Why propane prices and usage differ across US states

Three structural factors drive state-by-state variation in the US propane market:

  • Climate and household consumption. Cold-winter states (Maine, Wisconsin, North Dakota, Montana) burn 1,000+ gallons per heating customer; warm states (Florida, Texas, Louisiana) burn far less. Annual consumption per propane household varies 5× from coldest to warmest.
  • Distance from supply hubs. States adjacent to Mont Belvieu, Texas — the largest US propane fractionation and storage center — see the lowest retail prices (Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma). Distance-from-hub costs accumulate: Northeast and West Coast states sit at the top of the EIA price range.
  • Natural-gas distribution density. States with dense urban gas networks (New Jersey, Massachusetts, Illinois) have low residential propane penetration — most homes are on the gas main. States with sparse gas distribution (Maine, West Virginia, rural areas of the Midwest) have high propane penetration for residential heating.

Within these structural drivers, individual state markets differ on regional dealer mix, state regulatory framework, and the presence (or absence) of anti-fill consumer protection laws.

National vs regional dealer mix

All three major US national propane companies — AmeriGas (50 states), Suburban Propane (41 states), Ferrellgas (most states) — operate in nearly every US market. But regional players dominate specific geographies and often beat the nationals on price for high-volume customers:

State regulatory framework

US propane is unregulated at the federal level for residential pricing, but states impose meaningful rules through state fire marshal offices, LP gas boards, and state-level consumer protection statutes. Every state adopts NFPA 58 by reference for installation safety; about 10–15 states layer on additional consumer protections (anti-fill rules, tank-pickup fee caps, mandatory disclosure). Each state page below covers the relevant authority and code references for that state.

Latest residential propane price by state

The EIA Weekly Heating Oil and Propane Survey publishes state-where-available residential prices alongside the national average. The 38 states below are the ones with an individual reading for the week of March 30, 2026, ranked from cheapest to most expensive. States not listed are folded into their PADD regional average.

Latest US residential propane prices by state, week of March 30, 2026
# State Price (USD/gal)
1 Nebraska (NE) $1.642
2 Iowa (IA) $1.660
3 North Dakota (ND) $1.700
4 South Dakota (SD) $1.840
5 Kansas (KS) $1.977
6 Illinois (IL) $2.026
7 Minnesota (MN) $2.056
8 Wisconsin (WI) $2.066
9 Montana (MT) $2.121
10 Missouri (MO) $2.209
11 Oklahoma (OK) $2.272
12 Colorado (CO) $2.302
13 Utah (UT) $2.337
14 Arkansas (AR) $2.367
15 Michigan (MI) $2.370
16 Idaho (ID) $2.397
17 Indiana (IN) $2.634
18 Ohio (OH) $2.695
19 Kentucky (KY) $2.936
20 Texas (TX) $2.989
21 Mississippi (MS) $3.052
22 Pennsylvania (PA) $3.083
23 Georgia (GA) $3.164
24 Tennessee (TN) $3.248
25 North Carolina (NC) $3.450
26 Alabama (AL) $3.516
27 Maine (ME) $3.523
28 Virginia (VA) $3.565
29 Massachusetts (MA) $3.649
30 Delaware (DE) $3.731
31 Vermont (VT) $3.733
32 Maryland (MD) $3.741
33 New York (NY) $3.747
34 Rhode Island (RI) $3.757
35 New Hampshire (NH) $3.780
36 New Jersey (NJ) $3.821
37 Connecticut (CT) $4.116
38 Florida (FL) $4.706

Source: EIA Weekly Heating Oil and Propane Survey, residential retail, week of March 30, 2026. See current US propane prices for the national average, 3-year history and what drives the spread.

All 50 US states

Click your state for market context, dealer mix, state propane gas association, and the regulatory framework that applies locally:

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