Gas Prices Under Ronald Reagan (1981–1989)
Under Ronald Reagan, the U.S. average price of gasoline (all grades) went from $1.37 to $0.92 a gallon, averaged $1.09 and peaked at $1.37 (1981). The cards below also give each figure in 2025 dollars. These figures describe what prices were during the term — they do not measure the effect of any president’s policies.
1981
1988 · last full year in office
Start to end
Mean over 8 years
Pump: 1981 · adj.: 1981
Pump: 1986 · adj.: 1986
Gas prices during Reagan’s term
The national average for gasoline (all grades) from 1981 to 1989. Toggle between the price at the pump and constant 2025 dollars. Before 2000 only an annual national average is available, so this shows one point per year.
| Year | At the pump | In 2025 $ |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | $1.37 | $4.85 |
| 1982 | $1.30 | $4.34 |
| 1983 | $1.14 | $3.69 |
| 1984 | $1.11 | $3.45 |
| 1985 | $1.13 | $3.37 |
| 1986 | $0.85 | $2.49 |
| 1987 | $0.90 | $2.56 |
| 1988 | $0.92 | $2.50 |
Reagan, 1981–1989: decontrol, a higher gas tax and the 1986 collapse
Ronald Reagan took office with gasoline near its highest annual level to that point. In both EIA annual retail series 1981 is the most expensive year of the term, and the U.S. average fell in each of 1982, 1983 and 1984. In 1986 it dropped by nearly a quarter from 1985. By 1989 it was about a quarter below its 1981 level in both series, before adjusting for inflation. The site holds only annual averages before 2000, so no dollar figures are quoted here.
Eight days after the inauguration, Executive Order 12287 of January 28, 1981 exempted all crude oil and refined petroleum products, including gasoline, from federal price and allocation controls, ending them ahead of the September 30, 1981 date set under the phased decontrol that began in 1979. The Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982, signed on January 6, 1983, raised the federal gasoline tax to 9¢ a gallon.
The 1986 decline followed a change in the world crude market. The EIA’s outlook for the second quarter of 1986 described world oil prices as set by the production decisions of other countries, mainly Saudi Arabia, assumed a range of $10 to $20 a barrel for the third quarter, and projected summer gasoline about 28¢ a gallon below a year earlier. Presidents have limited control over pump prices, which follow crude oil, refining and tax conditions; the site’s explainer sets out what a president can and cannot change.
Sources: movements before 2000 compare the EIA State Energy Data System annual average in our database with the EIA Monthly Energy Review retail series, and figures from 2000 on are EIA weekly retail data from our database; other facts are from the sources listed here.
- National Archives, Executive Order 12287: Decontrol of Crude Oil and Refined Petroleum Products (January 28, 1981)
- Congressional Research Service, “The Crude Oil Windfall Profit Tax of the 1980s” (RL33305)
- Federal Highway Administration, “When did the Federal Government begin collecting the gas tax?”
- U.S. EIA, Short-Term Energy Outlook, second quarter 1986
The pump price combines the cost of crude oil, refining margins, distribution and marketing, and federal and state taxes. How each part works, and which of them federal policy reaches, is covered in the explainer on whether the President controls gas prices.
Gas prices under Reagan, answered
- What was the highest gas price under Ronald Reagan?
- Adjusted for inflation, the most expensive gasoline reached during Ronald Reagan's term was $4.85 per gallon in constant 2025 dollars (1981). The highest at-the-pump price was $1.37 (1981). Short-term peaks generally tracked moves in the global crude oil market.
- What did gas cost when Ronald Reagan took office?
- At the start of the term (1981) the U.S. average for gasoline (all grades) was $1.37 per gallon, or $4.85 in constant 2025 dollars.
- How much did gas prices change under Ronald Reagan?
- From the start of the term to its end (1988), the pump price went from $1.37 to $0.92 a gallon — a change of −$0.45 (−33.0%). Adjusted for inflation it went from $4.85 to $2.50, −48.5%.
- Did gasoline get more or less expensive under Ronald Reagan?
- In inflation-adjusted terms the average price fell over the term (at the pump it fell). This reflects what prices were during the term and is not a measure of any president's policies — gasoline prices are driven mainly by global oil markets, which moved for reasons largely outside any president's control.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, national average retail price of motor gasoline, all grades (State Energy Data System). Before 2000, figures use EIA's annual national series (one point per year); a year counts for the president in office on December 31, so the term's end is its last full year and the successor's first year is not included. 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. How these figures are built.
Years in this term
Use this data
Download: U.S. national gas prices by year, 1970–present (CSV) · Weekly U.S. national gas prices, 2000–present (CSV).
Column definitions, coverage and every file: gas price data. Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 with credit.
Cite as: US Gas Gauge, “Gas Prices Under Ronald Reagan,” usgasgauge.com/gas-prices/by-president/reagan. Source data: U.S. Energy Information Administration.