Grand Canyon Times

As the summer driving season kicks off, an analysis of gas price data by Grand Canyon Times revealed that Arizona consumers are paying over 50% more for gasoline now than they were when President Biden was sworn into office. 

According to AAA, the average price of regular gasoline in Arizona on January 26, 2021, the week Biden took Office, was $2.409 per gallon. On June 3rd, 2024, AAA listed the average price of regular gas in the state at $3.953 per gallon, representing an increase of 57.1%.

Nationally, the average price of regular gasoline on February 2, 2021, two weeks after Biden took office, was $2.396 per gallon, compared to $3.532 per gallon on June 3rd, 2024, representing a 47% increase.

According to data from the St. Louis Fed, between January 16 of 2017 and January 18 of 2021, the tenure of President Donald Trump, nationally the average gas price increased by only 0.8%.

A recent Consumer Price Index (CPI) report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that the all items index rose 3.4 percent for the 12 months ending April 2024. From March to April 2024, the overall CPI increased by 0.3 percent. The gasoline index, along with the shelter index, “contributed over seventy percent of the monthly increase in the index for all items.”

The gasoline index increased by 1.2 percent over the 12-month period ending April 2024. Between March and April 2024, the seasonally adjusted gasoline index rose by 2.8 percent; prior to seasonal adjustment, the gasoline index increased by 5.2 percent during this time period.

The BLS reports that in the West region — which includes Arizona — the overall CPI increase outpaced the national trend at 3.7 percent from April 2023 to April 2024. The overall CPI increase also outpaced the national trend over the month ending April 2024, rising by 0.6 percent. According to the BLS, "the April increase was influenced by higher prices for gasoline." From April 2023 to April 2024, the gasoline index rose by 6.2 percent, and from March to April 2024, it increased by 8.2 percent.

Nationally, the seasonally adjusted gasoline index in January 2021 was 217.944. In April 2024, it was 318.186, representing an increase of 46.0 percent since January 2021, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis' FRED database.

According to the BLS, in the South region, the non-seasonally adjusted gasoline index in January 2021 was 193.021. In April 2024, it was 296.536. This represents an increase of 53.6 percent since January 2021.