How much have gas prices gone up since 2019?

The pump price

The BLS average price series for unleaded regular gasoline, all types of service, covers US cities. It was $2.29 in January 2019, $1.88 in April 2020, $5.06 at the peak in Jun 2022, $3.29 in August 2025 and $4.20 in August 2026.

The 12-month rise is 27.5%, well above the 3.4% rise in all prices. Fuel is one of the more volatile parts of the basket, which is why it can pull the monthly headline number around.

Seven years of pump prices

Worked example: the weekly fill-up and the year

A 15-gallon fill-up cost about $34.34 in January 2019 and costs about $63.00 now. A driver who burns 12 gallons a week, roughly 620 gallons a year, pays about $1,428 a year at the 2019 price and $2,621 at today's, a difference of $1,192.

In minutes of work, a 15-gallon fill-up took 75 minutes of average pre-tax pay in January 2019 ($34.34 divided by $27.59 an hour) and takes 100 minutes now ($63.00 divided by $37.76).

Assumptions: 12 gallons a week is an illustration, not an average driver. National average price, no regional spread, pre-tax pay. Prices vary a lot by state.*

What changes the pump price

The BLS series records what drivers pay, which includes crude oil costs, refining, distribution, taxes and retail margins. Taxes differ by state, and so does the mix of fuel blends, so a national average smooths out a wide range of prices.* A driver in one state may pay a dollar more or less than a driver in another on the same day.

Gas prices also change fast. The series moved from $2.29 to over five dollars and back in a few years, which is why one month's price says little about next month's. The August 2026 figure in this post is a point in a volatile line, not a trend.

The best use of the data is comparison. Take your own annual fuel spending from a card statement, divide by the price you paid per gallon, and you have your gallons. Multiply by the difference between two prices in the table. That gives your personal cost of the price change, which is a better guide than any national average.

What this means for your wallet

Fuel is a cost you can sometimes change. Drive less, switch vehicles, or change when and where you fill up. If you commute 100 miles a week in a car that does 25 miles to the gallon, you burn 4 gallons a week and the price rise since 2019 costs you about $397 a year. A truck that does 15 mpg on the same trip burns 6.7 gallons and the same rise costs about $662.

Fuel also feeds into other prices. Freight and delivery costs depend on diesel and gasoline,* so pump prices can show up later in food and goods. That is a common view and not something these data prove.

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