Pain at the pump: SLO County gas still most expensive in state

San Luis Obispo County continues to have the most expensive gas in California, with the average price for a gallon of unleaded regular rising to $4.21, AAA reports.

The auto club’s daily fuel-gauge report put the county’s average price per gallon on Sunday at $4.206 – fractionally higher than the $4.200 price in San Francisco.

A year ago, the price for a gallon of unleaded in the San Luis Obispo-Atascadero-Paso Robles area was $3.17, the auto club noted.

The county’s average is still well below the region’s all-time high measured by the AAA -- $4.68, reached on June 20, 2008.

Nationally, the average U.S. price of a gallon of regular has jumped 19 cents over the past three weeks.

The Lundberg Survey of fuel prices now puts the U.S. average price for a gallon of regular at $3.76.

Analyst Trilby Lundberg said from her Camarillo office on Sunday that the average price is 91 cents higher than it was this time last year.

The national average for a gallon of mid-grade is $3.90. For premium it’s $4.01 a gallon.

Lundberg says diesel prices rose 11 cents a gallon over the past three weeks, to $4.09.

Tucson, Ariz., had the nation’s lowest average price for gas at $3.41.

This story was originally published April 10, 2011 at 6:16 PM with the headline "Pain at the pump: SLO County gas still most expensive in state."