Where to find the least expensive gas in Sonoma County

In Santa Rosa, the average price is $5.89 per gallon, according to AAA.|

THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

March 22, 2022

5 ways to save money on gas

Here are some tips and tools to use when looking to find cheap gas stations and save money per gallon:

1. GasBuddy

GasBuddy is a helpful tool to find gas stations with the lowest prices in a particular area. You can visit its website or download the app from the Apple Store or Google Play. After picking a fuel type, an array of nearby gas stations and what prices they currently offer appears. Users can also save money at the pump by reporting gas prices near them.

2. Geico

Insurance company Geico has a tool on its website for finding cheap local gas stations. You simply enter your address for a list of the closest gas stations and prices near your location.

3. Google Maps

When using Google Maps — either online or in the app — you can easily search cheap gas and most businesses have the price of regular gas at their station listed in the search results, along with the hours of business and address.

4. Get a membership card

Some gas stations, such as Rotten Robbie and Shell, offer discounts on gas prices by using a membership card. Membership gas prices will be a few cents cheaper per gallon.

5. Pay cash

Save per gallon at most gas stations by paying with cash instead of a credit card. Typically, it is 10 cents cheaper per gallon when you pay with cash.

Posted outside Healdsburg Gas Mart on Tuesday was a sign proclaiming its regular unleaded fuel, which sold for $5.63 per gallon, as the “cheapest gas” in the North Bay city.

A gas station tenant also touted the designation, which could be found on GasBuddy.com’s database of fuel prices from lowest to highest in major communities across the country.

Healdsburg resident Charley Hopkins acknowledged that $5.63 is far from cheap, but it was the best she could find in her community during this ongoing period of skyrocketing gas prices.

“Just driving around, it doesn’t get any better than this,” a sighing Hopkins said while filling her Hyundai Sonata. “Maybe it’s cheaper somewhere else, but I don’t think so in Healdsburg.”

GasBuddy.com, which bases its information on consumer feedback, showed several better deals in other parts of Sonoma County on Tuesday. So, in the interest of public service journalism, a Press Democrat reporter drove to those locations to verify the prices.

Below are the least expensive prices for a gallon of regular unleaded fuel in each Sonoma County city as of Tuesday:

Healdsburg: Healdsburg Gas Mart, Dry Creek Road at Healdsburg Avenue, $5.63;
Petaluma: 76/Circle K, Petaluma Boulevard North at Auto Center Drive, $5.69;
Rohnert Park: Costco, Martin Avenue at Redwood Drive, $5.49;
Santa Rosa: Costco, Santa Rosa and Colgan avenues, $5.49;
Sebastopol: Sebastopol Fast Gas, Gravenstein Highway South and Lynch Road, $5.67;
Windsor: Valero, 705 Shiloh Road, $5.95.

Costco gas stations require annual membership, which cost $60 per year. Lowest fuel prices in Rohnert Park and Santa Rosa outside of Costco are:

Rohnert Park: Valero and Rotten Robbie, Southwest Boulevard and College View Drive: $5.59;
Santa Rosa: Safeway, Mendocino Avenue and Steele Lane, $5.59.

Tenants at the smaller gas stations said they’re busiest during morning and evening rush hours, but long lines have been prevalent at Costco during most hours.

Costco representatives declined to comment Tuesday when The Press Democrat asked if the big-box store’s lower fuel prices were increasing its membership rolls.

Overall, Sonoma County residents can still pay less than California’s average price per gallon, which the American Automobile Association reported was $5.87 on Tuesday.

The cost of gas rose exponentially after Russia, the world’s second-largest provider of crude oil, began its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Demand for crude oil, particularly in Europe, has since shifted to other sources, which has caused a spike in oil and gas prices.

Nearly three weeks have passed since these upward shifts began. And, some consumers said on Tuesday that they have already resigned themselves to the new normal that is the higher cost of driving.

“I’m just paying what I got to pay. I’m not going out of my way to find cheap gas,” Santa Rosa resident Andrew Smith, 60, said at the Santa Rosa Safeway.

You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @colin_atagi