Americans are very aware of higher gas prices (and almost everything else)

Why we asked about gas price perceptions: It’s been six months since President Trump launched the war with Iran. Shortly after, we checked in with consumers about gas prices, because every indication was that the war would lead to higher prices at the pump. Given that baseline, it seemed a good moment to check back in on gas and other prices. 

What we found: Hoo boy, have people noticed a difference. We ask a lot of questions in the Tracker about the economy. We ask what parts of the economy people care about. Gas prices are one of the big issues, along with other things that hit our personal spending. We ask about how people feel generally both in U.S. and global consumer sentiment indices (it’s matching COVID-level lows in the U.S. and declining globally). And we ask about spending patterns in lots of different ways. 

But just at the start of the war, gas prices had been going down and were relatively low, under $3 a gallon, according to Gas Buddy. We’ve asked this since pretty early in the Tracker and for a long time during post-pandemic inflationary periods, most people said they were paying more than they were the year before. But when we asked in March, only 38% of people thought prices were higher. 

That doubled in just six months, to 79% agreeing that prices are higher now. Again, this does indeed reflect reality. But it also means people pay attention and really do track this. Which is likely behind the new deal where the U.S. and a private company in Venezuela are partnering to bring at-cost oil to the U.S. 

But in a question we’ve asked about 20 times in recent years, we’ve never seen such a sudden and dramatic shift. 

Elsewhere in the battery, most people say they’re paying more for pretty much everything, which checks out — but most people also said that six months ago. The only other real movement, aside from gas prices, was a 7-point bump in people paying more for dairy from 58% to 65%. 

All of this just reinforces both that people see and feel these prices changes acutely and keenly. And also that they’re likely to be a factor in the coming midterms. We will check back in soon and the reaction when (and if) the Venezuela deal reaches the price at the pump.