Pain at the Pump? It’s Not as Bad as It Feels

One of the reasons why the U.S. war with Iran is so unpopular with Americans is the fact that it sent gasoline prices surging, hitting inflation-plagued Americans where it hurts most: their wallets. Since the start of the war, fuel prices have surged more than 40 percent to levels last seen in 2022, when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had resulted in a similar spike in global energy prices.

But as bad as a trip to the gas station might feel these days, gasoline is actually more affordable now than it was for large parts of the late 2000s and the early 2010s. To find out how "affordable" gasoline really is, we divided the average national price of gasoline by the average hourly earnings of U.S. workers, and it turns out that things aren’t as bad as they seem. At the current price of more than $4 per gallon, Americans have to work 7.7 minutes to afford a gallon of gas. That’s far below the 10.7 minutes needed in June 2022 and almost exactly the 21st century average. Admittedly, gasoline was more affordable in the 1990s, when Americans had to work little more than 5 minutes for one gallon of gas, but looking at the past 25 years, the current price is nothing extraordinary when taking wage growth into account.

Regardless of this, high gasoline prices tend to evoke very strong negative reactions among Americans, because driving is deeply embedded in everyday life. Compared to many other countries, Americans rely heavily on cars in their everyday lives, meaning that small increases in gas prices can quickly add up, directly affecting household budgets. Beyond the financial strain, fuel costs are highly visible, making price changes feel immediate and personal, and turning gasoline affordability into a sensitive economic and political issue.