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PRICE OF GASOLINE WHEN BIDEN TOOK OFFICE
Executive Summary
When President Joe Biden took office on January 20, 2021, multiple contemporaneous data sources put the national average price of regular gasoline at roughly $2.39 per gallon, with alternative measures showing a short-lived $2.25 reading earlier in January; these figures are cited by AAA, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), and contemporaneous reporting [1] [2] [3]. Claims that prices were markedly different on inauguration day arise from selective snapshots of daily averages or later comparisons to mid‑2022 peaks; the most consistent, multi‑source baseline used in fact checks and government reporting is about $2.39 per gallon [1] [2] [4].
1. Why the $2.39 Figure Became the Baseline Everyone Uses
Multiple contemporaneous weekly and monthly price reports converged on a national average of about $2.39 per gallon in late January 2021, and that convergence explains why analysts and agencies adopt that figure as the standard baseline. The AAA daily average showed $2.39 on January 22, 2021 and $2.41 on January 28, 2021, while the EIA weekly retail update for the week ending January 25 noted an average of $2.392 per gallon; those adjacent readings produce a coherent monthly picture centered near $2.39 rather than an outlying low or high [1] [2]. A separate early‑January report recorded a $2.25 average for the first 12 days of January, illustrating that different snapshots within the same month produce modest variation and explaining why some narratives select a lower figure [3]. The choice of which daily or weekly snapshot to cite affects political claims about price changes under a presidency, so the $2.39 figure is preferred for comparability because it aligns with multiple independent series.
2. Where the $2.25 Number Came From, and Why It Matters
One contemporaneous source reported the national average at $2.25 for the first 12 days of January 2021, and since President Biden was inaugurated on January 20, some commentators have used that early‑month figure to assert a lower starting point; that method captures a short early‑month trough rather than the weekly averages surrounding the inauguration [3]. Using the $2.25 figure is a legitimate but selective approach: it emphasizes a particular intra‑month period and can materially change percentage comparisons to later price peaks. Analysts who aim for broader comparability tend to use end‑of‑month or weekly averages around inauguration day, which is why EIA and AAA data centered on January 22–28 are more commonly quoted in multi‑source tracking [1] [2]. The variation between $2.25 and $2.39 underscores that reading single‑day or short‑window prices without context can mislead about long‑term trends.
3. Political Claims and the “100% Increase” Narrative: What the Sources Show
Some political messaging asserted gasoline rose more than 100% under President Biden by citing a $2.39 baseline against a $4.88 mid‑2022 peak, a calculation that depends on selecting a specific peak and baseline and on ignoring intervening global factors [5]. The provided analyses flag that such headlines are numerically accurate only when using those two selected data points, but they caution that a full assessment requires considering global oil markets, supply disruptions, and policy decisions outside presidential control; the analyses explicitly recommend cross‑checking EIA data for unbiased context [5]. Other sources in the dataset do not provide alternate baseline figures but discuss policy impacts without the specific price math, illustrating that price percentage claims often reflect strategic framing rather than neutral time‑series analysis [6] [7].
4. Policy Context and Omissions That Change How the Numbers Read
Several pieces in the dataset note administration policies such as pauses on public‑land leasing and climate directives but do not directly link those actions to immediate retail gasoline changes; those reports highlight the political salience of energy policy while leaving causation unspecified [8] [9]. The Energy Department note and other summaries point out that monthly averages in late January 2021 hovered in the $2–$3 range, reinforcing the multi‑source baseline near $2.39 and showing that gasoline prices had been relatively stable compared with later volatility [4]. Omitting discussion of global crude oil prices, pandemic demand shifts, and supply chain disruptions can create a misleading impression that domestic policy alone drove retail pump prices, so comprehensive analysis must integrate both domestic policy signals and international market forces.
5. Bottom Line: What the Evidence Actually Supports
The consolidated evidence in the provided analyses supports the conclusion that the most defensible baseline for gasoline prices at the start of the Biden presidency is about $2.39 per gallon, with an alternative early‑January snapshot at $2.25 that is valid but selective [1] [2] [3]. Claims that gasoline rose by more than 100% or that the price was substantially different at inauguration rely on selective endpoints or single‑day snapshots and therefore require fuller context, including which exact dates and series are used for comparison [5] [6]. Analysts seeking an unbiased, replicable comparison should cite the EIA or averaged AAA weekly figures around inauguration week and explicitly state the dates used to avoid rhetorical exaggeration [2] [1].