The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor is the principal Federal agency responsible for measuring labor market activity, working conditions, and price changes in the economy.
For Release: Thursday, May 13, 2021
21-901-SAN
WESTERN INFORMATION OFFICE: San Francisco, Calif.
Technical information:
(415) 625-2270 BLSinfoSF@bls.gov www.bls.gov/regions/west
Media contact:
(415) 625-2270
Average Energy Prices, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim – April 2021
Gasoline prices averaged $3.900 a gallon in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim area in April 2021, the
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that area
gasoline prices were $1.023 higher than last April when they averaged $2.877 per gallon. Los Angeles area
households paid an average of 22.0 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) of electricity in April 2021, higher than the
19.1 cents price per kWh paid in April 2020. The average cost of utility (piped) gas at $1.331 per therm in
April was higher than the $1.228 per therm spent last year. (Data in this release are not seasonally adjusted;
accordingly, over-the-year-analysis is used throughout.)
At $3.900 a gallon, Los Angeles area consumers paid 34.2 percent more than the $2.907 national average in
April 2021. A year earlier, consumers in the Los Angeles area paid 47.8 percent more than the national average
for a gallon of gasoline. The local price of a gallon of gasoline has ranged from 21.1 to 47.8 percent above the
national average in the month of April during the past five years. (See chart 1.)
2
The 22.0 cents per kWh Los Angeles households paid for electricity in April 2021 was 58.3 percent more than
the nationwide average of 13.9 cents per kWh. Last April, electricity costs were 43.6 percent higher in Los
Angeles compared to the nation. In the past five years, prices paid by Los Angeles area consumers for
electricity exceeded the U.S. average by 34.3 percent or more in the month of April. (See chart 2.)
Prices paid by Los Angeles area consumers for utility (piped) gas, commonly referred to as natural gas, were
$1.331 per therm, 14.2 percent more than the national average in April 2021 ($1.166 per therm). A year earlier,
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