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Rising Gas Prices: How Inflation Has Impacted Gas Prices Over the Years

August 14, 2023

6 min Read

Written by Andrew Lisa

Edited by Chris Cluff

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The national average price for a gallon of gasoline is at $3.68, according to AAA as of April 18, 2023. While the amount of pain at the pump people feel is more or less acute depending on their region, overall, everywhere in the U.S. was hit hard by inflated gas prices last year.

Using data from the Department of Energy, GOBankingRates mapped out a chronology of average gas prices for more than 90 years dating back to 1929, giving all but the very oldest Americans a peek at how 2022 stacked up to the year they were born. Then, the team used a calculator from the Bureau of Labor statistics to account for inflation to reveal each year’s price per gallon in 2022 money.

Keep reading to learn the cost of gas the year you were born.

1929

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.21
In 2022 dollars: $3.53

1930

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.20
In 2022 dollars: $3.42

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1931

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.17
In 2022 dollars: $3.24

1932

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.18
In 2022 dollars: $3.81

1933

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.18
In 2022 dollars: $4.07

1934

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.19
In 2022 dollars: $4.08

1935

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.19
In 2022 dollars: $3.99

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1936

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.19
In 2022 dollars: $3.96

1937

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.20
In 2022 dollars: $3.99

1938

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.20
In 2022 dollars: $4.08

1939

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.19
In 2022 dollars: $3.96

1940

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.18
In 2022 dollars: $3.67

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1941

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.19
In 2022 dollars: $3.72

1942

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.20
In 2022 dollars: $3.53

1943

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.21
In 2022 dollars: $3.45

1944

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.21
In 2022 dollars: $3.43

1945

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.21
In 2022 dollars: $3.34

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1946

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.21
In 2022 dollars: $3.23

1947

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.23
In 2022 dollars: $3.01

1948

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.26
In 2022 dollars: $3.10

1949

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.27
In 2022 dollars: $3.25

1950

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.27
In 2022 dollars: $3.26

1951

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.27
In 2022 dollars: $3.00

1952

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.27
In 2022 dollars: $2.93

1953

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.29
In 2022 dollars: $3.11

1954

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.29
In 2022 dollars: $3.10

1955

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.29
In 2022 dollars: $3.12

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1956

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.30
In 2022 dollars: $3.17

1957

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.31
In 2022 dollars: $3.17

1958

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.30
In 2022 dollars: $2.98

1959

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.31
In 2022 dollars: $3.06

1960

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.31
In 2022 dollars: $3.01

1961

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.31
In 2022 dollars: $2.99

1962

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.31
In 2022 dollars: $2.95

1963

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.30
In 2022 dollars: $2.82

1964

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.30
In 2022 dollars: $2.78

1965

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.31
In 2022 dollars: $2.82

1966

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.32
In 2022 dollars: $2.84

1967

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.33
In 2022 dollars: $2.85

1968

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.34
In 2022 dollars: $2.82

1969

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.35
In 2022 dollars: $2.75

1970

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.36
In 2022 dollars: $2.67

1971

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.36
In 2022 dollars: $2.55

1972

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.36
In 2022 dollars: $2.48

1973

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.39
In 2022 dollars: $2.54

1974

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.53
In 2022 dollars: $3.11

1975

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.57
In 2022 dollars: $3.06

1976

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.59
In 2022 dollars: $2.99

1977

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.62
In 2022 dollars: $2.94

1978

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.63
In 2022 dollars: $2.78

1979

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.86
In 2022 dollars: $3.42

1980

Price of a gallon of gas: $1.19
In 2022 dollars: $4.14

1981

Price of a gallon of gas: $1.31
In 2022 dollars: $4.16

1982

Price of a gallon of gas: $1.22
In 2022 dollars: $3.62

1983

Price of a gallon of gas: $1.16
In 2022 dollars: $3.35

1984

Price of a gallon of gas: $1.13
In 2022 dollars: $3.13

1985

Price of a gallon of gas: $1.12
In 2022 dollars: $2.99

1986

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.86
In 2022 dollars: $2.26

1987

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.90
In 2022 dollars: $2.28

1988

Price of a gallon of gas: $0.90
In 2022 dollars: $2.19

1989

Price of a gallon of gas: $1.00
In 2022 dollars: $2.32

1990

Price of a gallon of gas: $1.15
In 2022 dollars: $2.55

1991

Price of a gallon of gas: $1.14
In 2022 dollars: $2.41

1992

Price of a gallon of gas: $1.13
In 2022 dollars: $2.32

1993

Price of a gallon of gas: $1.11
In 2022 dollars: $2.21

1994

Price of a gallon of gas: $1.11
In 2022 dollars: $2.16

1995

Price of a gallon of gas: $1.15
In 2022 dollars: $2.17

1996

Price of a gallon of gas: $1.23
In 2022 dollars: $2.26

1997

Price of a gallon of gas: $1.23
In 2022 dollars: $2.21

1998

Price of a gallon of gas: $1.06
In 2022 dollars: $1.87

1999

Price of a gallon of gas: $1.17
In 2022 dollars: $2.02

2000

Price of a gallon of gas: $1.51
In 2022 dollars: $2.52

2001

Price of a gallon of gas: $1.46
In 2022 dollars: $2.36

2002

Price of a gallon of gas: $1.36
In 2022 dollars: $2.17

2003

Price of a gallon of gas: $1.59
In 2022 dollars: $2.49

2004

Price of a gallon of gas: $1.88
In 2022 dollars: $2.85

2005

Price of a gallon of gas: $2.30
In 2022 dollars: $3.40

2006

Price of a gallon of gas: $2.59
In 2022 dollars: $3.67

2007

Price of a gallon of gas: $2.80
In 2022 dollars: $3.86

2008

Price of a gallon of gas: $3.27
In 2022 dollars: $4.30

2009

Price of a gallon of gas: $2.35
In 2022 dollars: $3.13

2010

Price of a gallon of gas: $2.79
In 2022 dollars: $3.68

2011

Price of a gallon of gas: $3.53
In 2022 dollars: $4.50

2012

Price of a gallon of gas: $3.64
In 2022 dollars: $4.56

2013

Price of a gallon of gas: $3.53
In 2022 dollars: $4.35

2014

Price of a gallon of gas: $3.37
In 2022 dollars: $4.07

2015

Price of a gallon of gas: $2.45
In 2022 dollars: $2.95

2016

Price of a gallon of gas: $2.14
In 2022 dollars: $2.55

2017

Price of a gallon of gas: $2.53
In 2022 dollars: $2.97

2018

Price of a gallon of gas: $2.82
In 2022 dollars: $3.22

2019

Price of a gallon of gas: $2.69
In 2022 dollars: $3.02

2020

Price of a gallon of gas: $2.26
In 2022 dollars: $2.52

2021

Price of a gallon of gas: $3.09
In 2022 dollars: $3.27

2022

Price of a gallon of gas: $3.55 (as of Nov. 28, 2022)
In 2022 dollars: $3.55

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Methodology: For this piece, GOBankingRates used the United States Department of Energy’s “Average Historical Annual Gasoline Pump Price, 1929-2016” dataset as well as the United States Department of Energy Information Administration’s Retail Gasoline Prices dataset. With gas prices sourced for 1929 through the present day, GOBankingRates also used the Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI inflation calculator to adjust all figures to 2022 dollars. All data was collected and is up to date as of April 18, 2022.