Gas Prices Hit $4.55, Straining Consumers and Widening Economic Divide

Gasoline prices are pressing back toward the mid-$4 range, with AAA’s national average at $4.546 on May 8 and $4.558 the day before. The jump has lifted pump prices by more than 50% since the war with Iran began, and the strain is reaching far beyond the morning commute. It is raising the cost of food delivery, family travel and the fuel bills small businesses absorb before they pass anything on to customers.

CBS News business analyst Jill Schlesinger has said the spike is already working its way into consumer spending. The latest federal data show why. In March 2026, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics said regular gasoline averaged $3.64 a gallon, up 25.1% from February and 17.5% from March 2025. Diesel climbed even faster, averaging $4.92, up 32.2% from February and 37.3% from a year earlier. That matters because diesel powers much of the freight, delivery and construction network that keeps goods moving across the country.

The pressure is not landing evenly. A new Federal Reserve Bank of New York analysis found overall gasoline consumption fell 3% in March, but the drop was much sharper among lower-income households. Families earning less than $40,000 cut gas use by 7% while still spending 12% more on fuel. Households earning $125,000 or more increased gas spending by 19% even as they trimmed consumption by only 1%. The New York Fed said that divide was larger than during the 2022 price shock after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

That pattern points to a widening economic split. Higher-income households can keep driving, traveling and absorbing the cost. Lower-income families are more likely to be forced into fewer discretionary trips, tighter budgets and delayed purchases, even when their daily driving needs do not change much. For workers who rely on older cars, longer commutes or delivery jobs, there is no fast substitute when gasoline jumps this quickly.

The current price level also has a clear historical echo. The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s monthly data show gasoline hit $4.545 a gallon in May 2022, almost exactly the same as today’s national average. CBS has also reported that higher global oil costs are pushing prices up and may eventually feed into higher residential heating-oil bills as well. For consumers already stretched by rent, groceries and borrowing costs, the gas pump has become another front in a broader squeeze.