How much a gallon of gas costs today vs. 10 years ago
At the time of this writing, the national average cost of a gallon of gasoline is $2.64, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
Flash backward a decade, and prices weren't all too different. The cost of gas had plummeted from an all time high of $4.11 per gallon in July 2008 to $2.57 by mid-October 2009 as the Great Recession unfolded.
By the end of that October, the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded fuel was $2.67, or about $3.08 in today's money, adjusting for inflation.
Even the cost of diesel fuel was impacted by the Great Recession, selling for $2.70 per gallon in October 2009.
But gas prices rose dramatically in 2011. From then until late 2014, the national average remained above $3 per gallon of regular gas. According to CNN Money, experts primarily blamed tensions with Iran and a resurgent global economy for the price hike.
Diesel costs spiked during this three-year window, at times costing well over $4 per gallon.
Even jet fuel saw an increase in cost from $1.94 per gallon in 2009 to a high of $3.23 per gallon in 2012.
As domestic oil prices remained high across the board from 2011 to 2014, the US surpassed both Russia and Saudi Arabia in the production of petroleum and natural gas, becoming the world's largest producer of natural gas in 2012 and petroleum in 2013.
By January 2019, the price of regular gasoline had fallen to $2.25 per gallon, resembling the low costs of nearly a decade prior.
Gas prices have ticked up since the beginning of the year, and are now sitting around $2.64 per gallon. While today's prices resemble the lows seen after the 2008 recession, diesel prices haven't quite recovered — selling today for $3.05.
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