Chicago Motorists Driving To Wisconsin For Cheaper Gas

The price of gasoline in Chicago and its suburbs has risen so high that residents are driving to a neighboring state to fill up their tanks.

Among them is Lake Forest resident Fran Meza, who notes the per-gallon price at a station on I-94 is $4.63, while the price in Pleasant Prairie is only $3.99.

“Now that the price is super high, I drive 10 minutes to Wisconsin,” Meza says. “It’s 50 cents cheaper. It makes a difference.”

Another Illinois resident, Carl Powell, says the 20-minute drive he makes to buy gas is well worth his time. “I can save about 12 bucks on gas,” Powell says.

In fact, the average price for a gallon of gas is $4.02 in Wisconsin, while it’s $4.56 in Illinois. The difference is the result of each state’s gas tax, which is about 20 cents higher in Illinois than it is in Wisconsin, according to the American Petroleum Institute.