WLBT 3 - Jackson, MS: Gas prices drop locally, nationally

Gas prices drop locally, nationally

By Cheryl Lasseter - bio | email

RICHLAND, MS (WLBT) - It's Labor Day weekend, and gas prices aren't bad for a change.

According to AAA last year at this time, the statewide average for a gallon of regular gas hovered at $3.64 a gallon. Today it's $2.40 a gallon.  In the Jackson Metro area, during Labor Day 2008 the average was $3.69 a gallon. This year, the Metro average is $2.36.

The cheapest gas we found Friday was along Highway 49 in Richland. It's as low as $2.21 and $2.20 for a gallon of regular. Folks told us they were filling up when they weren't bone dry, because these gas prices impressed them so much.

AAA says the prices have hovered in the same price range for the past two or three months.

Milton Singletary of Florence may have found the best price for his gas.  By spending a certain amount of money in the Kroger store in Richland, he gets 10 cents off per gallon on the store's current price, which is $2.20, making his total $2.10 per gallon.

"This is the only place I buy gas now," Singletary says.  "I check the others, this is always low."

Jennifer Street fills up at Mac's Gas in Richland, where the current price is $2.21 per gallon.  She lives in Wiggins, but attends law school in Jackson.  "I drive back and forth from Wiggins every day, Monday through Friday," she says.  "This is the cheapest gas between here and the coast, actually."

John Green is traveling from Arkansas to Florida; a trip he makes every 18 months or so.  "We decide between flying and driving.  We looked at what the gas prices were, and we said let's drive," he says.

Mississippi currently has the third lowest gas price average in the country, according to AAA, just behind Missouri and South Carolina.  Prices are highest in Alaska and Hawaii; above $3.30 per gallon in those states.