The History of U.S. Gas Prices
week of June 15, 2026
More than half a century of pump prices for a gallon of regular gasoline, at the pump and in today’s (2025) dollars. Adjusted for inflation, the most expensive year on record was 1981 at $4.66 — with the early 1980s close behind (1981 at $4.66); the cheapest was 1998 at $2.01.
From this week back to 1970
The U.S. average price of regular gasoline, right up to the latest weekly EIA value. Pick a range: short ranges show the smooth, current weekly series, longer ranges step out to monthly, and Max reaches back to 1970. Toggle between the price at the pump and constant 2025 dollars. In the Max view a dashed line marks 2000, where the source basis changes from EIA’s State Energy Data System to its retail series.
View the data (53 points · weekly)
| Date | Nominal | 2025 $ |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-06-16 | $3.14 | $3.14 |
| 2025-06-23 | $3.21 | $3.22 |
| 2025-06-30 | $3.16 | $3.17 |
| 2025-07-07 | $3.13 | $3.12 |
| 2025-07-14 | $3.13 | $3.13 |
| 2025-07-21 | $3.12 | $3.12 |
| 2025-07-28 | $3.12 | $3.12 |
| 2025-08-04 | $3.14 | $3.13 |
| 2025-08-11 | $3.12 | $3.10 |
| 2025-08-18 | $3.13 | $3.11 |
| 2025-08-25 | $3.15 | $3.13 |
| 2025-09-01 | $3.18 | $3.15 |
| 2025-09-08 | $3.19 | $3.17 |
| 2025-09-15 | $3.17 | $3.15 |
| 2025-09-22 | $3.17 | $3.15 |
| 2025-09-29 | $3.12 | $3.10 |
| 2025-10-06 | $3.12 | $3.01 |
| 2025-10-13 | $3.06 | $2.95 |
| 2025-10-20 | $3.02 | $2.91 |
| 2025-10-27 | $3.04 | $2.93 |
| 2025-11-03 | $3.02 | $2.99 |
| 2025-11-10 | $3.06 | $3.03 |
| 2025-11-17 | $3.06 | $3.03 |
| 2025-11-24 | $3.06 | $3.03 |
| 2025-12-01 | $2.98 | $2.95 |
| 2025-12-08 | $2.94 | $2.90 |
| 2025-12-15 | $2.90 | $2.86 |
| 2025-12-22 | $2.84 | $2.81 |
| 2025-12-29 | $2.81 | $2.78 |
| 2026-01-05 | $2.80 | $2.76 |
| 2026-01-12 | $2.78 | $2.74 |
| 2026-01-19 | $2.81 | $2.77 |
| 2026-01-26 | $2.85 | $2.81 |
| 2026-02-02 | $2.87 | $2.82 |
| 2026-02-09 | $2.90 | $2.85 |
| 2026-02-16 | $2.92 | $2.88 |
| 2026-02-23 | $2.94 | $2.89 |
| 2026-03-02 | $3.02 | $2.94 |
| 2026-03-09 | $3.50 | $3.41 |
| 2026-03-16 | $3.72 | $3.63 |
| 2026-03-23 | $3.96 | $3.86 |
| 2026-03-30 | $3.99 | $3.89 |
| 2026-04-06 | $4.12 | $3.99 |
| 2026-04-13 | $4.12 | $3.99 |
| 2026-04-20 | $4.04 | $3.92 |
| 2026-04-27 | $4.12 | $3.99 |
| 2026-05-04 | $4.45 | $4.29 |
| 2026-05-11 | $4.50 | $4.34 |
| 2026-05-18 | $4.49 | $4.33 |
| 2026-05-25 | $4.47 | $4.31 |
| 2026-06-01 | $4.30 | $4.15 |
| 2026-06-08 | $4.15 | $4.00 |
| 2026-06-15 | $4.05 | $3.91 |
The highest and lowest years on record
The average price, every decade
Average U.S. regular gasoline price within each decade, at the pump and adjusted to constant 2025 dollars. The bar tracks the inflation-adjusted average.
| Decade | Years | At the pump | In 2025 $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 1970–1979 | $0.52 | $3.12 |
| 1980s | 1980–1989 | $1.05 | $3.33 |
| 1990s | 1990–1999 | $1.10 | $2.38 |
Where $4.05 sits in the record
Today’s $4.05 is the 4th-highest price when measured against every year since 1970 — about 13% below the 1981 peak of $4.66.
In constant dollars, 3 years on record were more expensive than today — among them 1981, 1980, 1982. Pump prices feel high, but inflation has pushed several past years higher still.
The 2026 climb in context, and what reputable sources say is driving it.
The long-run story is an inflation story
Read the at-the-pump line alone and gasoline looks like it only ever gets more expensive. Adjust for inflation and a very different shape appears — one of brutal early-1980s prices, an extraordinarily cheap stretch in the late 1990s, and two modern spikes that briefly rivaled the old records.
In real terms the early 1980s were punishing: 1981 averaged $4.66 in 2025 dollars, even though the pump price read just $1.32. By the late 1990s gasoline was about as cheap as it has ever been — 1998 bottomed at $2.01 adjusted.
U.S. gas price history, answered
- What is the most expensive year for gas in U.S. history?
- Adjusted for inflation, the most expensive year on record was 1981, when regular gasoline averaged about $4.66 per gallon in constant 2025 dollars (it was $1.32 at the pump that year). In raw, un-adjusted dollars the highest annual average was 1981 at $1.32, per U.S. Energy Information Administration data.
- When was gas cheapest, adjusted for inflation?
- In constant 2025 dollars the cheapest year on record was 1998, at about $2.01 per gallon. The lowest at-the-pump price was 1970 at $0.34, before adjusting for inflation.
- Are gas prices higher now than they have ever been?
- Not in real terms. The current U.S. average of $4.05 (week of June 15, 2026) is below the inflation-adjusted record of $4.66 set in 1981. Measured in constant 2025 dollars, today's price ranks about 4th-highest against the 30 years from 1970 to 1999.
- Why do gas prices before 2000 come from a different source?
- EIA's weekly and monthly retail gasoline series begin in 2000. For 1970–1999 the only EIA series reaching that far back is the State Energy Data System (all-grades motor gasoline), which is approximate and runs roughly 4% below the post-2000 retail series. From 2000 on, each year is the average of EIA's twelve monthly U.S. regular (all-formulations) retail prices. That documented break is marked on the trend chart above.
All 30 years, 1970–1999
1990s
1990–19991980s
1980–1989Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration. From 2000 on, each year is the average of EIA’s twelve monthly U.S. regular (all-formulations) retail prices; the current-week national average comes from the same EIA weekly series. For 1970–1999 — before EIA’s monthly retail series begins — figures come from EIA’s State Energy Data System (all-grades motor gasoline) and are approximate; on the overlap years that basis runs about 4% below the post-2000 retail series, so prices are not perfectly continuous across that break. Inflation adjustment uses the BLS Consumer Price Index (CPI-U), constant 2025 dollars.