U.S. Gasoline Affordability: Work Time per Gallon
Price and wage data through July 2026 · State wages: OEWS May 2025 · Updated August 21, 2026
In July 2026, one gallon of gasoline cost 7.9 minutes of work at the average U.S. private-sector hourly wage: a $4.24 gallon (all types, U.S. city average) against average hourly earnings of $32.26. Put the other way, one hour of work bought 7.6 gallons. The average over every month since 1978 is 7.7 minutes per gallon, so gasoline currently takes more work time than the long-run average. There is no one official affordability number: each measure below is named for its exact definition, and each carries its data month.
For the current week: EIA's weekly U.S. average for regular gasoline is $4.05/gallon as of August 17, 2026 (EIA). At the July 2026 wage, that is about 7.5 minutes of work per gallon. This is an estimate that mixes a weekly price with the latest monthly wage, so the headline figures on this page stay with the matched monthly pair above.
What "affordability" means here
Price alone cannot answer an affordability question, because wages move too. This page divides the Bureau of Labor Statistics' monthly average price of gasoline, all types, U.S. city average (series APU00007471A; the unleaded-regular series APU000074714 stood at $4.09 in July 2026) by BLS average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory employees, total private (series CEU0500000008), the earnings series with a history long enough to cover the whole gasoline price record. Both series are monthly and not seasonally adjusted. The result is work time per gallon: minutes of paid work that buy one gallon.
Work time per gallon since 1978
Sources: BLS average price of gasoline, all types, U.S. city average (APU00007471A) and BLS average hourly earnings, production and nonsupervisory employees (CEU0500000008), monthly, through July 2026.
The hardest month on record, measured in work time, was July 2008 at 13.8 minutes per gallon. The easiest was February 1999 at 4.6 minutes. July 2026 sat cheaper than 38% of all months since 1978 on this measure.
| Decade | Average minutes of work per gallon |
|---|---|
| 1970s (1978–1979) | 7.5 |
| 1980s (1980–1989) | 8.2 |
| 1990s (1990–1999) | 6.3 |
| 2000s (2000–2009) | 7.9 |
| 2010s (2010–2019) | 8.6 |
| 2020s (2020–2026) | 7.2 |
| Year | Average minutes per gallon | Months reported |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 6.9 | 12 |
| 2020 | 5.5 | 12 |
| 2021 | 7.2 | 12 |
| 2022 | 9.1 | 12 |
| 2023 | 7.8 | 12 |
| 2024 | 7.1 | 12 |
| 2025 | 6.5 | 11 |
| 2026 | 7.5 | 7 |
Annual figures are calendar-year averages of the monthly series above; the current year is a partial-year average over the months reported so far.
A worked example
Take a 14-gallon fill-up in July 2026. At $4.24 per gallon it cost $59.39. At average hourly earnings of $32.26, that tank represents 1.8 hours of work (110 minutes). A worker at the same wage a year earlier faced 1.5 hours for the same tank.
Price change vs. wage change, last 12 months
Affordability moves for two reasons, and this table keeps them separate rather than blending them into an index.
| Series | July 2025 | July 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline, all types ($/gal) | $3.42 | $4.24 | +24.0% |
| Average hourly earnings ($/hr) | $31.27 | $32.26 | +3.2% |
| Minutes of work per gallon | 6.6 | 7.9 | +20.2% |
Gallons per hour of work, by state
State pump prices differ, and so do state wages. This table divides each state's median hourly wage (all occupations, BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025) by its average price for regular gasoline (AAA, August 21, 2026). A median-wage worker is not the average worker, and a state's ranking changes with the measure chosen, so no state is declared categorically most or least affordable. On this measure:
| State | Regular ($/gal) | Median wage ($/hr) | Gallons per hour | Minutes per gallon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| District of Columbia | 4.21 | 44.01 | 10.5 | 5.7 |
| Massachusetts | 4.05 | 30.57 | 7.5 | 8.0 |
| Maryland | 3.99 | 28.61 | 7.2 | 8.4 |
| New Jersey | 3.99 | 28.16 | 7.1 | 8.5 |
| Connecticut | 4.12 | 28.70 | 7.0 | 8.6 |
| New York | 4.16 | 28.69 | 6.9 | 8.7 |
| Virginia | 3.91 | 26.78 | 6.8 | 8.8 |
| Rhode Island | 4.01 | 27.30 | 6.8 | 8.8 |
| New Hampshire | 4.04 | 26.87 | 6.6 | 9.0 |
| Minnesota | 4.16 | 27.36 | 6.6 | 9.1 |
| Vermont | 4.15 | 27.11 | 6.5 | 9.2 |
| Indiana | 3.55 | 23.01 | 6.5 | 9.3 |
| Texas | 3.65 | 23.38 | 6.4 | 9.4 |
| Colorado | 4.50 | 28.75 | 6.4 | 9.4 |
| Delaware | 3.94 | 25.09 | 6.4 | 9.4 |
| North Dakota | 4.01 | 25.23 | 6.3 | 9.5 |
| Tennessee | 3.67 | 22.78 | 6.2 | 9.7 |
| Wisconsin | 3.95 | 24.17 | 6.1 | 9.8 |
| Kentucky | 3.70 | 22.56 | 6.1 | 9.8 |
| North Carolina | 3.78 | 23.06 | 6.1 | 9.8 |
| Alaska | 4.82 | 29.33 | 6.1 | 9.9 |
| South Carolina | 3.69 | 22.35 | 6.1 | 9.9 |
| Georgia | 3.83 | 23.16 | 6.1 | 9.9 |
| Maine | 4.10 | 24.73 | 6.0 | 9.9 |
| Kansas | 3.88 | 23.08 | 5.9 | 10.1 |
| Louisiana | 3.70 | 21.89 | 5.9 | 10.1 |
| Missouri | 3.90 | 22.98 | 5.9 | 10.2 |
| Florida | 3.92 | 23.02 | 5.9 | 10.2 |
| Alabama | 3.75 | 21.96 | 5.9 | 10.2 |
| Nebraska | 4.06 | 23.55 | 5.8 | 10.3 |
| Ohio | 4.09 | 23.74 | 5.8 | 10.3 |
| Washington | 5.25 | 30.28 | 5.8 | 10.4 |
| Pennsylvania | 4.15 | 23.89 | 5.8 | 10.4 |
| Oregon | 4.77 | 27.40 | 5.7 | 10.4 |
| Illinois | 4.41 | 24.98 | 5.7 | 10.6 |
| Oklahoma | 3.87 | 21.92 | 5.7 | 10.6 |
| Iowa | 4.13 | 23.34 | 5.6 | 10.6 |
| Michigan | 4.19 | 23.69 | 5.6 | 10.6 |
| West Virginia | 3.90 | 21.78 | 5.6 | 10.8 |
| South Dakota | 4.08 | 22.63 | 5.5 | 10.8 |
| Wyoming | 4.38 | 24.17 | 5.5 | 10.9 |
| Utah | 4.37 | 24.09 | 5.5 | 10.9 |
| Arkansas | 3.81 | 20.98 | 5.5 | 10.9 |
| New Mexico | 4.13 | 22.70 | 5.5 | 10.9 |
| Arizona | 4.47 | 24.07 | 5.4 | 11.1 |
| Montana | 4.41 | 23.43 | 5.3 | 11.3 |
| Mississippi | 3.67 | 19.29 | 5.3 | 11.4 |
| Idaho | 4.49 | 23.06 | 5.1 | 11.7 |
| California | 5.59 | 28.00 | 5.0 | 12.0 |
| Hawaii | 5.43 | 27.08 | 5.0 | 12.0 |
| Nevada | 4.78 | 22.91 | 4.8 | 12.5 |
Median wage: BLS OEWS, May 2025, all occupations, by state. Pump price: AAA state averages, regular gasoline, August 21, 2026. The two sources carry different dates; each is labeled with its own. State pages decompose each price into crude, taxes, and the rest.
Questions people ask
How affordable is gasoline in the U.S. right now?
In July 2026, one gallon of gasoline (all types, U.S. city average, $4.24) cost 7.9 minutes of work at the average private-sector hourly wage of $32.26. The average over every month since 1978 is 7.7 minutes, so gasoline currently takes more work time than the long-run average. Measured this way, July 2026 was cheaper than 38% of all months on record.
How many gallons of gas does one hour of work buy?
7.6 gallons in July 2026, at the national level: $32.26 in average hourly earnings divided by $4.24 per gallon. By state the answer ranges from 4.8 gallons in Nevada to 10.5 in District of Columbia, using each state's median hourly wage (OEWS, May 2025) and its current pump price.
Are gas prices rising faster than wages?
Over the twelve months to July 2026, the U.S. city-average gasoline price moved +24.0% while average hourly earnings moved +3.2%, so the work-time cost of a gallon changed +20.2% (from 6.6 to 7.9 minutes).
When was gasoline hardest to afford?
Measured in work time, the hardest month on record was July 2008 at 13.8 minutes of work per gallon; the easiest was February 1999 at 4.6 minutes. Dollar prices alone cannot show this, because wages more than quadrupled over the same period.
Which measure of gasoline affordability is right?
There is no single right one. Work time per gallon answers a different question than price alone, and a state ranking built on median wages answers a different question than one built on average wages or household budgets. Every figure on this page names its definition and its source month, and no composite index is used.
Related pages
- Why are gas prices high right now? - what moves the price itself
- Gas prices by state - current prices with a crude/tax/rest decomposition
- EV vs. gas: what driving costs by state
- Cost to heat your home by fuel and state