Costco Continues Reign as Cheapest Place to Fill Up

GAITHERSBURG, Md. — GasBuddy.com recognized the retail brands that offered the most competitive gasoline pricing in 2015, based upon data submitted by its large network of price spotters.

The Gaithersburg-based company awarded its 2016 Low Price Awards based upon an overall basis, by size of the retailer, and selected a winner for each of the 50 states. Taking the top overall prize was Costco Wholesale Corp., which was awarded the top spot for the fourth consecutive year. According to GasBuddy, Costco was on average priced 19.8 cents per gallon lower than its competitors. Costco was also No. 1 in 12 states and placed first in the 100 to 999 stores category.

Placing second overall was convenience store retailer Quik Stop, which also finished first in the 50 to 99 store category. Quik Stop’s stations were priced 17.8 cents per gallon lower than competitors on average.

Third place overall was awarded to convenience store brand ARCO, which also placed first in the 1,000-plus store category. Its gas stations were on average priced 17.6 cents per gallon cheaper than competitors. 

Finishing first in the 25 to 49 store category was another convenience store retailer, Rotten Robbie. The California chain priced its fuel an average of 13.7 cents per gallon cheaper than competitors, stated GasBuddy.

Several convenience store-related brands also placed first in their respective states, as shown in the photo above. This list includes:

• Circle K Stores Inc., No. 1 in Maine;
• Speedway LLC, tops in Vermont, Rhode Island and New Jersey;
• Royal Farms, placing first in Delaware;
• Murphy USA Inc., No. 1 in Kentucky, Mississippi, Louisiana, and New Mexico;
• QuikTrip Corp., finishing first in Iowa;
• 7-Eleven, placing first in Oklahoma;
• Maverik Inc., finishing first in Colorado;
• The Kroger Co., tops in West Virginia and Arkansas;
• Town Pump, No. 1 in Montana;
• Tesoro Corp., tops in Hawaii;
• Kwik Shop, placing first in Nebraska;
• PDQ Food Stores Inc., tops in Wisconsin;
• Petro Serve USA, No. 1 in North Dakota; and
• ARCO, tops in Nevada.

“Each day, millions of drivers utilize GasBuddy for real-time information on where is the cheapest place to fuel up,” said Jason Toews, co-founder of GasBuddy. “We are happy to once again honor the retailers across the nation that provide low prices based on the data we have collected by GasBuddy price spotters.”