Two pictures of a prices at a local gas station on Meridian Street one from 2013 and one from 2018 show how low the price of regular gasoline is in real terms today. Consumers are certainly sensitive to the price of gas at the pump. But consumers are paying less for gasoline when prices are adjusted for inflation. According to our calculations using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. the 2021 price of a gallon of regular gasoline at this particular station would be 4.516 in 2013 dollars. Yet that gallon of gas only costs 3.92 today, a reduction of approximately 30 percent when adjusted for inflation.
This is good news as consumers pay less of their income fueling their cars.
To learn more about gasoline prices and the purchasing power of the dollar, check out the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
