EIA Weekly On-Highway Diesel Survey - week of October 26, 2026
Diesel cost per gallon in California
What readers paid for diesel in California
Prices readers report from the pump: what they paid, where, and how they paid. Each one is a single fill on the date shown, not a survey average; the weekly EIA figures elsewhere on this page are the survey.
No reader has reported a price in California yet. Yours would be the first.
What did you pay for diesel?
Tell us the price at your last fill and see how it compares with the government survey for your state. Your report goes on this site as a dated reader report; we publish your state and the first three digits of your ZIP, nothing else.
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EIA surveyed California at $8.155 per gallon for on-highway diesel in the week of October 26, 2026 (series EMD_EPD2D_PTE_SCA_DPG), $1.80 above the US average of $6.352.
Diesel tax breakdown
Sales tax: 13% state diesel sales tax plus district taxes, prepaid by retailers at 42.5c a gallon (1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027).
Interstate trucks (IFTA): 97.9c a gallon for October to December 2026. IFTA's 97.9c adds California's diesel sales tax converted to cents per gallon (49.7c) to the 48.2c excise.
48.2c from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027, indexed each 1 July.
Checked 22 October 2026 against CDTFA L-1025, Tax Rates for Motor Vehicle and Diesel Fuels (June 2026), CDTFA L-1031, IFTA rate change (June 2026) and CDTFA, Tax rates for special taxes and fees. Local and county taxes are not included. The percentage is against the EIA figure shown above, which is a district figure unless California is surveyed directly.
Neighbouring states
Neighbours in the same EIA district carry the same published figure. A matching price here means the federal survey shows no measured gap across that border, not that pumps are identical.
Off-road (dyed) diesel in California
Red-dyed diesel is the same fuel as clear diesel, sold without highway fuel taxes for uses off the public road. How California treats it, checked 25 October 2026. Rules for every state are on the off-road diesel guide.
Sources: CDTFA, Sales Tax Rates for Fuels; CDTFA, Diesel Fuel Tax Industry Topics; California Revenue and Taxation Code 60105. This is a summary, not legal or tax advice.
What shapes the diesel price in California
California is the one state with its own EIA weekly on-highway diesel series, and it prices well above the contiguous US. Three structural reasons. CARB diesel specifications require additional refining steps and a separate supply chain from the rest of the country. California's combined state diesel tax is the highest in the lower 48 once cap-and-trade compliance cost is counted. And California's refinery capacity cannot meet in-state demand, so finished product arrives by tanker. California is also the only state in the contiguous US that cannot receive fuel by pipeline from Gulf Coast refineries, because no finished-product line crosses the Sierra Nevada.
The trip calculator starts at $8.15/gal, the EIA figure above. Change it to the price you actually see at the pump for a real answer.