The Double Squeeze: How Rising Gas and Grocery Costs Are Straining Texas Families

For Texas families, the cost of getting through a normal week has become a much heavier lift. The price of filling a gas tank has nearly doubled since early 2026. And when families pull into a grocery store parking lot, they find that the cost of filling a cart has climbed sharply too — with more increases on the way.

Texas fuel prices have risen significantly since the U.S.-Israel war on Iran began, which led to Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz — a key international shipping lane carrying roughly one-fifth of the world's oil supply. The average price for a gallon of gas in Texas, which stood at $2.55 before the war, surged by nearly two dollars to $4.52 at its peak.

• Regular gas is 36.1% more expensive than a year ago; diesel has climbed 60.9% — making every delivery truck, farm vehicle, and commute more costly.

• Economists estimate the average household will pay $857 more on gasoline in 2026 than last year

• The average Texan now spends $223 per month on gasoline alone, up sharply from pre-war levels.

At the grocery store, a separate set of forces is pushing prices up. Tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada, which together supply more than 50 percent of the fresh fruit and 69 percent of the vegetables Americans consume, have pushed grocery prices up an additional 3 to 10 percent on affected food categories. Ground beef costs 21.8 percent more than it did a year ago, rising from $5.55 to $6.75 per pound nationally.

Residents of Rural Texas bear the sharpest edge

Rural Texans — from West Texas ranching communities to small towns in the Piney Woods and the Rio Grande Valley — face those costs with fewer tools to manage them. Philip Turner, a West Texas paramedic and father, drives 180 to 360 miles a week for work and described his fuel spending nearly doubling. 

"Back when it was only taking about $30, $35 to fill up the tank, pretty much never really thinking about gas. But now that it's almost $70, it's like, alright, I'm really gonna be spending $70–$140 in a single week." 

Rural communities also tend to have fewer grocery options and less access to discount retailers that can help offset food costs.

Without changes in shopping habits, the average household could lose up to $4,900 in purchasing power due to trade-driven price hikes — with lower-income families hit hardest, since they spend a larger share of their income on food and have less flexibility to absorb the increases. For Texas families already navigating higher fuel bills, that added strain on the grocery budget isn't a future concern — it's already here.