- The average new car cost $34,101 in 2026 (through July), up from $3,215 in 1967, a 10.6-fold increase over 59 years.
- New light trucks (pickups, vans, and SUVs) cost even more: $48,237 in 2026, a 41.5% premium over the average car.
- That premium has grown substantially: light trucks cost about 20% more than cars in 2002, peaked at a 50.7% premium in 2022, and has eased back to 41.5% since.
- Both prices jumped sharply during the pandemic era, cars rose 18.5% from 2020 to 2022, trucks 21.0%, but unlike trucks, car prices haven't meaningfully retreated since.
01 Introduction
The Bureau of Economic Analysis tracks the actual average dollar expenditure on a new car and a new light truck every month, going back to 1967 for cars and 2002 for light trucks. Unlike a price index, which measures quality-adjusted price change relative to a fixed base period, this is a real, direct dollar figure: what buyers actually spent, on average, that year. This article uses that data in full to trace how much a new vehicle has actually cost, year by year, for nearly six decades.
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, NIPA Underlying Detail Table 7.2.5S, "Average expenditure per car" and "Overall average expenditure per light truck," monthly data averaged to calendar-year figures.02 Average Price of a New Car by Year, 1967–2026
The table below shows the average expenditure on a new car for every year from 1967 through 2026.
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, NIPA Underlying Detail Table 7.2.5S, "Average expenditure per car" (Overall), calendar-year average of monthly not-seasonally-adjusted data. 2026 is a partial-year average (January–July).| Year | Avg. Price | Year | Avg. Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | $3,215 | 1968 | $3,406 |
| 1969 | $3,556 | 1970 | $3,542 |
| 1971 | $3,742 | 1972 | $3,879 |
| 1973 | $4,052 | 1974 | $4,441 |
| 1975 | $4,951 | 1976 | $5,416 |
| 1977 | $5,813 | 1978 | $6,379 |
| 1979 | $6,848 | 1980 | $7,574 |
| 1981 | $8,910 | 1982 | $9,903 |
| 1983 | $10,607 | 1984 | $11,374 |
| 1985 | $11,838 | 1986 | $12,651 |
| 1987 | $13,383 | 1988 | $13,933 |
| 1989 | $14,372 | 1990 | $15,045 |
| 1991 | $15,473 | 1992 | $16,334 |
| 1993 | $16,829 | 1994 | $17,803 |
| 1995 | $17,897 | 1996 | $18,523 |
| 1997 | $19,191 | 1998 | $20,242 |
| 1999 | $20,697 | 2000 | $21,039 |
| 2001 | $21,473 | 2002 | $21,866 |
| 2003 | $21,664 | 2004 | $22,067 |
| 2005 | $23,013 | 2006 | $23,629 |
| 2007 | $23,891 | 2008 | $23,442 |
| 2009 | $23,245 | 2010 | $24,898 |
| 2011 | $25,482 | 2012 | $25,545 |
| 2013 | $25,446 | 2014 | $24,979 |
| 2015 | $25,194 | 2016 | $25,451 |
| 2017 | $25,565 | 2018 | $25,507 |
| 2019 | $26,337 | 2020 | $27,583 |
| 2021 | $30,220 | 2022 | $32,680 |
| 2023 | $33,585 | 2024 | $33,332 |
| 2025 | $33,616 | 2026* | $34,101 |
Estimate your vehicle's total driving cost using official EPA fuel economy data.
Use the Calculator03 New Light Trucks Cost Even More
BEA has tracked light truck (pickup, van, and SUV) expenditure separately since 2002. The table below shows the average price alongside the percentage premium over the average car price that same year.
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, NIPA Underlying Detail Table 7.2.5S, "Overall average expenditure per light truck," calendar-year average of monthly not-seasonally-adjusted data.| Year | Avg. Light Truck Price | Premium Over Car |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | $26,140 | 19.6% |
| 2003 | $26,704 | 23.3% |
| 2004 | $27,188 | 23.2% |
| 2005 | $27,589 | 19.9% |
| 2006 | $28,252 | 19.6% |
| 2007 | $29,270 | 22.5% |
| 2008 | $28,468 | 21.4% |
| 2009 | $29,400 | 26.5% |
| 2010 | $32,288 | 29.7% |
| 2011 | $33,350 | 30.9% |
| 2012 | $34,040 | 33.3% |
| 2013 | $34,617 | 36.0% |
| 2014 | $35,537 | 42.3% |
| 2015 | $36,254 | 43.9% |
| 2016 | $36,581 | 43.7% |
| 2017 | $37,060 | 45.0% |
| 2018 | $37,784 | 48.1% |
| 2019 | $38,905 | 47.7% |
| 2020 | $40,694 | 47.5% |
| 2021 | $45,158 | 49.4% |
| 2022 | $49,252 | 50.7% |
| 2023 | $50,482 | 50.3% |
| 2024 | $50,167 | 50.5% |
| 2025 | $49,608 | 47.6% |
| 2026* | $48,237 | 41.5% |
The truck premium roughly doubled in relative terms over two decades, from about 20% in the mid-2000s to a peak of 50.7% in 2022. It has since eased to 41.5% by 2026, driven mainly by light truck prices actually falling from their 2023 peak ($50,482 to $48,237, down 4.4%) while car prices kept inching upward over the same span.
Calculated: ($48,237 − $50,482) ÷ $50,482 = −4.4%. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, NIPA Underlying Detail Table 7.2.5S.04 The Pandemic-Era Price Jump
Both vehicle types rose sharply between 2020 and 2022: cars rose 18.5% ($27,583 to $32,680) and light trucks rose 21.0% ($40,694 to $49,252) (this site's new vs. used car price CPI history covers used-vehicle prices over the same window). After 2022, the average car price stayed above its 2022 level ($34,101 in 2026 against $32,680 in 2022). The average light truck price eased from its 2023 peak but remained well above its 2020 level ($48,237 in 2026 against $40,694 in 2020).
Calculated: ($32,680−$27,583)÷$27,583=18.5% (cars); ($49,252−$40,694)÷$40,694=21.0% (light trucks). U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, NIPA Underlying Detail Table 7.2.5S.05 What This Means
This figure is a real dollar average, not a quality-adjusted index like the CPI series used in this site's new vs. used car price history, the two measure genuinely different things and shouldn't be read as contradicting each other. The CPI tries to isolate pure price inflation from vehicles getting better over time; this BEA figure is simply what buyers, on average, actually spent. Both show a large rise over the pandemic-era years. For buyers, the growing gap between the average car and the average light truck is the more useful finding here: it was about 20% in 2002 and 41.5% in 2026. The gap reflects the mix of vehicles sold, not only the price of comparable vehicles, so it does not measure the saving from choosing a specific car over a specific truck.
06 Data Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis: National Income and Product Accounts, Underlying Detail Table 7.2.5S, "Auto and Truck Unit Sales, Production, Inventories, Expenditures, and Price." apps.bea.gov
- This site's related analysis: New vs. Used Car Prices Over Time, 1953-2026 and Average Car Payment by Year, 1971-2026.