Data sources

Primary source: U.S. Energy Information Administration

The EIA is the statistical agency of the U.S. Department of Energy. Its weekly retail gasoline survey is the reference series used by government, industry, and media for national and regional pump prices.

• Weekly U.S. gasoline and diesel retail prices — the landing page for the survey.
• National and regional tables — the exact data table format we parse.
• National weekly series workbook — the raw file behind the national number.
• EIA copyright and reuse policy — U.S. government works are generally not subject to copyright in the United States.

Series naming: EMM_EPMR_PTE_<AREA>_DPGw, where EPMR indicates regular gasoline and DPGw indicates dollars per gallon, weekly. State series use an S prefix (for example SCA for California); metro series use a Y prefix (for example YMIA for Miami).

What we deliberately do not use

• AAA / OPIS daily averages. The underlying data is licensed and redistribution is restricted.
• GasBuddy and similar crowdsourced apps. Station-level data is proprietary and their terms prohibit bulk scraping.
• Retailer price APIs. No major fuel retailer publishes a public, license-compatible price feed.
• Scraped station prices. Even where technically possible, republishing them would be a licensing and accuracy liability.

The consequence is honest: we publish regional truth, not station-level precision. For the last mile, use a station-level app; for budgeting and comparison, use the numbers here.

Reference sources used in guides

• EIA energy FAQs — refining, taxes, and price composition.
• EPA gasoline standards — reformulated gasoline and seasonal volatility rules.
• FuelEconomy.gov — EPA fuel economy ratings and vehicle comparison data.
• U.S. Department of Energy Alternative Fuels Data Center — EV efficiency and charging context.
• IRS standard mileage rates — used only when explaining total cost per mile.

How to verify any number on this site

1. Open the EIA national or state table linked above.
2. Find the week printed on our price panel.
3. Compare the regular gasoline column for that week.
4. If the numbers differ, email hello@gasprices.cyou with the page URL and week.

Attribution and reuse

EIA data is a U.S. government work. Our original analysis, page text, and charts may be cited with attribution to GasPrices.cyou and a link to the page. We do not claim ownership of the underlying government data.