Prices at the pump have surged everywhere, but it hurts more in cities where driving is the only option.
Takeaways by Bloomberg AI
- Gas prices have skyrocketed across the US as a result of the Iran war, causing more economic pain in some cities than others.
- Many of the hardest hit cities are in the Sun Belt and parts of the South, such as Nashville and Indianapolis, where drivers have paid an average of nearly $70 more per month in fuel costs since March 1.
- Monthly driving costs in denser cities such as New York, San Francisco and Portland, Oregon have not spiked as much, primarily because so many rely on public transit instead of driving.
Gas prices have skyrocketed across the US as a result of the Iran war, but the surge is causing more economic pain in some cities than others.
And it’s not necessarily in the places where gas prices have risen the most, like Chicago or Los Angeles. Instead, it’s in smaller, more spread-out cities, like Nashville or Indianapolis, according to an analysis of local gas prices through April 9 from data aggregator GasBuddy and figures on driver mileage from the Federal Highway Administration.
Bloomberg Economics
By Aaron Gordon
April 17, 2026