--- title: Don't Look Now but America's Gas Prices Are Back Over $2 a Gallon description: Even after a 30-cent rise in the price of a gallon of regular, gas prices in the U.S. remain incredibly cheap from a historical perspective. authors: - name: Brad Tuttle role: Senior Editor url: https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/ bio: Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals. education: Columbia University School of Journalism, MS at_money_since: 2014 articles: 366 covers: - Personal Finance - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle - https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225 former_staff: true published: '2016-03-24T16:46:43.000Z' modified: '2024-05-16T11:02:43.000Z' section: Personal Finance tags: - Autos - electric cars hybrids - Gas - Gas prices - gasoline - pubdesk - Toyota Prius word_count: 379 canonical: https://money.com/gas-prices-rising-2-a-gallon/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![A customer fills up a vehicle with fuel at an Exxon Mobil Corp. gas station in Rockford, Illinois, on October 28, 2015.](https://img.money.com/2016/03/160324_em_gas.jpg?crop=0px%2C219px%2C2100px%2C1182px&quality=85) From a historical perspective, gas prices in America are very cheap right now. Yet compared to what the average driver was paying at the pump just a few weeks ago, the cost of filling up might seem pretty darn expensive. The average price for a gallon of regular just crept over $2 nationally. The average as of Thursday is $2.01, marking the first time since early January that it's been over the $2 mark. Earlier forecasts called for [prices below $2](https://money.com/gas-prices-forecast-2-gallon-2016/?iid=sr-link6) to last until summer, but fuel costs have been on a tear lately, rising 30¢ nationally over the past month. "Gas prices have increased largely due to seasonal increases in fuel demand and reduced production as some refineries conduct maintenance," a [AAA press release](http://fuelgaugereport.aaa.com/u-s-average-gas-prices-may-climb-above-2-for-first-time-in-2016/) explained this week. For what it's worth, prices should probably peak soon if the normal trends hold up: "Gas prices tend to reach the highest levels of the year in the spring before the summer driving season," AAA noted. Most important, gas prices remain cheap compared to what drivers were paying in previous years. Even after the recent price hike, the national average is currently about 40¢ lower than one year ago at this time, and a whopping $1.50 cheaper than it was at this time of year in 2013 and 2014. ***Read next:* Gas Prices Are Falling at an Incredible Rate—and Why That’s a Problem** While cheap gas is welcomed by most drivers, it has caused havoc with America's efforts to dramatically raise the fuel economy for new cars. Demand for highly efficient and alternative-fuel vehicles like the Toyota Prius and Nissan Leaf has plummeted alongside the price of gasoline, while sales of SUVs and trucks have surged because drivers feel they don't have to worry about their added fuel costs. Earlier this week, the [*New York Times*](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/23/business/energy-environment/low-gas-prices-create-a-detour-on-the-road-to-greater-fuel-economy.html?_r=0) reported that slow sales of fuel-efficient cars may make it impossible for the U.S. to reach its goal of new vehicles averaging 54.5 MPG in 2025. Behind the scenes, automakers are even strategizing ways to rescind or delay that goal, arguing, "the 2025 standard was agreed to when gasoline cost close to $4 a gallon and consumers were more likely to consider fuel-efficient models when they shopped for a new vehicle," according to the *Times*. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/gas-prices-rising-2-a-gallon/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Personal Finance", "item": "https://money.com/personal-finance/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Budgeting", "item": "https://money.com/budgeting/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Don't Look Now but America's Gas Prices Are Back Over $2 a Gallon" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/gas-prices-rising-2-a-gallon/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/gas-prices-rising-2-a-gallon/", "name": "Don't Look Now but America's Gas Prices Are Back Over $2 a Gallon", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2016-03-24T16:46:43.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/gas-prices-rising-2-a-gallon/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/gas-prices-rising-2-a-gallon/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-05-16T11:02:43.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "Don't Look Now but America's Gas Prices Are Back Over $2 a Gallon", "articleSection": "Personal Finance", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2016/03/160324_em_gas.jpg?crop=0px%2C219px%2C2100px%2C1182px&quality=85", "width": 1012, "height": 569, "caption": "160324_EM_Gas" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Brad Tuttle", "url": "https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/#author", "description": "Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals.\r\n\r\n", "image": "https://img.money.com/2014/01/Brad-Tuttle.png?w=226&h=247&crop=1", "alumniOf": "Columbia University School of Journalism, MS", "sameAs": [ "https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle", "https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225" ] } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2016-03-24T16:46:43.000Z", "description": "Even after a 30-cent rise in the price of a gallon of regular, gas prices in the U.S. remain incredibly cheap from a historical perspective.", "abstract": "Even after a 30-cent rise in the price of a gallon of regular, gas prices in the U.S. remain incredibly cheap from a historical perspective.", "@id": "https://money.com/gas-prices-rising-2-a-gallon/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2024-05-16T11:02:43.000Z", "wordCount": 379, "keywords": [ "Autos", "electric cars hybrids", "Gas", "Gas prices", "gasoline", "pubdesk", "Toyota Prius" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Personal finance", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_finance" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Budget", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budget" ] } ] } ] } ```