Heating Oil Prices Price History
1970–2025 · EIA
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.
Price in 1970
$0.18
Price in 2025
$3.15
Total Change
+1650.0%
Years Tracked
55
Heating Oil Prices Over Time
Compare to inflation: The chart above shows nominal (not inflation-adjusted) prices. Use the toggle to switch to inflation-adjusted values when available, or try the inflation calculator to convert any amount between years.
Key Insights
- Heating oil sat below $1.00 per gallon for three straight decades, from the early 1970s through the late 1990s, giving homeowners little reason to switch fuel sources.
- The 2008 price spike to $3.32 per gallon was a gut punch for Northeast households, where heating oil bills jumped by over $1,000 in a single season compared to just two years earlier.
- Russia's invasion of Ukraine sent heating oil to $4.07 in 2022 — more than twenty times the 1970 price — and renewed calls for accelerating heat pump adoption across the region.
- Despite the wild swings at the top, heating oil has actually gotten cheaper relative to wages since the 1970s, when a gallon cost about 15 minutes of work at the median hourly rate versus roughly 8 minutes today.
Year-by-Year Data
| Year | Price (USD per gallon) | YoY Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | $0.18 | — |
| 1975 | $0.34 | +88.9% |
| 1980 | $0.97 | +185.3% |
| 1981 | $1.10 | +13.4% |
| 1982 | $1.07 | -2.7% |
| 1983 | $1.01 | -5.6% |
| 1984 | $1.02 | +1.0% |
| 1985 | $0.98 | -3.9% |
| 1986 | $0.76 | -22.4% |
| 1987 | $0.78 | +2.6% |
| 1988 | $0.73 | -6.4% |
| 1989 | $0.80 | +9.6% |
| 1990 | $1.02 | +27.5% |
| 1991 | $0.87 | -14.7% |
| 1992 | $0.78 | -10.3% |
| 1993 | $0.75 | -3.8% |
| 1994 | $0.72 | -4.0% |
| 1995 | $0.72 | +0.0% |
| 1996 | $0.80 | +11.1% |
| 1997 | $0.78 | -2.5% |
| 1998 | $0.62 | -20.5% |
| 1999 | $0.71 | +14.5% |
| 2000 | $1.15 | +62.0% |
| 2001 | $0.97 | -15.7% |
| 2002 | $0.87 | -10.3% |
| 2003 | $1.17 | +34.5% |
| 2004 | $1.55 | +32.5% |
| 2005 | $2.15 | +38.7% |
| 2006 | $2.30 | +7.0% |
| 2007 | $2.64 | +14.8% |
| 2008 | $3.32 | +25.8% |
| 2009 | $2.10 | -36.7% |
| 2010 | $2.74 | +30.5% |
| 2011 | $3.55 | +29.6% |
| 2012 | $3.65 | +2.8% |
| 2013 | $3.53 | -3.3% |
| 2014 | $3.10 | -12.2% |
| 2015 | $2.23 | -28.1% |
| 2016 | $1.87 | -16.1% |
| 2017 | $2.33 | +24.6% |
| 2018 | $2.84 | +21.9% |
| 2019 | $2.64 | -7.0% |
| 2020 | $2.03 | -23.1% |
| 2021 | $2.77 | +36.5% |
| 2022 | $4.07 | +46.9% |
| 2023 | $3.45 | -15.2% |
| 2024 | $3.25 | -5.8% |
| 2025 | $3.15 | -3.1% |
Sources & Methodology
Annual average residential heating oil price per gallon, compiled from EIA weekly survey data of retail dealers nationwide. Pre-1990 figures estimated from EIA historical petroleum price records.
Primary source: EIA
For a full explanation of how we collect and adjust data, see our methodology page.