Gasoline prices averaged $3.389 per gallon in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria area in December 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted that area gasoline prices decreased 1.5 percent from last December when they averaged $3.442 per gallon. Washington area households paid an average of 15.4 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) of electricity in December 2022, 16.7 percent higher than the 13.2 cents in December 2021. The average price of utility (piped) gas at $1.730 per therm in December 2022 was up 20.9 percent from $1.431 per therm a year earlier. (Data in this release are not seasonally adjusted; accordingly, over-the-year-analysis is used throughout.)

At $3.389 per gallon, Washington area consumers paid 2.0 percent less than the national average of $3.459 for a gallon of gasoline in December 2022. From 2018 to 2021, prices for a gallon of gasoline in Washington ranged from 1.8 percent below to 1.1 percent above those for the nation in December. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

 

The 15.4 cents per kWh that Washington households paid for electricity in December 2022 was 6.7 percent below the nationwide average of 16.5 cents. Last December, the price per kWh for electricity in Washington was 7.0 percent below the national average. From 2018 to 2020, electricity prices for the Washington area ranged from 7.4 to 4.5 percent below those for the nation in December. (See chart 2.)

The price paid by Washington area consumers for utility (piped) gas, commonly referred to as natural gas, was $1.730 per therm in December 2022, 3.8 percent above the national average of $1.667 per therm. Last December, the price for utility (piped) gas in Washington was 2.1 percent higher than the national average. From 2018 to 2020, the price for utility (piped) gas in the Washington area ranged from 3.0 to 17.3 percent above the national average in December. (See chart 3.)

The Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MA-WV, Core Based Statistical Area includes the District of Columbia; the counties of Calvert, Charles, Frederick, Montgomery, and Prince George’s in Maryland; the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Fredericksburg, Manassas, and Manassas Park and the counties of Arlington, Clarke, Culpeper, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince William, Rappahannock, Spotsylvania, Stafford, and Warren in Virginia; and the county of Jefferson in West Virginia.

The Consumer Price Index for January 2023 is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, February 14, 2022, at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

Technical Note

Average prices are estimated from Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for selected commodity series to support the research and analytic needs of CPI data users. Average prices for electricity, utility (piped) gas, and gasoline are published monthly for the U.S. city average, the 4 regions, the 3 population size classes, 10 region/size-class cross-classifications, and the 14 largest local index areas. For electricity, average prices per kilowatt-hour (kWh) are published. For utility (piped) gas, average prices per therm are published. For gasoline, the average price per gallon is published. Average prices for commonly available grades of gasoline are published as well as the average price across all grades.

All eligible prices are converted to a price per normalized quantity. These prices are then used to estimate a price for a defined fixed quantity. The average price per kilowatt-hour represents the total bill divided by the kilowatt-hour usage. The total bill is the sum of all items applicable to all consumers appearing on an electricity bill including, but not limited to, variable rates per kWh, fixed costs, taxes, surcharges, and credits. This calculation also applies to the average price per therm for utility (piped) gas.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

Table 1. Average prices for gasoline, electricity, and utility (piped) gas, the United States and the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria area, December 2021-December 2022, not seasonally adjusted

Year and month	Gasoline per gallon		Electricity per kWh		Utility (piped) gas per therm
	United States	Washington	United States	Washington	United States	Washington
2021
December	$3.505	$3.442	$0.142	$0.132	$1.402	$1.431
2022
January	3.500	3.424	0.147	0.133	1.409	1.504
February	3.675	3.588	0.148	0.136	1.413	1.509
March	4.401	4.216	0.150	0.136	1.411	1.569
April	4.369	4.180	0.151	0.136	1.445	1.703
May	4.695	4.618	0.154	0.138	1.565	1.802
June	5.149	5.061	0.160	0.146	1.699	1.970
July	4.768	4.703	0.164	0.153	1.629	1.961
August	4.205	4.137	0.167	0.153	1.694	1.884
September	3.990	3.766	0.167	0.158	1.739	1.920
October	4.130	3.767	0.166	0.161	1.668	1.966
November	3.958	3.728	0.163	0.155	1.616	1.675
December	3.459	3.389	0.165	0.154	1.667	1.730