Gas, diesel and utility costs have soared in the past year but new research puts a dollar and cents figure on just how bad the increases have been.
U.S. drivers who fill their tanks with unleaded gas now spend an average $66.86 more a month than they did in October 2025, according to national averages Monday.
The average diesel driver is spending $139.32 more a month than last year, according to data from motor club AAA and independent marketplace Electric Choice. Gas and diesel prices are up $1.23 and $2.83 per gallon compared to a year ago, respectively, according to AAA.
Natural gas was up $1.01 per thousand cubic feet of gas year-on-year in July, according to the latest price data from the Energy Information Administration. That’s about $44 a month based on average monthly household use.
“Energy prices continue rising, worsening the affordability crisis facing Americans,” stated an analysis, from nonpartisan energy and climate think tank Energy Innovation, last week.
Consumers can thank the Iran war for bigger energy bills. Tehran is knowingly choking off the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil shipping route for the U.S. energy supply.
“[Iran] decided to play the Hormuz card, knowing that if it were to choke off that oil supply through Hormuz and threaten infrastructure,” Bob McNally, founder of energy consultancy Rapidan Energy Group, told NPR last month. “So far, that card has worked.”
Electricity prices are up around 5 percent per kilowatt-hour in October 2026 compared to October 2025, according to Electric Choice. The Trump administration’s energy policies are predicted to cost households a total of $6,500 over the next 14 years, the think tank noted.
President Donald Trump has insisted that consumers should be happy to pay higher gas prices in exchange for U.S. military forces suppressing Iran’s ability to launch nuclear weapons.
“You have a little higher. It’s a very inexpensive price to pay for what we’ve done,” Trump said at a North Carolina rally in September. “Remember that. It’s a little more.”
The president added that having higher energy prices in exchange for a more peaceful Middle East would be worth it even if gas cost “a lot more.”
That approach may cost Trump and Republicans in November’s midterm elections.
“The price is literally staring them in the face several times a week,” veteran Republican strategist Chris Wilson said. “So I wouldn’t minimize the frustration we’re seeing, particularly among working- and middle-class voters.”
Some MAGA voters are questioning their loyalty. Mesa, Arizona resident Dan Lloyd, who voted for Trump in the 2024 election, told the Associated Press he’s getting tired of picking up the president’s tab.
“He hurt himself stepping into this,” Lloyd said. “The American people eat it every time, whether it’s interest rates, food, gasoline.”
With additional reporting from Associated Press
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