$5 gas taking big bite of NJ family budget

The amount of the family budget going to gas prices continues to increase as the average price for regular now tops $5 a gallon nationwide.

New Jersey crossed that threshold last week.

The average price for regular in the Garden State is $5.05 a gallon, up about a penny since Sunday.

Only Burlington County is still averaging below $5, at $4.99 a gallon. The most expensive is still Somerset County, with an average price of $5.17.

The Sunoco stations on the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway will adjust prices upward later today, but have been selling regular for $5.09 a gallon.

Prices are now about $2 a gallon more than they were just a year ago. Industry analyst Patrick De Haan from GasBuddy.com says that equates to Americans spending $730 million more every day on gas than we were a year ago.

"June alone could cost Americans $20 billion more to fill their tanks vs last June," De Haan says.

Tom Kloza from the Oil Price Information Service does believe there will be some relief in the weeks ahead, primarily from a drop in demand for gasoline as prices rise.

However, that relief is expected to be short lived.

Last week, demand for gasoline hit new highs for 2022, and there were few signs it was slowing. However, AAA released a survey showing more people would start to cut back on travel once gas passed the $5 mark.

Eric Scott is the senior political director and anchor for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at eric.scott@townsquaremedia.com

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