Record 61.4 million drivers hit the road for July Fourth as gas prices ease

77% of Americans plan summer trips despite elevated fuel costs

AAA projected a record 61.4 million drivers would take trips of 50 miles or more during the July Fourth holiday week, edging past last year’s 61.3 million and extending a multiyear trend of rising road travel. The auto club said 85% of the 72.2 million Americans expected to travel during the holiday period would do so by car.

The national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline stood at $3.84 on July 3, according to AAA — down from a peak above $4.50 after the Iran war began but still 86 cents above pre-war levels. The decline has provided some financial relief to travelers who faced sharply higher fuel costs earlier this year.

“This summer is looking very strong,” said Jamie Lane, chief economist at AirDNA, a vacation-rental research firm. Lane said U.S. bookings for July and August were running 10% ahead of the prior year’s pace.

Lower prices at the pump have translated into more discretionary spending for some travelers. Shelby Starling, 22, who drove from Jacksonville, Fla., to the Florida Keys with her girlfriend, said falling gas prices had made budgeting for the roughly 1,000-mile round trip less stressful. “The gas prices going down has definitely made things more comfortable and made the budgeting aspect of this trip much less stressful,” Starling said. On the drive back, she plans to fill her car with coolers and “get like three frozen Key lime pies to bring with me home.”

For others, the decline came too late. Frank Wiedemer, a 19-year-old California Lutheran University student, estimated he and a friend spent $500 on gas during a weeklong road trip from California to Chicago in May, when pump prices were near their apex. To offset fuel costs, they camped at free campgrounds and cooked their own meals, aside from an occasional diner visit. “When we weren’t camping, we stayed with people we knew,” Wiedemer said.

A Bank of America Institute survey conducted this spring found 77% of respondents planned to travel this summer, up from 74% in 2025, but roughly 10% said high gasoline prices led them to reduce trips. Most respondents headed to domestic destinations. David Tinsley, senior economist at the Bank of America Institute, described summer travel plans as “resilient overall, despite higher oil and gasoline prices, though consumers are adjusting at the margin.”

The U.S. unemployment rate of 4.2% in June meant trip-inclined people would likely hit the road regardless, said James Knightley, chief international economist at ING. The decline in gas prices “just leaves more cash in people’s pockets to go and spend on other goods and services to actually enjoy their vacation,” Knightley said.

The travel surge has benefited roadside businesses along historic routes. Dawn Federico, owner of the Blue Swallow Motel along Route 66 in Tucumcari, N.M., said motel bookings rose 24% this year alongside an increase in daytime visitors for tours and gift-shop visits. “We’ve seen domestic guests from Alaska to Maine to Florida, and all points in between,” Federico said.

The dynamics also reflect a divided economy. While middle- and higher-income households are driving strong travel spending, many low-income families reported having no travel plans at all, the Bank of America survey found.

Some travelers remain cautious despite the decline in prices. Jay Flynn, 63, a business analyst at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, said he was forgoing his annual trip to Shenandoah National Park this summer because of still-high gas prices and the risk that the Iran conflict could flare anew. “We are just trying to be very conscientious of the fact that we don’t know what the future is going to bring and we would prefer to be prepared, versus getting smacked yet again by whatever happens internationally,” Flynn said.

Other travelers have been enabled by the drop. Spencer Timmons, 21, a University of California, Los Angeles student, said he had been considering a drive to Flagstaff, Ariz., for months but decided against it until lower gas prices made the trip feasible on a tight budget. “My girlfriend and I were pondering over the trip for a couple months, but we decided against it until recently,” Timmons said.