Regular gas
$1.56/gal
↑ 16.1% vs 2002
A year-by-year explorer from 2000 to present
America Through the Years
2000–2026
Exploring: 2003
Explore how prices, jobs, housing, sports, entertainment, technology, politics and major events changed across America — one year at a time.
The economy
2003 at a glance
Unemployment
6.0%
↑ 0.2 pp vs 2002
Grocery prices
↑ 2.1%
vs 2002
Inflation
↑ 2.3%
vs 2002
Median rent
Not available
Annual ACS starts in 2005
Median earnings
Not available
Annual ACS starts in 2005
Show KPI details
Regular gas
U.S. average annual retail price for one gallon of regular gasoline, all formulations. Annual figure published by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Source: EIA ↗ (opens in new tab)Unemployment
Average U.S. unemployment rate for the year, calculated as the mean of the published monthly Current Population Survey unemployment rates.
Source: BLS ↗ (opens in new tab)Grocery prices
Year-over-year movement in the BLS Food at Home Consumer Price Index. Underlying CPI index: 179.4.
Source: BLS ↗ (opens in new tab)Inflation
Year-over-year change in the U.S. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, all items. Underlying CPI index: 184.0.
Source: BLS ↗ (opens in new tab)Median rent
Median gross monthly rent for occupied rental housing units. Annual ACS 1-year estimates begin in 2005.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS ↗ (opens in new tab)Median earnings
Median annual earnings measure from the American Community Survey. Annual ACS 1-year estimates begin in 2005.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS ↗ (opens in new tab)What is CPI?
CPI is an index used to track how consumer prices change over time. The reference period 1982–84 equals 100. A value such as 177.1 is an index level, not a dollar amount or an inflation rate.
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What happened?
What happened in 2003?
History in place
Where this event happened
More details
All events and sources for 2003
February
- Come Away with Me wins Album of the Year at the 2003 Grammys — Norah Jones won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year for Come Away with Me. Recording Academy ↗ (opens in new tab)
March
- Chicago wins Best Picture at the 2003 Academy Awards — Chicago won Best Picture at the 2003 Academy Awards, honoring films released in 2002.
Annual Entertainment anchor event for the America Since 2000 timeline, sourced to the Academy’s official ceremony archive.
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ↗ (opens in new tab) - United States begins military operations in Iraq — President George W. Bush announced that coalition forces had begun military operations in Iraq; U.S. ground forces entered Iraq the following day. U.S. Department of Defense ↗ (opens in new tab)
April
- PROTECT Act becomes law — Public Law 108-21 enacted federal child-protection and criminal-justice provisions, including measures addressing child exploitation. GovInfo / U.S. Government Publishing Office ↗ (opens in new tab)
- Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides wins the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction — The Pulitzer Prize Board awarded Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides the 2003 prize for Fiction. The Pulitzer Prizes ↗ (opens in new tab)
- Anna in the Tropics, by Nilo Cruz wins the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Drama — The Pulitzer Prize Board awarded Anna in the Tropics, by Nilo Cruz the 2003 prize for Drama. The Pulitzer Prizes ↗ (opens in new tab)
May
- Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act becomes law — Public Law 108-27 changed federal individual and business tax provisions, including accelerated tax reductions. GovInfo / U.S. Government Publishing Office ↗ (opens in new tab)
June
- Supreme Court decides Lawrence v. Texas — The Court invalidated Texas' same-sex sodomy law and held that the liberty protected by the Due Process Clause covered the private consensual conduct at issue. Supreme Court of the United States ↗ (opens in new tab)
- Federal Reserve lowers target rate to 1% — The Federal Open Market Committee lowered its target for the federal funds rate to 1 percent. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ↗ (opens in new tab)
- NASA launches the Spirit Mars rover — Spirit launched on the first of NASA’s twin Mars Exploration Rover missions. National Aeronautics and Space Administration ↗ (opens in new tab)
July
- NASA launches the Opportunity Mars rover — Opportunity launched as NASA’s second Mars Exploration Rover. National Aeronautics and Space Administration ↗ (opens in new tab)
November
- Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act becomes law — Public Law 108-105 prohibited a procedure defined by the statute as partial-birth abortion, subject to the law's stated exceptions and requirements. GovInfo / U.S. Government Publishing Office ↗ (opens in new tab)
December
- Medicare Modernization Act becomes law — Public Law 108-173 created Medicare Part D prescription-drug coverage and made other major changes to the Medicare program. GovInfo / U.S. Government Publishing Office ↗ (opens in new tab)
- Federal Reserve holds target rate at 1% — The Federal Open Market Committee kept its target for the federal funds rate at 1 percent. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ↗ (opens in new tab)
Date within this year unknown
- San Antonio Spurs win the 2003 NBA championship — San Antonio Spurs defeated the New Jersey Nets 4-2 in the NBA Finals to win the 2003 championship. Tim Duncan was named Finals MVP.
Annual Sports anchor event for the America Since 2000 timeline. The championship, runner-up, series result, and Finals MVP are sourced from NBA.com history archives.
NBA.com ↗ (opens in new tab) NBA.com ↗ (opens in new tab) - Tampa Bay Buccaneers win Super Bowl XXXVII over Raiders — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Oakland Raiders 48-21 to win the franchise's first championship.
San Diego, California. Qualcomm Stadium Location ↗ (opens in new tab)
CBS News ↗ (opens in new tab) - Miami Marlins win 2003 World Series over Yankees — The Marlins, then known as the Florida Marlins, beat the New York Yankees 4 games to 2 to win the franchise's second championship. MLB.com ↗ (opens in new tab)
What changed?
How have regular gas prices changed since 2000?
Only years with a verified figure are plotted; a gap in the line means no verified value exists in between, not zero change.
REGULAR GAS
U.S. average retail price per gallon
Not enough historical observations to display this comparison.
REGULAR GAS
Average value per decade, from verified years only.
Not enough historical observations to summarize by decade.
REGULAR GAS · ANNUAL VALUES
| Year | Value | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | $1.136 | — |
| 2000 | $1.484 | — |
| 2001 | $1.420 | — |
| 2002 | $1.345 | — |
| 2003 | $1.561 | — |
| 2004 | $1.852 | — |
| 2005 | $2.270 | — |
| 2006 | $2.572 | — |
| 2007 | $2.796 | — |
| 2008 | $3.246 | — |
| 2009 | $2.353 | — |
| 2010 | $2.782 | — |
| 2011 | $3.521 | — |
| 2012 | $3.618 | — |
| 2013 | $3.505 | — |
| 2014 | $3.358 | — |
| 2015 | $2.429 | — |
| 2016 | $2.143 | — |
| 2017 | $2.415 | — |
| 2018 | $2.719 | — |
| 2019 | $2.604 | — |
| 2020 | $2.168 | — |
| 2021 | $3.008 | — |
| 2022 | $3.951 | — |
| 2023 | $3.519 | — |
| 2024 | $3.304 | — |
| 2025 | $3.097 | — |
| 2026 | $4.058 | — |
Want to compare the numbers directly? Compare two years →
About these figures
Economic figures come from official U.S. government sources (BLS, EIA, and Census); historical events come from Data Driven Tech's reviewed content collection. Every figure and every event links to its original public source. Where a source has not yet published a figure for a given year, that is stated directly rather than estimated.
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