Where to Buy Cheap Gas in Miami - Dade, Florida

The contrary gas price action at Miami once again proves that South Florida is part of the American South per geographic location only. Miami is an international port city that represents our largest southerly metropolis beyond Atlanta. Ironically, New York snowbirds will discover that all of Brooklyn, along with Yankee expensive gas, has also flown south to Florida.

The U.S. Department of Energy is now flashing $2.612 nationally for one gallon of regular grade gasoline. The Department breaks this statistic down further by region, indicating that Lower Atlantic states from Virginia to Florida average $2.560.

Of course, the Sunshine State remains the lone outlier of "The South." The Florida price mark registers at $2.634 and is led by Miami's egregious $2.727 price point. Interestingly, Miami gasoline is more expensive than New York City's $2.678.

The South Florida gas price matrix defies standard logic, as U.S. fuel costs are usually set by one's proximity to the refineries and gargantuan oil fields of the Gulf Coast. Of course, the prolific Gulf of Mexico lies 75 miles across the Everglades from Miami. Although the focal point of Gulf activity is centered at offshore Texas and Louisiana, gasoline transport costs to Miami from the area should be minimal.

State gas taxes are the ultimate boogey man in Florida.

Tallahassee levies a 34.5-cent per gallon tax on all gasoline sold at the retail level. According to The Tax Foundation, these taxes elevate to 52.9 cents after the U.S. Government lays claim to its take and the combined figure stands as the 8^th highest in the country.

Perhaps the elevated policy remains in place to compensate for Florida's lack of any income tax.

Miami - Dade drivers must also contend with South Florida's outrageous property costs, staggering celebrity pomp, and wide-eyed tourists that flock into the area and effectively drive up the price at the pump. Miami's overreliance upon the highway and complete dearth of viable public transportation only incites demand and further exacerbates the expensive gas issue.

Yes, Miami - Dade County Transit operates one meager line from Kendall to Hialeah, which is a total joke for a metropolitan area covering over 5,000,000 residents.

Floridians remain desperate for relief and this guide will proceed to outline smart solutions to the cheap gas price proposal. We will attack the equation from both ends of the spectrum and begin with a presentation of the most expensive locations to buy gas at Miami - Dade. Our mission is complete as we discover Dade County's true pockets of affordable gas.

Where NOT to buy Gas in Miami - Dade, Florida:

Never buy gas at any South Florida tourist trap. Specifically, never buy gas at Miami Beach, unless your vehicle is in danger of running out of gas on the MacArthur Causeway. South Beach gas prices rival almost any location in the U.S. in terms of shocking excess. Miami prices spike by 30 cents across Biscayne Bay.

For example, Shell operates two opposing gas stations at I-195 / Julia Tuttle Causeway, peddling fuel for $2.59 and $2.90. Which location identifies Miami Beach?

Yes, Shell is moving 87-octane gasoline for $2.89 and $2.90 at 1698 Alton Road and 508 Arthur Godfrey Road on Miami Beach.

Although BP undercuts the competition and flashes $2.73 at the 5^th Street MacArthur feeder, I see no reason to buy gas at this Florida barrier island outside of an emergency situation and pure laziness.

The Florida mainland rests two miles away to the west via causeway.

We have already cited the 3557 NE 2^nd Avenue Shell that is peddling $2.59 gas in Miami across the Tuttle Causeway. Meanwhile, Brickell / Downtown Miami gas prices hug the $2.69 mark and prices plunge even further through the $2.50 floor into the Little Haiti section of Miami, where "regular people" live.

Drivers will exit I-95 at NW 62^nd Street / Martin Luther King Boulevard, take the service drive to NW 54^th Street and head east to Miami Avenue.

Mobil and Sunoco operate at this corner and peddle cheap gas for $2.44. Interestingly, this section of Miami stands within one 5-mile radius of South Florida extravagance - yet appears Leagues removed from the fray.

Key West, FL represents the secondary tourist death trap for expensive gas.

Veteran Floridians will stop and fill up at the Florida mainland before navigating the 100-mile long U.S. 1 bridge complex into the Keys. Key West prices spike to $2.85 at the terminus of the chain, whereas affordable gas is the order of the day at Homestead and into the Mangrove Swamp.

The Florida City Mobil is moving regular gasoline for $2.69 at 413 SE 1^st Avenue (Route 1).

Floridians and smart consumers cannot afford to buy expensive gas at any tourist trap, which includes Key West, Miami Beach, and any service station adjacent to A1A through South Florida.

Where to Buy Cheap Gas in Miami - Dade, Florida

Miami - Dade County gas prices typically plunge away from the Atlantic coastline, which is marked by A1A. Floridians will discover that fuel costs descend towards normal baselines within the "regular people" quarters of the City. These sections of South Florida, which remain removed from the glamour, paparazzi, and requisite travel brochure glare, are ideal for cheap gas per Sunshine State standards.

Remember, the Greater Miami population is remarkably compact from west to east along the Atlantic Coast. Still, South Florida drivers must acknowledge the gas price matrix from the perspective of I-95.

Cheap gas prevails at 95 in Miami - Dade County. However, the cheap gas equation reverses into Broward and Palm Beach Counties, where gas prices spike at all 95 interchanges and plunge in both directions towards Route 1 and Florida's Turnpike.

I must speculate that the expansion of Biscayne Bay at Dade County is the primary factor behind this matrix. 95 descends into the working class neighborhoods of Dade County from the Golden Glades (FL 826 / FL Turnpike) interchange, which remain hemmed in by Biscayne Bay and away from the ocean.

Property values and the cost of doing business drop dramatically away from the coastline.

Meanwhile, "The I" remains the most important conduit of South Florida traffic at Broward County, yet the geographic distance from the highway to the ocean lessens and does not outweigh 95's iconic roadway status.

Broward and Palm Beach 95 interchanges represent sharp focal points for gas demand and price. Drivers would be better served to buy cheaper gas at Route 1, east of the highway junctions in Broward and points north.

Per Miami, the aforementioned Little Haiti enclave represents the most viable meeting place for cheap gas. This community is firmly tucked away between Route 1, I-95 (NW 7^th Avenue), NW 62^nd Street, and NW 54^th Street in Miami.

Cheap gas is sold at NW 54^th Street between Model City and Little Haiti from $2.40 to $2.50. Again, Sunoco and Mobil are currently entrenched amidst cheap gas price warfare at the corner of NW 54^th and N. Miami Avenue at $2.44 and $2.47 for one gallon of regular gas at the time of this writing.

Happy Trails.

Where to Buy Cheap Gas in Miami - Dade, Florida, Sources:

Kofi Bofah, Miami Street Guide and Grid, http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1812390/miami_street_guide_and_grid.html?cat=16

Miami Gas Prices, http://www.miamigasprices.com/

Miami - Dade County, http://miamidade.gov/wps/portal

Florida Tourism, http://www.visitflorida.com/