The price at the pump was more than $4 a gallon in Vista, Calif., when Scott Hissem recently embarked on a trip to Texas to celebrate his 40th birthday. When the delivery associate for Amazon.com Inc. arrived in the Lone Star state, he got an unexpected present: Gasoline cost just $2 and change.
The gap has Mr. Hissem considering a move to escape California’s high cost of living. “It makes life hard,” Mr. Hissem said of California, which is the most populous U.S. state and the one with the highest gasoline prices. “You can’t go out and do the things you want to do.”