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: Friday, November 13, 2020
20-2152-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, San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward – October 2020
Gasoline prices averaged $3.228 a gallon in the San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward area in October 2020, the
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Richard
Holden noted that area gasoline prices were lower than last October when they averaged $4.101 per gallon.
San Francisco area households paid an average of 23.6 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) of electricity in October
2020, higher than the 22.3 cents per kWh paid in October 2019. The average cost of utility (piped) gas at
$1.779 per therm in October was higher than the $1.574 per therm spent last year. (Data in this release are not
seasonally adjusted; accordingly, over-the-year-analysis is used throughout.)
At $3.228 a gallon, San Francisco area consumers paid 44.9 percent more than the $2.228 national average in
October 2020. A year earlier, consumers in the San Francisco area paid 49.6 percent more than the national
average for a gallon of gasoline. The local price of a gallon of gasoline has ranged from 22.2 to 49.6 percent
above the national average in the month of October during the past five years. (See chart 1.)
2
The 23.6 cents per kWh San Francisco households paid for electricity in October 2020 was 74.8 percent more
than the nationwide average of 13.5 cents per kWh. Last October, electricity costs were 64.0 percent higher in
San Francisco compared to the nation. In each of the past five years, prices paid by San Francisco area
consumers for electricity exceeded the U.S. average by at least 50.0 percent in the month of October. (See
chart 2.)
Prices paid by San Francisco area consumers for utility (piped) gas, commonly referred to as natural gas, were
$1.779 per therm, or 66.7 percent above the national ave