Where to Buy Cheap Gas in St. Louis, Missouri

Do Not Buy Gas in Metro - East (Illinois)

St. Louis and Missouri drivers at-large do benefit from gas prices that are indeed cheap relative to the National averages. As of July 13, 2009, the U.S. Department of Energy is calculating a nationwide $2.528 average for regular grade gasoline. Today, St. Louis prices register $2.292, which undercuts the U.S. barometer by 24 cents.

Gas prices are largely a function of crude oil costs and taxes. Certainly, state tax legislation and one's geographic proximity to critical Gulf Coast oil fields and refining capacity generates the interstate price disparity across America.

Locally, particular gas price levels are targeted concerning ideal access to economically vibrant commercial or residential enclaves and the heavily trafficked roadways of the area.

The "wealth effect" of setting up shop and serving clientele within an exclusive zone arrives with a premium, as increased property costs must be passed onto the consumer at the pump.

St. Louis area drivers must learn to play the angles for cheap gas.

St. Louis juxtaposes two municipalities that occupy two extreme branches of the gas tax continuum. Illinois motorists are slapped with a 6.25% sales tax in addition to an already egregious 32.4-cent per gallon gas duty. Meanwhile, Missouri drivers are asked to pony up a 17.3-cent pittance upon retail gas purchases at the register.

According to the American Petroleum Institute, Illinois drivers are terrorized by the fifth highest gas taxes in the country, while the Show Me State blesses motorists with rates that are the seventh lowest in the U.S.

Still, cheap gas prevails at St. Louis and saving gasoline money remains more so a function of avoiding particular areas, than proactively targeting pockets of affordable fuel. Certainly, $3 per gallon Chicagoans would rail against Downstate and St. Louis consumers crying Uncle over $2.30 gas.

Our cheap gas proposal begins by exposing those expensive locales that are to be avoided at all costs. We shall then close with a viable outline for securing cheap gas. The goal is to combine location with price to create real value.