Americans’ concerns about energy costs have not increased since the start of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, even as gas prices have jumped nearly a dollar a gallon, according to a Gallup poll released Thursday.
Thirty-five percent of U.S. adults say they worry “a great deal” about the availability and affordability of energy, unchanged from a year ago and well below the 47 percent who said the same in 2022, when gas prices last spiked during the early months of the Russia-Ukraine war.
The poll, conducted March 2–18 among 1,000 adults, began just two days after the Feb. 28 strikes the U.S. and Israel launched on Iran. Since then, Iran has blocked access to the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping channel for global oil transport, sending fuel costs sharply higher across the country.
Yet the price shock has barely registered as a top-of-mind concern. Just 2 percent of Americans named gas prices as the most important problem facing the nation, far behind the government at 28 percent, the economy in general at 15 percent, immigration at 14 percent, and inflation at 10 percent. Mentions of the economy ticked up from 11 percent in February, but gas prices specifically remain an afterthought.
Fewer Americans now expect the country to face a critical energy shortage than did during the last price disruption. Forty-three percent say they foresee a shortage within five years, down from 55 percent who said so in 2022 and well below the peaks above 60 percent recorded in 2008 and 2011.
The sharpest divide in the data is partisan. Forty-six percent of Democrats say they worry a great deal about energy, compared with 23 percent of Republicans — a 23-point gap. Republican concern has fallen 10 points since last March, while Democratic concern has risen eight points over the same period, a pattern Gallup says reflects the growing tendency of Americans to evaluate national conditions based on whether their party controls the White House.
Gallup said the muted reaction may reflect an expectation among Americans that the price disruptions will be temporary. The polling firm cautioned that attitudes could shift if elevated prices persist, which it said likely depends on whether the U.S., Israel, and Iran reach a quick resolution to the conflict, now in its fourth week.
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