The average gas prices reach up to $5 a gallon across the United States

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- In what some saw inevitably coming, the average gallon of gas has officially hit $5 in the United States. According to the American Automobile Association, prices have jumped to $0.19 in the last seven days.

In 2021, the average cost of gas was $3.07. The average price at the pump in Houston on Saturday morning is $4.66, according to AAA.

An ABC13 crew found a price of $5.19 at a gas station at Buffalo Speedway and 59.

Many Houstonians are feeling the effects of the price jump. According to the Consumer Price Index, inflation is at its highest rate in four decades.

Families are spending $346.67 more per month this time than in 2021. And that amount is to buy the same products.

So what is the reason for the gas prices being so high?

Americans are more likely to travel more in the summer. Therefore the demand goes up.

A public finance fellow, Dr. Joyce Beebe with the Rice University's Baker Institute, told ABC13 that she is not sure that the United States has even reached the peak of the high gas prices just yet.

Beebe said higher costs wouldn't decrease until pandemic-related issues, like the supply chain and geopolitical matters, like the war in Ukraine, are resolved.