Oxford gas prices stay below national average but near Mississippi's rate

A 20-cent spread across Oxford stations meant a $2 difference on every 10-gallon fill-up, enough to matter for commuters, Ole Miss students and delivery drivers who keep Lafayette County moving. Oxford Spot posted the low price at $3.69 a gallon, while Murphy USA and Rebel Gas Mart were at $3.77 and The Store, Kroger and Exxon were at $3.89.

That put Oxford slightly below AAA’s national regular-gas average of $4.125 on April 13, but close to Mississippi’s market, which AAA placed at $3.748 and GasBuddy measured at $3.71 in a survey of 2,014 stations statewide. GasBuddy’s Mississippi page showed $3.731 on April 14, underscoring how quickly the state average can shift even when the overall range stays narrow. Mississippi gas was still 45.5 cents a gallon higher than a month earlier and $1.03 above the same time last year, while diesel prices were also climbing nationally.

Those numbers land squarely in a county where driving is part of daily life. Lafayette County’s estimated population reached 59,597, Oxford’s was 26,801, and the University of Mississippi reported 26,449 total students for the 2024-25 academic year. Oxford-University Transit serves both the city and the campus, but residents still make trips for work, groceries, classes and rural errands to places like Abbeville, Taylor and Harmontown. Higher fuel costs ripple into grocery deliveries and small-business margins just as quickly as they hit personal budgets.

For a weekly commuter using 10 gallons, the Oxford price range meant about $36.90 at the cheapest pump and $38.90 at the highest. A student using 4 gallons a week would spend $14.76 to $15.56, while a delivery driver burning 15 gallons in a week would face $55.35 to $58.35. Those differences look small at the register, but they add up over a month, especially when the market has moved so far from last year’s Mississippi average of $2.60 a gallon.