Heating oil was already a New England problem. $6 diesel makes it a winter one.

The $6 gallon is new. The heating-oil map is not.

Diesel just did something it had never done in the official pump series: the national average crossed $6 a gallon. AAA put it at $6.06 Friday, up from $5.85 a week earlier and about $3.71 a year ago. Brent crude had spiked to $109 a barrel. California averaged $7.98. The people who do not drive a pickup still live on that fuel. Diesel moves groceries, parcels and farm equipment. It is also, as energy analysts keep repeating this week, practically the same molecule as home heating oil. About five million households still burn heating oil, most of them in the Northeast. Andy Lipow of Lipow Oil Associates told CNN those customers are heading into “quite a sticker shock when they get the first delivery for the season.”

That is a 2026 price story. The last complete official picture of how Americans actually spent money on fuels is older, and it is the picture that matters for understanding who is exposed. The Bureau of Economic Analysis’s state consumer-spending accounts run through calendar 2024, the last full year before the United States and Israel opened the Iran war on February 28, 2026. Those books cannot tell you what a Maine tank fill-up will cost in October. They can tell you, without guesswork, how large fuel oil already was next to gasoline, electricity and natural gas — and how uneven that burden was across states.

Nationally, fuel oil was a rounding error. Motor fuels were not.

In 2024, U.S. households spent $414.3 billion on motor vehicle fuels, lubricants and fluids. That was 2.08 percent of total personal consumption expenditures, which came to $19.9 trillion. Electricity was the next-largest household energy outlay, at $253.4 billion, or 1.27 percent of spending. Natural gas was $63.6 billion (0.32 percent). Fuel oil and other fuels — the heating-oil line — were $26.3 billion, just 0.13 percent of all consumer spending. Add those four lines and household energy was $758 billion, 3.81 percent of PCE.

Those are aggregate dollars, not a typical household’s bill, and they mix two BEA tables: motor fuels and fuel oil are goods purchases; electricity and natural gas are household-utility lines. They still answer a useful question. The thing that just set a pump record is the thing Americans already spent the most on. Fuel oil is a small national total because most of the country does not heat with it. A $6 diesel average can still rearrange a winter in the places that do.

The mix has also been shrinking as a share of the whole economy, even as the dollar totals grew. In 1997, the same four energy lines were 4.95 percent of PCE. They peaked at 6.12 percent in 2008, when motor fuels alone were 3.59 percent of spending. By 2024 motor fuels were back near 2 percent. Electricity’s share drifted down from 1.64 percent in 1997 to 1.27 percent. Fuel oil’s national share has been a thin ribbon throughout: 0.24 percent in 1997, 0.30 percent in 2008, 0.13 percent in 2024. The ribbon is what New England lives on.

U.S. household energy spending as a share of total PCE, 1997–2024

Explore chartDownload exact data

View exact chart values

year	motor_fuels_bil	fuel_oil_bil	electricity_bil	natural_gas_bil	energy_sum_bil	total_pce_tril	motor_share_pct	fuel_oil_share_pct	electricity_share_pct	gas_share_pct	energy_share_pct	pc_energy_goods_usd	pc_total_pce_usd	ne_fuel_oil_share_pct	us_fuel_oil_share_pct	ne_motor_share_pct	us_motor_share_pct	ne_pc_energy_usd
1997	134.4	13.2	90.7	35.9	274.2	5.537	2.43	0.239	1.64	0.65	4.95	542	20308	0.244	0.239	1.97	2.43	523
1998	120.8	11.6	93.4	31.7	257.4	5.877	2.06	0.197	1.59	0.54	4.38	480	21306	0.2	0.197	1.64	2.06	461
1999	134.2	12.4	93.6	32.2	272.4	6.284	2.14	0.197	1.49	0.51	4.33	525	22519	0.185	0.197	1.67	2.14	492
2000	168.6	15.9	98.4	39.3	322.1	6.767	2.49	0.235	1.45	0.58	4.76	654	23983	0.223	0.235	1.94	2.49	613
2001	162.5	15.5	103.4	46.2	327.6	7.074	2.3	0.219	1.46	0.65	4.63	625	24823	0.213	0.219	1.82	2.3	601
2002	153.6	14.3	107.1	38.5	313.5	7.349	2.09	0.194	1.46	0.52	4.27	584	25550	0.188	0.194	1.66	2.09	566
2003	179	17.4	111.5	48.9	356.8	7.741	2.31	0.225	1.44	0.63	4.61	677	26682	0.232	0.225	1.86	2.31	674
2004	213.4	19.4	115.8	52.3	400.8	8.232	2.59	0.235	1.41	0.64	4.87	795	28114	0.251	0.235	2.07	2.59	792
2005	261.4	22.3	128.5	61.3	473.6	8.769	2.98	0.255	1.47	0.7	5.4	960	29674	0.29	0.255	2.34	2.98	948
2006	295.9	23.7	140.7	60.1	520.4	9.277	3.19	0.256	1.52	0.65	5.61	1071	31092	0.288	0.256	2.5	3.19	1053
2007	319.9	25.6	148.3	61.9	555.7	9.747	3.28	0.263	1.52	0.63	5.7	1147	32356	0.303	0.263	2.53	3.28	1105
2008	361	30.1	155.5	68.1	614.7	10.05	3.59	0.3	1.55	0.68	6.12	1286	33049	0.352	0.3	2.76	3.59	1243
2009	263.8	23.2	157	58.2	502.2	9.891	2.67	0.235	1.59	0.59	5.08	936	32243	0.287	0.235	2.03	2.67	912
2010	312.1	24.6	166.8	54.6	558.1	10.26	3.04	0.24	1.63	0.53	5.44	1088	33164	0.29	0.24	2.29	3.04	1044
2011	386.8	27	166.7	52.2	632.7	10.699	3.62	0.252	1.56	0.49	5.91	1327	34309	0.308	0.252	2.67	3.62	1238
2012	397.8	24.1	163.2	44.4	629.6	11.047	3.6	0.218	1.48	0.4	5.7	1342	35145	0.264	0.218	2.6	3.6	1211
2013	395.7	26	169.1	50.7	641.5	11.388	3.47	0.228	1.48	0.45	5.63	1331	35956	0.272	0.228	2.54	3.47	1214
2014	383.1	27.8	176.1	56	643	11.874	3.23	0.234	1.48	0.47	5.42	1287	37194	0.284	0.234	2.39	3.23	1188
2015	297.4	21.4	177.6	48	544.4	12.297	2.42	0.174	1.44	0.39	4.43	991	38213	0.213	0.174	1.82	2.42	928
2016	268.6	18.4	177	43.8	507.8	12.727	2.11	0.144	1.39	0.34	3.99	885	39238	0.172	0.144	1.59	2.11	828
2017	302.5	21.5	177.7	48.2	549.9	13.291	2.28	0.162	1.34	0.36	4.14	992	40693	0.191	0.162	1.74	2.28	937
2018	341.7	25	190.7	54.7	612	13.934	2.45	0.179	1.37	0.39	4.39	1116	42415	0.212	0.179	1.85	2.45	1042
2019	328.7	23.8	187.3	54.1	593.9	14.438	2.28	0.165	1.3	0.37	4.11	1067	43720	0.197	0.165	1.71	2.28	989
2020	238.4	20	191.6	50.5	500.6	14.231	1.68	0.141	1.35	0.35	3.52	779	42920	0.171	0.141	1.25	1.68	724
2021	361.1	24.6	200.7	59.5	645.9	16.12	2.24	0.153	1.25	0.37	4.01	1162	48539	0.177	0.153	1.64	2.24	1033
2022	481.7	32.9	232.9	78.8	826.3	17.69	2.72	0.186	1.32	0.45	4.67	1541	52961	0.26	0.186	1.95	2.72	1360
2023	436.9	28	236.7	66.6	768.2	18.833	2.32	0.149	1.26	0.35	4.08	1380	55917	0.201	0.149	1.65	2.32	1207
2024	414.3	26.3	253.4	63.6	757.6	19.896	2.08	0.132	1.27	0.32	3.81	1295	58499	0.175	0.132	1.48	2.08	1126

How U.S. household energy spending stacked in 2024

Explore chartDownload exact data

View exact chart values

category	billion_current_dollars	share_of_pce_pct
Motor vehicle fuels, lubricants, and fluids	414.3	2.08
Electricity	253.4	1.27
Natural gas	63.6	0.32
Fuel oil and other fuels	26.3	0.132

Vermont’s fuel-oil share was about eight times California’s

Look at states and the national rounding error stops being a rounding error. In 2024, fuel oil and other fuels were 0.443 percent of Vermont’s total consumer spending and 0.349 percent of Maine’s. New Hampshire was 0.261 percent. New York, which spent the most in raw dollars — $2.40 billion — was 0.182 percent of a much larger pie. Massachusetts was 0.156 percent. Then the map falls off. Connecticut was 0.113 percent. Texas, $1.51 billion of fuel oil in a $1.69 trillion spending total, was 0.090 percent. Florida was 0.060 percent. California, with almost the same fuel-oil dollars as Texas, was 0.057 percent of a $2.66 trillion spending base. Rhode Island, inside New England, was only 0.034 percent, a reminder that “the Northeast” is not one furnace.

New England as a region spent 0.175 percent of PCE on fuel oil in 2024, about a third more than the U.S. average of 0.132 percent and more than twice the Far West’s 0.073 percent. The regional gap is not new. It widened in expensive years. In 2008, New England’s fuel-oil share was 0.352 percent against 0.300 percent nationally. In 2022, another oil spike, it was 0.260 percent against 0.186 percent. The places TIME’s sources are warning about already devoted a larger slice of spending to the diesel cousin before anyone had heard of a $6 gallon.

Motor fuels still dominate even in Maine. In 2024 Maine spent $2.33 billion on motor vehicle fuels and $309 million on fuel oil — fuel oil was 13.3 percent as large as the gasoline line, versus 6.3 percent nationally and 3.3 percent in California. Maine also spent a larger share of its whole budget at the pump: motor fuels were 2.63 percent of Maine PCE against 1.74 percent in California and 2.08 percent in the United States. A diesel shock hits the truck that brought the groceries and, in a smaller set of states, the tank in the basement.

Fuel oil’s slice of 2024 spending was tiny nationally — and not tiny in Vermont

Explore chartDownload exact data

View exact chart values

state	fuel_oil_mil	total_pce_bil	fuel_oil_share_pct
Vermont	179.8	40.6	0.443
Maine	309.4	88.6	0.349
New Hampshire	253.2	97.1	0.261
New York	2403	1319.7	0.182
Massachusetts	798.7	513.4	0.156
Connecticut	277.7	244.9	0.113
Texas	1514	1691.6	0.09
Florida	882.7	1463.5	0.06
California	1514.2	2664.2	0.057
Rhode Island	21.7	64.6	0.034

New England has long spent more of its budget on fuel oil than the U.S. average

Explore chartDownload exact data

View exact chart values

year	new_england	united_states
1997	0.244	0.239
1998	0.2	0.197
1999	0.185	0.197
2000	0.223	0.235
2001	0.213	0.219
2002	0.188	0.194
2003	0.232	0.225
2004	0.251	0.235
2005	0.29	0.255
2006	0.288	0.256
2007	0.303	0.263
2008	0.352	0.3
2009	0.287	0.235
2010	0.29	0.24
2011	0.308	0.252
2012	0.264	0.218
2013	0.272	0.228
2014	0.284	0.234
2015	0.213	0.174
2016	0.172	0.144
2017	0.191	0.162
2018	0.212	0.179
2019	0.197	0.165
2020	0.171	0.141
2021	0.177	0.153
2022	0.26	0.186
2023	0.201	0.149
2024	0.175	0.132

Per person, the energy-goods bill had already doubled since the 1990s

BEA also publishes a per-person series for “gasoline and other energy goods,” which combines motor fuels and fuel oils. In 2024 that was $1,295 per U.S. resident, 2.21 percent of per capita PCE ($58,499). That is not a household average — it is total spending divided by resident population — but it is the cleanest official yardstick for how the pump and the oil truck have moved together. In 1997 the same line was $542. It hit $1,286 in 2008, $1,541 in 2022, then eased to $1,380 in 2023 and $1,295 in 2024. New England’s per-person figure in 2024 was $1,126, a bit below the national number, because the region burns more heating oil but drives fewer gallons.

Motor-fuel spending in current dollars was 26 percent higher in 2024 than in 2019. Fuel oil was up 10.4 percent. Electricity was up 35.3 percent. Those are nominal changes, so they mix prices and quantities; they are not inflation rates. They do show that the pre-war baseline was not a cheap-energy lull. August’s consumer-price report put gasoline 27.4 percent above a year earlier and the energy index 16.3 percent higher, with headline inflation stuck at 3.4 percent while core cooled to 2.4 percent. That is the composition a $6 diesel average is about to feed into — through trucking, through heating oil, and through whatever grocers pass on after a lag.

The honest limit is the calendar. These accounts end in 2024. They do not include the Strait of Hormuz fight, the Houthi advance on Bab al-Mandab, or this week’s pump readings. They also do not say a Vermont household’s bill is 0.44 percent of income; they say fuel oil is 0.44 percent of all consumption in Vermont. Missing is not zero, and a state total is not a furnace. What the books do say, clearly, is that America entered this war with gasoline as the big household fuel line and heating oil as a concentrated Northeast exposure. A record diesel price does not create that map. It lights it up.

Per-person spending on gasoline and other energy goods, 1997–2024

Explore chartDownload exact data

View exact chart values

year	us_pc_energy_goods_usd	ne_pc_energy_goods_usd
1997	542	523
1998	480	461
1999	525	492
2000	654	613
2001	625	601
2002	584	566
2003	677	674
2004	795	792
2005	960	948
2006	1071	1053
2007	1147	1105
2008	1286	1243
2009	936	912
2010	1088	1044
2011	1327	1238
2012	1342	1211
2013	1331	1214
2014	1287	1188
2015	991	928
2016	885	828
2017	992	937
2018	1116	1042
2019	1067	989
2020	779	724
2021	1162	1033
2022	1541	1360
2023	1380	1207
2024	1295	1126