EIA: Minnesota #1 for gas tax increase since 2024
A recent U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) map gives Minnesota a dubious distinction: It was the state with the largest increase in gasoline taxes since July 2024.
State taxes and fees on gasoline and diesel fuel averaged $0.33 per gallon of gasoline and $0.35/gal of diesel at the beginning of 2025. National average rates were nearly flat, but taxes decreased in six states, with Indiana’s gas tax dropping $0.036 per gallon.
Minnesota had the largest gas tax increase since July 2024, with an increase of $0.031 per gallon to a total of $0.319 per gallon. Minnesota posted the same increase in its state diesel tax rate, ranking only behind Connecticut.
Including federal taxes, gasoline consumers in Minnesota pay $0.5030 per gallon in taxes.
The EIA’s table of federal and state motor fuel taxes can be downloaded here (this link will download and open an Excel file!). Of note in Minnesota is the variable Petroleum Tank Release Cleanup Fee, which was not in effect in January 2025 but can add $0.02 per gallon, as it did in certain months of 2024.
According to the Tax Foundation, gas taxes are intended to serve as user fees that fund transportation infrastructure maintenance and new projects. But certain kinds of vehicles, like electric vehicles, don’t pay gas taxes because they aren’t purchasing gasoline, despite imposing wear and tear on roads with heavier vehicles.
At least 39 states now require a special registration fee for EVs, including Minnesota, which levies a $75 annual surcharge for EV registration (but not plug-in hybrid vehicles). Economist John Phelan crunched the numbers in July 2024, when Minnesota’s gas tax was only $0.285, and found that “the average Minnesotan motorist pays $194 in gas tax annually (681.1 x 0.285 = 194), more than double what an EV driver pays in lieu.”
Proposed legislation (H.F. 189) would double the annual surcharge on all-electric vehicles to $150 and create a $75 surcharge for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, $30 for all-electric motorcycles, and $15 for plug-in hybrid electric motorcycles.