Fuel & Energy
Gasoline, electricity, natural gas, and heating oil prices going back to the mid-20th century. Energy costs ripple through the entire economy, affecting everything from your commute to the price of groceries on the shelf.
Gas Prices
The average price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in the United States, tracked annually from 1950 through 2025. Few prices hit American wallets as visibly as the number on the gas station sign. From the 27-cent fill-ups of the 1950s through the oil shocks of the 1970s, the post-9/11 surge, and the pandemic-era whiplash, gas prices capture decades of geopolitics, supply disruptions, and shifting demand in a single data point.
Electricity Prices
Electricity is one of those costs that sneaks up on you — nobody tracks it the way they watch gas prices, but it adds up fast. This dataset covers the average residential electricity price per kilowatt-hour in the U.S. from 1960 to 2025. For about two decades, prices actually fell in real terms as utilities built out massive coal and nuclear capacity. Then the oil crises of the '70s flipped the script, and costs have been grinding higher ever since, with the 2022-2025 period delivering some of the sharpest jumps in recent memory.
Natural Gas Prices
Natural gas heats roughly half of American homes, and its price swings hit household budgets hard every winter. This dataset tracks the average residential price per thousand cubic feet from 1967 to 2025. For years, gas was dirt cheap — just over a dollar per Mcf in the late '60s. Then deregulation, pipeline constraints, and global LNG demand reshaped the market. The 2005-2008 period saw prices spike past $13 as hurricanes disrupted Gulf production, and they've stayed stubbornly elevated since, with the 2022 energy crisis pushing costs near $14 again.
Heating Oil Prices
The average retail price of home heating oil in the United States, tracked annually from 1970 through 2025. Heating oil is one of those costs that most Americans never think about — unless they live in the Northeast, where millions of older homes still rely on oil-fired furnaces to survive the winter. Prices stayed remarkably stable through the 1990s, barely budging from year to year, then went on an absolute tear after 2003 that culminated in the brutal $4.07-per-gallon spike of 2022.
Diesel Prices
The average retail price of a gallon of diesel fuel in the United States, tracked annually from 1994 through 2025. Diesel doesn't get the same attention as regular gasoline, but it quietly powers the backbone of the American economy — every truck, train, and cargo ship burning it adds cost to the goods sitting on store shelves. When diesel spiked past $5.00 in 2022, it wasn't just truckers who felt the pain; it rippled through grocery bills, construction budgets, and shipping rates nationwide.
Solar Panel Costs
The average installed cost of residential solar panels in the United States, tracked annually from 2000 through 2025. This is one of the most dramatic price collapses in modern energy history. A technology that cost homeowners over $10 per watt at the turn of the millennium has plunged below $1.30 — an 88% drop that has turned rooftop solar from a wealthy environmentalist's hobby into a straightforward financial decision for millions of ordinary households.
Monthly Utility Bills
The average monthly household utility bill in the United States, covering electricity, gas, and water combined, tracked annually from 1980 through 2025. This is the number that actually shows up in people's mailboxes and bank statements every month. It crept up slowly through the 1980s and 1990s, barely noticed by most families, then accelerated sharply after 2000 as energy prices climbed and homes got bigger. The post-pandemic surge pushed bills past $300 for the first time, squeezing budgets that were already stretched thin.
Jet Fuel Prices
The annual average spot price of US Gulf Coast kerosene-type jet fuel, tracked from 1990 through 2025. Jet fuel is the single largest operating cost for airlines, typically accounting for 20-30% of total expenses, and its price swings have bankrupted carriers and reshaped the entire travel industry. The COVID-19 pandemic sent jet fuel below $1.15 per gallon as planes sat idle on tarmacs worldwide, only for prices to triple within two years as travel demand roared back faster than refineries could keep up.