parents making multiple stops in a day, the question is no longer whether to fill up, but when and how often they can afford to do it.

California’s fuel tax structure adds to the bill, with a gasoline prepayment of sales tax of $0.075 a gallon and a motor vehicle fuel excise tax of $0.612 a gallon. But the latest spike is also tied to supply worries, including record-low California gasoline inventories amid disruption linked to the Strait of Hormuz. That mix has left drivers facing not just high prices, but uncertainty about how long the squeeze will last.