US Gas Prices by President
What a gallon of regular gasoline cost at the start and end of each presidency from Richard Nixon to today — the change over the term, the high and low, and the average — shown in both the price at the pump and inflation-adjusted 2025 dollars. Every president is treated identically; the figures describe prices during each term, not the effect of any president’s policies.
The national gas price through every presidency
One continuous line for the U.S. average price of regular gasoline from 1970 to the latest week, with each presidency shaded and labeled. Terms are marked for readability only — the shading is a neutral alternating tint, not colored by party.
Resolution changes at 2000: 1970–1999 is EIA’s annual national series (one point per year); 2000–present is the weekly series. Inflation-adjusted figures are in constant 2025 dollars (BLS CPI-U).
- Source. U.S. Energy Information Administration retail price of regular gasoline, national average. The same data used across this site.
- Both bases, always. Every price is given in nominal dollars and in constant 2025 dollars (adjusted for inflation with the BLS Consumer Price Index). Comparing across decades is only fair in inflation-adjusted terms.
- Term boundaries. A start/end price is the closest available data point to Inauguration Day. For 2000 onward that is the nearest weekly reading; before 2000 only an annual series exists, so it is that calendar year’s average (coarser, annual resolution). Because inaugurations are in January, an outgoing and incoming president share the same handoff-year figure.
- Term high / low / average. Computed over the president’s time in office (every week in the term for 2000+, or the calendar years they governed for the majority before 2000).
- Coverage. The series begins in 1970, so Nixon’s record starts that year (he took office in January 1969). The current president’s “end” is the latest available week.
Start-to-end gas price under each president
Chronological, Nixon to today. In each cell the top figure is the price at the pump and the tinted figure is the same price in constant 2025 dollars. Percent changes are start-to-end, on each basis.
| President | Term | Start | End | Change | Term avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970–1974* | $0.34 $2.84 | $0.52 $3.39 | +51.6% +19.4% | $0.35 $2.75 | |
RFord | 1974–1977* | $0.52 $3.39 | $0.62 $3.28 | +18.8% −3.4% | $0.55 $3.34 |
| 1977–1981* | $0.62 $3.28 | $1.32 $4.66 | +113.3% +42.2% | $0.82 $3.70 | |
| 1981–1989* | $1.32 $4.66 | $0.96 $2.51 | −26.7% −46.2% | $1.05 $3.27 | |
| 1989–1993* | $0.96 $2.51 | $1.07 $2.38 | +10.9% −4.9% | $1.05 $2.56 | |
| 1993–2001* | $1.07 $2.38 | $1.43 $2.59 | +33.3% +8.8% | $1.16 $2.36 | |
| 2001–2009 | $1.47 $2.70 | $1.85 $2.81 | +25.6% +4.0% | $2.14 $3.49 | |
| 2009–2017 | $1.85 $2.81 | $2.33 $3.07 | +25.9% +9.6% | $2.97 $4.17 | |
first term | 2017–2021 | $2.33 $3.07 | $2.38 $2.92 | +2.3% −5.1% | $2.48 $3.15 |
| 2021–2025 | $2.38 $2.92 | $3.11 $3.14 | +30.7% +7.6% | $3.46 $3.76 | |
second term | 2025–present | $3.11 $3.14 | $3.85 $3.73 | +24.0% +18.9% | $3.31 $3.27 |
* Pre-2000 presidencies use EIA’s annual national series (one point per year); 2000-onward presidencies use the weekly series. Nixon’s figures begin in 1970, the first year of available data.
Term high and low, inflation-adjusted
The most and least expensive point reached during each presidency, in constant 2025 dollars. Short-term spikes and slumps mostly track global crude oil moves that coincided with a term.
| President | Term high (2025$) | Term low (2025$) |
|---|---|---|
| $2.84 1970 | $2.67 1972 | |
RFord | $3.39 1974 | $3.29 1976 |
| $4.63 1980 | $3.11 1978 | |
| $4.66 1981 | $2.40 1986 | |
| $2.70 1990 | $2.47 1992 | |
| $2.78 2000 | $2.01 1998 | |
| $6.06 2008-06-30 | $1.92 2001-12-17 | |
| $5.68 2011-05-09 | $2.34 2016-02-15 | |
| $3.80 2018-05-28 | $2.23 2020-04-27 | |
| $5.46 2022-06-13 | $2.93 2021-01-25 | |
| $4.34 2026-05-11 | $2.74 2026-01-12 |
What actually moves gas prices
It is tempting to credit or blame whoever is in the White House for the price at the pump, but economists across the spectrum agree that a president’s direct influence is limited. The price of gasoline is set mostly by forces that operate on a global scale and on their own timelines:
- The global price of crude oil, which typically accounts for the majority of what you pay and is set in worldwide markets.
- OPEC+ production decisions and the output of other major producers, which raise or cut global supply.
- Refining capacity and outages, which determine how much crude becomes gasoline, and where.
- Demand and seasonality, including the summer driving season and the switch to costlier summer blends.
- Geopolitics and taxes, from wars and sanctions to state and federal fuel taxes.
Prices rose and fell under presidents of both parties for reasons that usually had little to do with who held office. These pages report what prices were during each term; they do not assign credit or blame.
What a president can and cannot do about the price at the pump.
Gas prices by president, answered
- Which president had the highest gas prices?
- Measured by the average price across the full term in constant 2025 dollars — the like-for-like comparison — gas was most expensive under Barack Obama, averaging $4.17 per gallon ($2.97 at the pump). In un-adjusted, at-the-pump dollars the highest term average was under Joe Biden at $3.46. The single highest weekly price on record fell under George W. Bush, at $6.06 in 2025 dollars (week of 2008-06-30). These reflect prices during each term, not any president's policies.
- Which president had the lowest gas prices?
- Adjusted for inflation, the lowest full-term average was under Bill Clinton, at $2.36 per gallon in constant 2025 dollars ($1.16 at the pump). Because inflation erodes the value of the dollar over time, at-the-pump ("nominal") prices from earlier decades look far lower still; the inflation-adjusted figure is the fairer comparison across eras.
- Do presidents control gas prices?
- Only at the margins. Retail gasoline prices are set mostly by the global price of crude oil — which is driven by OPEC+ production decisions, worldwide supply and demand, and geopolitics — plus domestic refining capacity, seasonal demand, and taxes. These forces are largely outside any president's direct, short-term control, and prices rose and fell under presidents of both parties for reasons that had little to do with who held office.
- Are these numbers adjusted for inflation?
- Both are shown. Every figure appears in nominal dollars (the price at the pump in that year) and in constant 2025 dollars (adjusted for inflation using the BLS Consumer Price Index). Comparing presidents across different decades is only meaningful in inflation-adjusted terms, so both are given side by side throughout.
- Why are prices before 2000 shown differently?
- EIA's national weekly retail gasoline series begins in 2000. For presidencies starting in 2000 or later (George W. Bush onward) figures use that weekly series, so the term-boundary prices are the nearest week to each Inauguration Day. For earlier presidencies only an annual national series is available, so those figures use each year's average — a coarser, annual resolution. Pre-1970 data does not exist in this series, so Richard Nixon's record begins in 1970.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, national average retail price of regular gasoline. Figures for 2000 onward use EIA’s weekly series; earlier figures use EIA’s annual national series and are shown at annual resolution. Inflation adjustment uses the BLS Consumer Price Index (CPI-U), constant 2025 dollars. Party is listed as a matter of record; this page does not attribute price changes to any president or policy.