BLS average price · U.S. city average
How much did gas cost in 1996?
Gas averaged $1.23 per gallon in 1996, based on 12 published monthly prices.
The BLS series measures Gasoline, unleaded regular, per gallon/3.785 liters. Prices below are national estimates for this specific product definition, rather than a quote from an individual shop or a local price index.
Gas prices over time
Annual means of published BLS monthly prices. Partial years include only available observations. The highlighted point marks 1996.
What changed during 1996?
Lowest reported monthly price
$1.124 per gallon
February 1996
Highest reported monthly price
$1.323 per gallon
May 1996
Between January and December, the monthly price changed by 11.6%. This compares the first and last available observations; it is different from the change in an annual average.
The annual average changed by 7.3% from 1995. Both years have all twelve monthly observations in this dataset.
Monthly gas prices in 1996
Published prices retain their three decimal places. Changes use those values before rounding. The adjusted column uses the same 1996 CPI reading for each month, rather than monthly CPI readings.
| Month | Price per gallon | Change from previous month | 2026 dollars |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 1996 | $1.129 | 2.5% | $2.40 |
| February 1996 | $1.124 | -0.4% | $2.39 |
| March 1996 | $1.162 | 3.4% | $2.47 |
| April 1996 | $1.251 | 7.7% | $2.66 |
| May 1996 | $1.323 | 5.8% | $2.81 |
| June 1996 | $1.299 | -1.8% | $2.76 |
| July 1996 | $1.272 | -2.1% | $2.70 |
| August 1996 | $1.240 | -2.5% | $2.63 |
| September 1996 | $1.234 | -0.5% | $2.62 |
| October 1996 | $1.227 | -0.6% | $2.60 |
| November 1996 | $1.250 | 1.9% | $2.65 |
| December 1996 | $1.260 | 0.8% | $2.67 |
Compare nearby years and the latest data
Compare the original prices alongside their purchasing power in 2026 dollars. A partial-year average covers only the available months.
Sources and calculation method
- Where do the prices come from?
- BLS Average Price Data, series APU000074714: Gasoline, unleaded regular, per gallon/3.785 liters. The local price dataset was updated on 2026-07-27. Monthly figures are BLS retail price estimates. They describe price levels; CPI measures price change.
- How is the annual average calculated?
- Fiat Watch takes the arithmetic mean of the available published monthly prices and stores it to three decimal places. These annual figures are calculated by Fiat Watch from BLS observations. Missing months are not filled in; fewer than twelve observations means the average covers only part of the year.
- How are prices adjusted for inflation?
- Original price × CPI-U in 2026 ÷ CPI-U in the original year. The index is Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), U.S. city average, all items, series CUUR0000SA0. CPI data was updated on 2026-05-27. April CPI is used for 2026 until the annual average is published. This comparison estimates general purchasing power. It does not measure product-specific inflation or a local household's spending.