California Burdens Residents With Country's Highest Gas Taxes

Yet another reason not to live there

California gasoline prices have fallen by 77.4 cents a gallon from the record of $4.671 set in October.

But the state's prices remain among the highest in the nation, and today is no exception. California is running fourth behind Hawaii, Alaska and Illinois with an average of $3.897 a gallon, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report.

One reason is that California has the nation's highest taxes on gasoline, at 38.2 cents a gallon, according to the Energy Department's most recent survey.

The U.S. average for state gasoline taxes is 23.5 cents a gallon, but there are broad differences. At the bottom end are states like Alaska and Georgia, where the gasoline tax is just 8 cents a gallon.

Other states high on the list of biggest gasoline taxes are North Carolina (37.7 cents a gallon), Washington (37.6 cents), West Virginia (34.7 cents), and Rhode Island (33.1 cents).