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Tuesday, January 21, 2025
Gasoline prices averaged $4.456 a gallon in the San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward area in December 2024, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that area gasoline prices were lower than last December when they averaged $4.799 per gallon. San Francisco area households paid an average of 37.0 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) of electricity in December 2024, higher than the 35.0 cents price per kWh paid in December 2023. The average cost of utility (piped) gas at $2.282 per therm in December was similar to the $2.245 per therm spent last year. (Data in this release are not seasonally adjusted; accordingly, over-the-year-analysis is used throughout.)
At $4.456 a gallon, San Francisco area consumers paid 36.0 percent more than the $3.277 national average in December 2024. A year earlier, consumers in the San Francisco area paid 40.7 percent more than the national average for a gallon of gasoline. The local price of a gallon of gasoline has ranged from 32.8 percent to 44.9 percent above the national average in the month of December during the past five years. (See chart 1.)
The 37.0 cents per kWh San Francisco households paid for electricity in December 2024 was 110.2 percent more than the nationwide average of 17.6 cents per kWh. Last December, electricity costs were 107.1 percent higher in San Francisco compared to the nation. In the past five years, prices paid by San Francisco area consumers for electricity exceeded the U.S. average by 73.5 percent or more in the month of December. (See chart 2.)
Prices paid by San Francisco area consumers for utility (piped) gas, commonly referred to as natural gas, were $2.282 per therm, 49.9 percent more than the national average in December 2024 ($1.522 per therm). A year earlier, area consumers paid 57.1 percent more per therm for natural gas compared to the nation. In the San Francisco area over the past five years, the per therm cost for natural gas in December has varied between 40.9 percent and 57.1 percent above the U.S. average. (See chart 3.)
The San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA metropolitan area consists of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo Counties in California.
With the publication of January 2025 data in February 2025, several indexes and average price series will be discontinued.
The following CPI indexes will continue to be published at the national level, but will be discontinued for all metropolitan areas, census divisions, and regional size classes:
The following CPI average price series will continue to be published at the national level, but will be discontinued for all metropolitan areas, census divisions, and regional size classes:
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, 9 divisions, 2 population size classes, 8 region/size-class cross-classifications, and the 23 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 sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.
Last Modified Date: Tuesday, January 21, 2025