Gas Prices in 1987

The average price rose 6.5% in 1987, to $0.90 a gallon, and 2.8% after inflation, to $2.56 in 2025 dollars. It recovered part of the 1986 decline, but the price stayed far below the levels of the early 1980s.

The recovery followed OPEC’s December 1986 agreement. Starting in January 1987, members adopted a fixed reference price of $18 a barrel and lower production quotas. Crude prices, which had fallen close to $10 at times in 1986, moved back toward that target early in the year.

The agreement weakened as the year went on. Members produced above their quotas, and a December 1987 OPEC meeting failed to restore discipline, so crude prices fell again into 1988. In the annual gasoline record, 1987 shows a partial rebound: the increase of 5.5¢ a gallon was small compared with the 27.8¢ drop of the year before. In 2025 dollars, the 1987 average of $2.56 was still 47.1% below the 1981 level.

Georgia had the lowest average gasoline price of any state in 1987, $0.83, and it kept that position in every year through 1999. The nearest states in 1987 were Nevada at $0.85 and Missouri at $0.85.

Only three jurisdictions averaged a dollar or more: Hawaii ($1.18), Maryland ($1.01) and the District of Columbia ($1.01). Everywhere else, the all-grades price was still below that line a year after the 1986 collapse. Rhode Island and Connecticut ($0.99) were next, both within a cent of the line but under it. Hawaii’s average stood 28.0¢ above the national figure of $0.90.

Nationally, 1987 ranks almost the same whichever measure is used: 45th-highest at the pump and 46th-highest in 2025 dollars ($2.56). For every year from 1970 through 1985 the inflation-adjusted ranking sits above the nominal one, often far above, so the near-match in 1987 stands out. The year was cheap enough by either measure to sit in the bottom quarter of both lists. Twenty years later, 2007 cost 209.2% more at the pump and 69.4% more in real terms.

Gasoline averaged $0.92 in 1988, an increase of 1.4% at the pump over 1987. In constant 2025 dollars the same move was a decrease of 2.6%. The 1986 average, the year before, stood at $0.85. Put side by side, the years 1986, 1987 and 1988 show the pump price climbing each time, while the inflation-adjusted price rose into 1987 and fell into 1988.

State prices in 1987 were bracketed by Georgia at $0.83 and Hawaii at $1.18, a gap of 35.1¢ between the lowest-priced and highest-priced state. The 1987 state averages placed 32 of 51 jurisdictions, D.C. included, above the national figure.

A decade earlier, in 1977, gasoline averaged $0.64 at the pump. Measured in constant 2025 dollars, the 1987 price was down 24.8% on its 1977 level. The 2012 average of $5.08 in constant 2025 dollars is the highest in the 1970–2025 record of 56 complete years.

The EIA national number for 1987 is approximate. It is the State Energy Data System average for all grades of motor gasoline, with taxes included, and the site holds no weekly data for that year.