Gas Prices by Year: 1950–2026 Full History

01 Introduction

U.S. gasoline has averaged $3.85 per gallon so far in 2026 (January through mid-October), up sharply from $3.10 in 2025, though still below the record annual average of $3.95 in 2022 and the all-time weekly peak of $5.01 per gallon in June 2022. Gasoline prices are among the most visible and closely watched consumer costs in the United States. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) has tracked weekly retail gasoline prices since 1990, providing a detailed record of how pump prices have moved over more than three decades. This article presents the complete historical record of U.S. gasoline prices over time, year by year from 1950 through 2026, highlighting major price events, inflation-adjusted trends, and the underlying factors that drive long-term price movements.

Understanding gasoline price history helps drivers contextualize current prices and plan for future fuel costs. While short-term price movements are unpredictable, long-term patterns reveal the structural forces that shape what Americans pay at the pump.

02 Gas Prices Over the Last 10 and 20 Years

Looking at just the last 10 full years (2016–2025), U.S. gasoline has averaged $2.89 per gallon, ranging from a low of $2.14 in 2016 to a high of $3.95 in 2022. Over the last 20 years (2006–2025), the average is nearly identical at $2.96 per gallon, with the same $2.14–$3.95 range, since the 2016 low and 2022 high both fall within this more recent 10-year window too.

The following table presents annual average retail prices for regular gasoline in the United States from 2000 through 2026. Prices represent the national average for all formulations as reported by the EIA.

03 Year-by-Year Prices

For readers looking for a specific year, the table below lists the U.S. national average retail price of regular gasoline for every year from 1950 through 2026, in nominal (not inflation-adjusted) dollars, alongside the year-over-year percentage change. These are the same annual figures used throughout this article, combining the DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center's 1950–2023 series (itself sourced from the EIA's Monthly Energy Review) with the EIA's Regular All Formulations annual series for 2024 through 2026.

04 Key Price Points

Four weekly price points stand out in the EIA record, which begins in August 1990:

February 1999: $0.907/gallon. The lowest weekly national average in the EIA series (week of February 22, 1999).

July 2008: $4.114/gallon. The weekly peak before 2022 (week of July 7, 2008). By the second week of December 2008 the weekly price was below $1.70.

April 2020: $1.773/gallon. The 2020 weekly low (week of April 27, 2020).

June 2022: $5.006/gallon. The highest gas price in U.S. history in nominal dollars, the all-time weekly high and the only week in the series at or above $5.00 (week of June 13, 2022). In real, inflation-adjusted terms, 2012's sustained prices were actually higher on an annual-average basis; see the Inflation-Adjusted Prices section below.

05 Inflation-Adjusted Prices

Nominal prices do not account for the declining purchasing power of the dollar. When adjusted for inflation using the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index (CPI), the gasoline price picture changes significantly, and the results go back further than the 25-year window above. DOE's Alternative Fuels Data Center publishes an annual U.S. gasoline price series back to 1950, with a BLS CPI-based inflation adjuster for each year, which is the basis for the table below (re-based to 2023 dollars, the most recent year in that series).

On a full-year-average basis, 2012 was actually the most expensive year for gasoline in real terms: $4.88 per gallon in 2023 dollars, ahead of 2011's $4.80 and 2008's $4.77. That's a different answer than looking at single-week peaks: July 2008 briefly hit a higher price than any single week in 2012, but 2012's prices stayed elevated all year, while 2008's high nominal price collapsed within months as the financial crisis hit. Measured as an annual average, sustained high prices in 2012 edged out the sharper but shorter 2008 spike.

06 Crude Oil and Long-Term Trends

Over 1995 to 2025, annual average regular gasoline prices followed annual average WTI crude oil prices closely. See how crude oil prices affect gas prices for the fitted relationship and timing, and why gas prices vary by region for regional and state tax differences.

07 Impact on Annual Fuel Spending

To illustrate how these price changes affect actual driving costs, the table below shows the annual fuel cost for a vehicle averaging 25 MPG and driving 12,000 miles per year at various historical price points. For your own vehicle's MPG and mileage, the fuel cost calculator runs the same math at today's price.

The difference between the lowest and highest weekly prices translates to a range of roughly $435 to $2,403 per year in fuel spending for the same vehicle, a variation of more than 5 times.

08 Data Sources

1. U.S. Energy Information Administration: Weekly Retail Gasoline and Diesel Prices, U.S. Regular All Formulations (1990-present). eia.gov
2. DOE: Alternative Fuels Data Center, Average Annual Retail Price of Gasoline, 1950–2023 (sourced from EIA Monthly Energy Review, Table 9.4, with BLS CPI-based inflation adjustment). afdc.energy.gov