Statewide average updated daily • Source: AAA
Illinois, and particularly the Chicago metropolitan area, consistently ranks among the most expensive fuel markets in the Midwest and often in the entire country. The combination of high state taxes, significant Cook County and City of Chicago local taxes, and reformulated fuel requirements in the Chicago metro area stacks costs that push Chicago prices to levels that regularly rival California. Downstate Illinois runs significantly cheaper than Chicago, but the metro area’s size pulls the statewide average well above the national figure.
Illinois has a state gas tax of around 39 cents per gallon, above average nationally but not extreme on its own. The real driver of Chicago’s high prices is the layering of additional local taxes. Cook County charges its own fuel tax, the City of Chicago charges a separate city fuel tax, and the Regional Transportation Authority adds yet another layer. When all state, county, city, and regional taxes are combined in Chicago, the total tax burden can exceed 75 cents per gallon — among the highest of any major city in the country.
Chicago is also a reformulated gasoline area, requiring a cleaner-burning but more expensive fuel blend during summer months, which adds further cost during the peak driving season.
The rest of Illinois — particularly the southern part of the state near St. Louis — tends to run much closer to the national average and benefits from good pipeline access and lower local tax burdens.
Did you know? Chicago has one of the most complex fuel tax structures of any city in the United States, with taxes from four separate government entities stacking on top of each other. Illinois doubled its state gas tax in 2019 from 19 cents to 38 cents per gallon as part of a $45 billion infrastructure plan — one of the largest single gas tax increases in any state in recent decades. Despite Chicago’s high gas prices, the city has one of the most extensive public transit systems in the country, with millions of daily L train riders who largely avoid the pump entirely.
Compare today’s average in Illinois with nearby states to understand regional price differences.
Learn more about what drives gas prices across the United States.
Crude oil prices are the biggest driver of what you pay at the pump. For U.S. and global crude oil production data updated from EIA figures, see Oil Production Live.