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Why is gas cheaper here than in neighboring states?

A reader posed us this question because of a visit to Alabama, where gas was 30 to 60 cents higher than in any of the other seven states he had driven through to get there.

Gas prices have been rising in general because of conflicts like the war between Russia and Ukraine, as well as the U.S. war in Iran, but that doesn’t explain why the price varies from state to state. For example, the average price of a gallon of gas in Polk County, according to GasBuddy.com, is $4.10. But in California, some counties are, on average, more than $6 per gallon. 

The main difference is the state gas tax. Iowa’s gas tax, according to the Tax Foundation, is 30 cents per gallon, ranking 27th in the nation. California’s gas tax is 73.64 cents per gallon, the highest. Alaska has the lowest at 8.95 cents per gallon. 

Our neighbors to the east, Illinois, have the second-highest gas tax at 70.4 cents per gallon, but their average gas price is $4.53. That’s because the distance it takes for gas to get to Illinois is typically shorter, because most of the country’s refinery capacity is along the Gulf Coast. There are other reasons why prices may vary, like environmental programs and retail competition; the latter is why gas is typically cheaper in Ankeny than in other parts of the metro, but gas taxes and the distance it takes for gas to get to one state or another are the two main factors. 

How many total viewers were there for the Iowa State vs. Iowa football game?

The 2025 Cy-Hawk football game dominated the airwaves. It was the most-watched game on any network for the noon kickoff slot it held with 4.2 million total viewers throughout the game and an average of around 1 million viewers concurrently. 

The 2026 game didn’t quite hit those incredible numbers, but the biggest rivalry in Iowa still had major drawing power. It was the eighth-most-watched game for week two of the college football season at 1.99 million viewers.♦