How Many Gallons of Gas Can You Actually Buy With $20?

The Real Picture of Today’s Gas Prices

The national average gas price is hovering around $3.13 per gallon, which means your $20 bill can get you roughly six gallons of fuel—enough to fill about half a typical gas tank. Sounds reasonable, right? But here’s where it gets interesting: the same $20 bought you just over 5.5 gallons a year ago when gas averaged $3.50. And if you had tried to fill up in June 2022, when prices peaked at $5.02 per gallon, that same $20 would have netted you barely four gallons.

Where You Live Matters More Than You Think

Gas prices vary dramatically across the country. As of late October, 20 states are already selling regular gas below $3 per gallon, while three states still charge above $4. If you’re in Texas, your $20 stretches the furthest—grabbing you 7.5 gallons at just $2.67 per gallon. Meanwhile, in California, that same $20 only fills your tank with 4.35 gallons at $4.60 per gallon. The difference is striking: Californians pay nearly twice as much per gallon as Texans for the same fuel.

Is $3 Gas Actually Cheap?

After years of inflation hitting everything from groceries to rent, $3 gas might feel anticlimactic. Many drivers remember $2 per gallon as the real “cheap gas” benchmark—a price we saw twenty years ago and briefly again in early 2020 when the pandemic crashed fuel demand. By that standard, today’s prices don’t look like a bargain at all.

The Surprising Affordability Twist

Here’s what economists want you to know: comparing prices alone tells only half the story. Jeremy Horpedahl, an economics professor at the University of Central Arkansas, points out that real affordability depends on wages. When you factor in how much workers actually earn, something surprising emerges.

In September 2024, the average American worker earned $30.33 per hour. At that rate, earning $20 takes roughly 40 minutes of work—then that $20 buys you just over six gallons of gas. Rewind to September 2019 (pre-pandemic), and it took 41 minutes to earn the same $20. Go back to September 2004 when gas was around $2? It took 43 minutes of work to earn $20. In other words, when you measure how many gallons of gas workers can afford based on their actual wages, the price of fuel has barely changed across two decades, despite all the ups and downs in the headlines.

The real lesson: don’t just look at the dollar amount at the pump. Check your own paycheck instead.