Americans are paying dearly for gas as prices reach fresh highs

A day after Americans faced the highest costs they've ever seen at the pump, gas prices jumped once again and set a new all-time record on Wednesday, according to AAA. The national average now stands at $4.25 per gallon, the highest ever following Tuesday's record of $4.17 per gallon. 

Before this week's record-setting prices, the previous high was $4.10 in July 2008, according to Bloomberg. (Adjusted for inflation, that remains the high for fuel prices.) 

But gas prices vary widely across the nation, with drivers in California facing the highest costs with an average price on Wednesday of $5.57 per gallon. Meanwhile, drivers in some Southern and Midwestern states are still paying below $4 per gallon for gas, such as in Oklahoma, where the per-gallon average is about $3.79.