Gas Prices in 2016
inflation-adjusted (CPI-U)
How 2016 ranks in the 1970–2025 record
The 35th-most-expensive year on record — the 22nd-cheapest of 56 years.
The 21st-highest pump price on record — before adjusting for inflation.
How U.S. prices moved through 2016
Weekly U.S. average for regular gasoline. The year’s high was $2.40 the week of June 13, 2016; the low was $1.72 the week of February 15, 2016 — a swing of 39.2%.
| Month | At the pump | In 2025 $ | Weeks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2016 | $1.95 | $2.64 | 4 |
| Feb 2016 | $1.76 | $2.39 | 5 |
| Mar 2016 | $1.97 | $2.66 | 4 |
| Apr 2016 | $2.11 | $2.85 | 4 |
| May 2016 | $2.27 | $3.05 | 5 |
| Jun 2016 | $2.37 | $3.17 | 4 |
| Jul 2016 | $2.24 | $3.00 | 4 |
| Aug 2016 | $2.18 | $2.92 | 5 |
| Sep 2016 | $2.22 | $2.96 | 4 |
| Oct 2016 | $2.25 | $3.00 | 5 |
| Nov 2016 | $2.18 | $2.90 | 4 |
| Dec 2016 | $2.25 | $2.99 | 4 |
2016 vs. the years on either side
State gas prices in 2016
EIA weekly prices for 2016 are available for these states. Each link opens that state’s price history at 2016.
2016: the lowest average since 2004
The 2016 average was $2.14, 28.6¢ below 2015 and 12.9% lower after inflation. The EIA reported it was the lowest annual average since 2004. Crude oil prices reached their lowest point of the downturn in early 2016, and gasoline followed: the national average fell to $1.72 in the week of February 15, the year’s low and the lowest weekly figure since 2009.
From there prices rose as crude oil recovered. The monthly average went from $1.76 in February to $2.37 in June; the largest weekly increase, 12¢, came in the week of March 14, and the year’s high was $2.40 in the week of June 13. Even that high was 44¢ below 2015’s peak.
Prices held near $2.20 through the second half. At the end of November, OPEC agreed to its first production cut since 2008, and the year ended at $2.31, about 28¢ above its first week. The New York Harbor wholesale price averaged $1.39 a gallon, the lowest annual average since 2004 as well.
Sources: prices and high/low weeks are EIA weekly retail data (regular, all formulations) from our database; other facts are from the sources listed here.
2016 compared with five and ten years earlier
From 2011 to 2016 the national average fell 39.1% in current dollars, from $3.52 to $2.14, and 43.0% after inflation. The fall from 2006 was smaller in current dollars, 16.7%, but reached 30.0% in real terms, because a decade of inflation had raised other prices while gasoline went down. Even the year’s most expensive week, $2.40 on June 13, 2016, was under the 2015 annual average of $2.43. Its cheapest, $1.72 on February 15, 2016, is the lowest weekly figure of any year from 2010 through 2025.
Ranked against the complete years from 1970 through 2025, 2016 stands 21st by the price paid at the time and 35th after adjusting to 2025 dollars.
Prices were low even in the most expensive states. Hawaii and Alaska, level at the top of EIA’s all-grades state estimates with $2.90 and $2.90, were both below the national all-grades figure for 2014, $3.31, though still 72.7¢ above the 2016 one. At the bottom, Texas ($1.96) and Alabama ($1.96) were effectively tied for the lowest average, while Georgia, cheapest of all two years earlier, placed 7th.
Figures in this section are computed from U.S. Energy Information Administration data in the US Gas Gauge database.
2016 State Spread and Weekly Range
State averages in 2016 were 93.5¢ apart from the highest-priced state to the lowest-priced state, on the EIA all-grades basis. Of the 51 states counted, with D.C. included, 22 of 51 posted a 2016 average above the U.S. average on that basis.
EIA supplied 52 weeks of data for 2016. The difference between the highest weekly regular price of 2016, $2.40, and the lowest, $1.72, was 67.5¢.
The pump price in 2006 was $2.57. Measured in constant 2025 dollars, the average fell 30.0% between 2006 and 2016. The inflation-adjusted series reached its peak in 2012 at $5.08, while the 2016 average in the same dollars was $2.88.
Moving into 2017, the pump price rose 12.7%, and in constant 2025 dollars it rose 10.3%. The 2017 average stood at $2.42, set against $2.43 for 2015.
Among the 56 complete years from 1970 through 2025, 2016 ranks 22nd-lowest once prices are adjusted to 2025 dollars.
U.S. gas prices in 2016, answered
- What was the average price of gas in 2016?
- The U.S. average price of regular gasoline in 2016 was $2.14 per gallon — about $2.88 in 2025 dollars after adjusting for inflation, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration data.
- How does 2016 rank for gas prices in U.S. history?
- Adjusted for inflation, 2016 was the 35th-most-expensive year for gasoline out of the 56 years on record (1970–2025). In raw at-the-pump dollars it ranks 21st.
- Were gas prices higher in 2016 than in 2015?
- Adjusted for inflation, regular gasoline was cheaper in 2016 than in 2015, down 12.9% year over year ($3.30 → $2.88 in 2025 dollars).
- How high did gas prices get during 2016?
- The U.S. weekly average for regular gasoline peaked at $2.40 the week of June 13, 2016 and bottomed at $1.72 the week of February 15, 2016 during 2016.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration. Mean of EIA’s weekly U.S. regular prices. Constant 2025 dollars (CPI-U). How the figures are built.
More about 2016
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 in 2016,” usgasgauge.com/gas-prices/history/2016. Source data: U.S. Energy Information Administration.