Americans spent an estimated $745.0 billion at retail stores and food services in September, the Census Bureau says, up 0.8% from August. Gas stations led the climb. Their receipts rose 6.4% in a month and 28.1% from a year ago, and those figures are not adjusted for prices.
That matters because the price of gasoline has jumped too. A dollar total can rise while a household buys the same amount or less. The report is a count of dollars spent, not of things bought.
What the $745.0 billion does and does not say
Census puts September sales, seasonally adjusted, at $745.0 billion in its advance retail report. That is 0.8% above August, with a margin of error of 0.4 points, and 6.3% above September 2025. Sales for July through September were up 5.5% from the same quarter last year.
August was revised up to $739.3 billion, a 1.3% gain from July. The first estimate had been 1.1%. Advance numbers come from a sample of about 4,800 firms, so later revisions are normal, and Census plans to release October’s figures on November 17.
Retail sales are measured in current dollars. If prices rise 3% and people buy the same goods, sales rise 3% as well. A strong headline can therefore mean strong demand, higher prices or both.
Gas stations, restaurants and online orders
Among the categories Census lists, gasoline stations rose most from a year ago, up 28.1%. Miscellaneous store retailers were up 10.9%, nonstore retailers, which includes online sellers, were up 8.2%, and food services and drinking places were up 7.0%. Restaurants added 1.1% in September alone.
The question for most households is what the price jump costs them each month. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says in its September inflation report that the gasoline index rose 9.1% in the month and 34.2% over the year, and that the all-items index is up 3.7% from a year ago. Anyone whose budget bends at the pump, the heating bill or the grocery cart is the person this data is about.
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Groceries barely moved, and prices did
Weaker spots stand out too. Health and personal care stores were down 1.2% from a year ago, and building material and garden stores fell 0.6% in the month. Motor vehicle and parts dealers rose just 0.2% from August and 2.5% over the year.
Census adds that comparisons across industries have not been tested for statistical significance, so the gap between gas stations at 28.1% and online sellers at 8.2% is a description, not a ranking. The monthly gain of 0.8% for the total is significant, since the margin of error excludes zero.
Grocery store sales rose 0.5% in September and just 0.9% from a year ago in the Census data. BLS reports that prices for food at home rose 1.8% over the same twelve months, and food overall rose 2.5%.
Grocery tells its own story. Put side by side, grocery receipts grew a little less than grocery prices. The two reports measure different things, so the comparison is a rough guide, not proof that households bought fewer groceries. It does show that supermarkets were not where the spending surge happened.
Energy is where prices climbed. The BLS energy index is up 20.4% over twelve months, and shelter is up 3.2%. A household that spends the same number of gallons as last year is paying much more, which is exactly what a 28.1% jump at gas stations would show.
Pump prices behind the receipts
The Energy Information Administration’s weekly survey puts regular gasoline at $4.331 a gallon on October 12. That is $1.27 above the price a year earlier and down 2.3 cents from the week before, so the pressure had begun to ease slightly. Diesel, which trucks use to move goods to stores, averaged $6.179 a gallon.
The price also depends on where a driver fills up. EIA lists California regular at $6.104 and the West Coast at $5.639, against $3.851 on the Gulf Coast and $4.145 in the Midwest. Regular was $1.160 above its level two years ago.
Crude oil is the largest piece of a gallon, at 51.4% of the 2025 retail price, according to EIA’s price breakdown. Federal tax adds 18.4 cents a gallon. When crude moves, gas station receipts move with it, which is why this category swings so far in a retail report.
Help with the cost of energy exists, though it is limited by income. The government’s energy bill help page describes LIHEAP, a program that helps cover heating or cooling costs and may help in an energy crisis. Eligibility is based on income and each state sets its own rules.
What the retail report cannot settle is who is struggling with these prices. It counts sales, not households, and the next count arrives November 17. The open question for a household is which of its bills has a program attached that could lower it.
With gas up $1.27 a gallon, which bills have a program?
Retail sales rose 6.3% in a year, and the dollars include the extra cost of fuel. A household can miss a program that would lower a heating or utility bill simply because nobody told it the program existed.
The story here is the retail report, and the job The Benefits Checklist finishes is finding bill-lowering programs. It scans 11 benefit programs, among them heating help, SNAP and Medicare Savings Programs, and gives the 2026 income limits for each, along with a printable tracker for applications.
See 11 bill-lowering programs and their 2026 income limits in one checklist →
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This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
Warren Cohen is a finance writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, covering personal finance topics including credit, banking, and beginner investing. He earned his degree in business administration from Arizona State University and began his career working in consumer finance, where he gained direct experience with lending and credit systems. He now writes for personal finance websites and fintech platforms, focusing on clear, practical content that helps readers make informed financial decisions.
