for anyone that might be interested, this page shows you a breakdown of what each states gas price is made up of
http://www.southcarolinagasprices.com/tax_info.aspx
for example, where I live in GA we pay 7.5 cpg (cents per gallon) on top of the federal tax of 18.4 cpg AND we pay a 4% sales tax
Hawaii which has the most expensive gas on average of any state pays
the federal of 18.4 cpg, the state of 16.1 cpg plus a local tax depending on where you are of anywher from 8.8 to 18 cpg AND a sales tax of 4.166