Drivers paid an average of $4.631 a gallon for gasoline in September, up from $3.481 a year earlier. That is $1.15 more per gallon, an increase of 33.0 percent. It is also 28 cents above August’s $4.348, when the average was already high.
The figures come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ average retail energy price table, which reports the U.S. city average across all grades of gasoline.
What the September average says about each grade
The $4.631 average covers all types of gasoline. In the same table, unleaded regular averaged $4.482 in September against $3.339 a year earlier, a rise of 34.2 percent. Premium averaged $5.426, up from $4.231, or 28.2 percent, which leaves premium 94 cents a gallon above regular.
From August to September, regular rose 6.7 percent and the all-types average rose 6.5 percent.
The gap shows up at the pump in plain dollars. A 15-gallon fill-up cost about $69.47 at the September average, against about $52.22 a year earlier, or $17.25 more. A driver who burns 10 gallons a week paid about $11.50 more a week, which adds up to roughly $598 over a full year.
For retirees and others on fixed incomes, that is the question the data raises. A rise of this size has to come out of something else in the budget, and the households most exposed are those who drive for medical visits, shopping and errands. Whether any of that can be offset depends on which benefit programs a household uses and which it has never applied for.
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Gasoline did most of the damage in the consumer price report
The BLS consumer price index release for September, published October 14, showed the index for gasoline up 9.1 percent in September on a seasonally adjusted basis, accounting for over half of the monthly increase in all items. Before seasonal adjustment, gasoline rose 6.5 percent in the month and 34.2 percent over twelve months.
The all-items index rose 0.6 percent in September and 3.7 percent over the 12 months, so gasoline’s 34.2 percent yearly rise ran more than nine times as fast as prices overall. The energy index was up 5.2 percent on the month and 20.4 percent on the year.
Food held steady by comparison. The index for food was unchanged in September, with food at home down 0.1 percent on the month and up 1.8 percent over twelve months. Shelter rose 0.4 percent in September and 3.2 percent over the year.
Weekly pump prices are a little lower in October
The Energy Information Administration’s weekly survey put regular gasoline at $4.331 a gallon for the week of October 12. That is down 2.3 cents from the week before and $1.27 higher than a year ago. The weekly series tracks regular only, and the BLS figure is a monthly average across all grades, so the two numbers differ even when the pump price is the same.
The regional range is wide. California regular was $6.104 a gallon, up $1.647 on the year, and the West Coast as a whole was $5.639. The Gulf Coast was the cheapest region at $3.851, and the Midwest averaged $4.145. New England stood at $4.291 and the Central Atlantic at $4.347.
Prices were still higher than a year ago in every region the EIA lists, by between $1.08 in the Lower Atlantic and $1.43 on the West Coast, and by $1.65 in California. Only the Midwest and the Rocky Mountain states saw prices rise from the week before, by 3.6 cents and 2.2 cents.
Where the fuel price came from
Energy was the main driver of the producer price increase reported the next day. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said in its producer price release that final-demand prices rose 1.3 percent in September and 6.3 percent over the 12 months, the largest advance since March 2022, and that more than 80 percent of the rise came from the energy index, which jumped 10.8 percent in the month.
The producer index measures prices at the wholesale level, before they reach consumers. The consumer index, which the BLS published a day earlier, already showed the gasoline increase at the pump.
What help exists for the rest of the household budget
The programs that exist lower other bills, which leaves more of the budget for fuel. The federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, helps low-income households with home energy bills, according to the Administration for Children and Families. Its eligibility guidance ties the program to federal poverty guidelines and state median income estimates, and the ACF page sends applicants to the LIHEAP Clearinghouse through its “Need Help With Bills” link.
Older households face a patchwork of programs that cover Medicare costs, food, drug prices and property taxes, each with its own income limit and its own application. A $1.15 rise in the price of a gallon of gas does not change those limits, but it changes whether a household can afford to leave them unclaimed.
Paying $4.63 a gallon on a fixed income?
At $4.631 a gallon, a driver who fills up weekly is spending hundreds of dollars a year more than in 2025, and a fixed income does not rise to match. Programs that reduce other bills often go unclaimed because the income limits are hard to find and the applications are separate.
The Benefits Checklist turns that search into a ten-minute scan. It covers 11 benefit programs, including heating help, SNAP at 60 and over and Medicare Savings Programs, and gives the 2026 income limits for each so a household can see which ones to apply for.
See which of 11 benefit programs could lighten a fuel-squeezed budget in the Benefits Checklist →
More Financial Reading
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- 15 Places to Find Your Share of the $4.25 Billion States Give Back
- The New $6,000 Senior Deduction and 14 More Tax Moves for Retirees
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
