The tally runs through the week of Oct. 26, when regular gas averaged $4.269 a gallon, $1.234 more than a year earlier, the Energy Information Administration says. Gasoline prices in the consumer price index rose 9.1% in September.
Week of Oct. 26, 2026
+$18.51 vs. $45.53 the week of Oct. 27, 2025, at $3.035 a gallon
One 15-gallon fill-up a week, vs. the same weeks a year earlier (34 weeks)
Weekly U.S. average price of regular gas, January 2025 to October 2026, with a faint line for the same week a year earlier and the gap between them shaded from March 9, 2026. Prices stayed between $2.81 and $3.24 in 2025, fell to $2.78 in January 2026, passed $3.50 the week of March 9, when the Energy Information Administration said the Strait of Hormuz was effectively closed to most shipping, peaked at $4.50 the week of May 11, and were $4.269 the week of Oct. 26, 2026, against $3.035 a year earlier. In March, gas prices in the consumer price index rose 21.2%, the largest one-month rise in the seasonally adjusted CPI gasoline series, which begins in 1967.
Prices are the Energy Information Administration’s weekly U.S. average for regular gas, published to a tenth of a cent, the way pump signs show them. A fill-up is 15 gallons at that price, rounded to the cent. Each week is compared with the week 52 weeks before it. The running total adds those weekly differences for one fill-up a week, starting the week of March 9, 2026, the date by which the EIA said the strait was effectively closed.
The EIA’s March 10 outlook said military action in the Middle East began Feb. 28; that by March 9 the Strait of Hormuz, the route for nearly a fifth of the world’s oil, was effectively closed to most shipping; and that the strait was not physically blocked, but the threat of attack by Iran and canceled insurance led most tankers to avoid it.
In March, gasoline prices in the consumer price index rose 21.2%, the largest one-month rise in the seasonally adjusted CPI gasoline series, which begins in 1967. September’s 9.1% was reported Oct. 14. The 9.1% and 21.2% are monthly changes in that index, so they won’t match the weekly pump prices exactly.
My Happenings covered the September gas numbers Oct. 31 through Nov. 2. Published Nov. 3, 2026.
A new piece goes up at 9 a.m. Eastern, made from that morning’s news. Set a reminder so it finds you.
The reminder is a daily 9 a.m. calendar event with a link. Delete it any time.