Gas Prices in 1977

The average price rose 6.0% in 1977, to $0.64 a gallon, and fell 0.4% after inflation, to $3.41 in 2025 dollars. In real terms the price was almost unchanged from 1976.

Two events changed the structure of U.S. energy supply and policy. On June 20, 1977, oil from Alaska’s North Slope entered the Trans-Alaska Pipeline for the first time, and the first tanker of North Slope crude left Valdez on August 1. Alaskan production added a large new domestic source at a time when output from the lower 48 states was declining. On October 1, 1977, the Department of Energy began operating, combining the Federal Energy Administration and other agencies.

Federal controls on crude oil and gasoline prices remained in place under the 1975 law. With controls holding domestic crude below world prices and no disruption to world supply, 1977 was the third year in a row in which the inflation-adjusted price of gasoline declined.

Florida had the lowest state average in 1977, $0.59, below Delaware, the next cheapest, at $0.60. California stood near the opposite end. Its $0.67, level with Virginia, ranked 47th from the cheapest; only Hawaii, Alaska and the District of Columbia were higher. That position changed sharply over the next eight years, and by 1985 California ranked 2nd, behind Missouri alone. Hawaii was again the most expensive state, at $0.74, or 9.4¢ more than the national figure.

Nationally, 1977 averaged $0.64 at the pump, or $3.41 in 2025 dollars. That constant-dollar figure is close to what 2024 cost on the same basis, $3.39. The pump price then doubled within four years: 1981, at $1.37, was the first year above twice the 1977 level. In the full record, 1977 ranks 49th-highest in current dollars and 24th-highest after inflation.

Looking a decade and two decades ahead, the two measures point in opposite directions. The 1987 pump average was 40.9% above 1977 while its real value was 24.8% below. By 1997 the current-dollar gain had grown to 89.9%, and the real decline to 28.3%.

Ranked from the highest price, 1977 sits 49th-highest at the pump among 56 complete years, yet 24th-highest once adjusted to 2025 dollars. Counted from the cheapest on that inflation-adjusted basis, it is 33rd-lowest. Its constant-dollar figure of $3.41 compares with the 2012 peak of $5.08 on the same basis.

The 1977 average of $0.64 followed $0.61 in 1976, a rise of 6.0% at the pump. In 2025 dollars, the 1976 to 1977 change was a fall of 0.4%. For 1978, the average of $0.66 was an increase of 2.2% at the pump, while in constant dollars the 1977 to 1978 change was a fall of 5.1%.

Among states in 1977, Hawaii was priced at $0.74 and Florida at $0.59. That gap between the highest-priced and lowest-priced state was 14.8¢. A total of 23 of 51 states, counting D.C., had a 1977 average above the U.S. average.

The 1977 figures come from the EIA State Energy Data System, which reports all grades of motor gasoline with taxes included. Before 2000 the national figure is approximate, and the site holds no weekly data for 1977.