Photo by brownpau.

AAA Mid-Atlantic says that D.C. reached the $4 average in gas prices either late Thursday night or early Friday morning, with the D.C. becoming the fifth jurisdiction in the country to reach the unwanted distinction. The District joins California, Hawaii, Alaska, and Illinois as the other places in the nation with the ungodly high average.

Believe it or not, the $4 average actually isn’t the highest D.C. has seen – on July 16, 2008, gas prices topped out at $4.19 per gallon in the District.

The region’s average gas price factors in the Maryland and Virginia suburbs and held steady just shy of $4 at $3.84 per gallon. This is still nearly a dollar higher than it was a year ago.

And as you probably know, it’s not like the prices are going to go down anytime soon. Summer travel usually hikes up gas prices, so unfortunately you can only expect the gas prices to rise into the summer months.

One bright spot perhaps, is that there is now a mobile app as well as websites to help you find the cheapest gas prices in your area.