Minutes of work to buy a gallon of gas before each Election Day, 1990-2026

What this chart asks

Measured against typical pay, how expensive is gas this Election Day?

Why it is shown this way

• Minutes of work put each year's price against that year's pay, which a plain dollar figure does not.
• The y axis starts at zero.

Data and accessibility

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Dataset us-election-day-gas-prices, analysis minutes-of-work

Sources

This chart draws on the sources of the dataset versions it visualizes.

U.S. Election Day gas prices in dollars, after inflation and in work time, 1976-2026, with state taxes

1. U.S. Energy Information Administration, U.S. Regular All Formulations Retail Gasoline Price (weekly), via FRED series GASREGW U.S. average retail price of regular gasoline, including taxes, each Monday, 1990-2026.

   Retrieved November 2, 2026. Public domain (U.S. government work). Allowed; EIA asks to be cited.

   Reliability: Government. EIA samples about 900 retail outlets at 8 a.m. each Monday; prices include all taxes. FRED republishes the series unchanged.

2. U.S. Energy Information Administration, Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update Weekly regular gasoline prices for the U.S., California, Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Texas and Washington for October 26, 2026, and the share of the August 2026 pump price from crude oil, refining, distribution and taxes.

   Retrieved November 2, 2026. Public domain (U.S. government work). Allowed; EIA asks to be cited.

   Reliability: Government. The same EIA weekly survey as the national series, published for nine states and selected cities.

3. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Average Price: Gasoline, Unleaded Regular (U.S. city average), via FRED series APU000074714 Average retail price of unleaded regular, October-December, for the election years 1976-1988.

   Retrieved November 2, 2026. Public domain (U.S. government work). Allowed; BLS asks to be cited.

   Reliability: Government. Collected by BLS for the Consumer Price Index; a different survey from EIA's, used only before EIA's weekly series began in 1990.

4. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U, All items in U.S. city average, not seasonally adjusted, via FRED series CPIAUCNS Consumer price index used to convert each price to September 2026 dollars (September 2026 = 336.940).

   Retrieved November 2, 2026. Public domain (U.S. government work). Allowed; BLS asks to be cited.

   Reliability: Government. The headline national consumer price index. EIA uses the same method (nominal price times the ratio of CPI values) for its own real-price series.

5. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Average Hourly Earnings of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees, Total Private, via FRED series AHETPI Average hourly pay for September of each election year, 1990-2026, used to express a gallon in minutes of work.

   Retrieved November 2, 2026. Public domain (U.S. government work). Allowed; BLS asks to be cited.

   Reliability: Government. From the BLS monthly payroll survey of businesses; covers production and nonsupervisory workers, about 80% of private employment.

6. U.S. Energy Information Administration, Federal and state motor fuels taxes (fueltaxes.xlsx), sheets July 2026 (revised) and July 2022 (revised) Federal gasoline tax (18.4 cents) and each state's gasoline excise tax plus other statewide taxes and fees, as of July 1, 2026 and July 1, 2022.

   Retrieved November 2, 2026. Public domain (U.S. government work). Allowed; EIA asks to be cited.

   Reliability: Government. Compiled by EIA twice a year from state statutes and agencies. Excludes county and local taxes and taxes based on gross receipts.

7. The Washington Post on X The claim checked: the Post's post of November 2, 2026 linking its story on Election Day gas prices.

   Retrieved November 2, 2026. Quoted for criticism and commentary. Quote only.

   Reliability: News report. The newspaper's official account. The post does not name its price source; the story behind it is paywalled.

Limitations

• Pay is the BLS average for production and nonsupervisory workers, before taxes, for September of each election year.
• Lines join election years two years apart.
• Does not account for better fuel economy, which lowers the cost per mile driven.