Frequently Asked Questions
Does EIA have historical gasoline prices for each state?
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) publishes retail gasoline prices, including taxes, for selected cities and states dating back to 2000. Weekly prices, average monthly prices, and average annual prices by grade and formulation are available.
Average monthly (and annual) prices for all states, from retail outlets, excluding taxes, by grade and formulation (and by other sales types) are available from 1983 to 2011. (Note: data collection for the price series was suspended in 2011.) Historical federal and state taxes on motor vehicle fuels are published in the Motor Fuels sections of the Federal Highway Administration’s annual Highway Statistics Series.
There are also estimates for historical average annual gasoline prices for each state dating back to 1970 in the State Energy Data System (SEDS). The prices are in dollars per million British thermal units ($/MMBtu), and include federal and state gasoline taxes, but they exclude local taxes.
To obtain the historical prices from the SEDS data, use the CSV file for All States—Prices. In the file, the code for gasoline prices for the transportation sector, in $/MMBtu, is: State Abbreviation (in column A) and MGACD (in column B). For example, the code for Alaska is AK—MGACD. Those prices, in $/MMBtu, can be converted to approximate dollars per gallon using the heat contents in Table A3 Petroleum consumption and fuel ethanol. There are 42 U.S. gallons in a barrel.
Last updated: February 3, 2016
Other FAQs about Gasoline
- Does EIA have energy consumption and price data for cities, counties, or by zip code?
- Does EIA have gasoline prices by city, county, or zip code?
- Does EIA have historical gasoline prices for each state?
- Does EIA have projections for energy production, consumption, and prices for individual states?
- Does EIA publish inflation-adjusted gasoline prices?
- How many gallons of gasoline and diesel fuel are made from one barrel of oil?
- How much carbon dioxide is produced by burning gasoline and diesel fuel?
- How much ethanol is in gasoline, and how does it affect fuel economy?
- How much gasoline does the United States consume?
- How much tax do we pay on a gallon of gasoline and diesel fuel?
- What are the projections for U.S. gasoline and diesel fuel prices?
- What do I pay for in a gallon of gasoline and diesel fuel?