Why Is Gas So Expensive in Missoula? The Answer Starts with a War.

Missoula drivers certainly didn’t ask for nearly $4/gallon gas — but now they are paying it. The reason why runs through a waterway most people have never heard of.

The War Behind Missoula's Gas Prices

Here's what happened. In early 2026, the Trump Administration attacked Iran. Iran sits at the edge of the Strait of Hormuz — a narrow passage in the Persian Gulf that carries roughly one in five barrels of the world's oil supply every day. Once that route became dangerous to navigate, oil traders started pricing in the risk. Crude climbed past $100/barrel, and the national average of $2.98/gallon that Missoula drivers were used to didn't survive the month. Missoula now averages $3.52–$3.62/gallon for regular. That's $11–$13 more per 20-gallon fill-up than before the conflict. Do that once a week and you're looking at over $50 more every month — gone before a single grocery item is bought.

Higher Gas Prices Follow You to the Grocery Store

Here's what most people don't immediately connect: oil prices don't just affect the pump. They run through the entire food system. The trucks that restock Albertsons and Walmart in Missoula run on fuel. So do the refrigerated warehouses, the processing facilities, and the cold storage at the distribution center.

Every time oil gets more expensive, so does moving food from the field to the shelf — and grocery stores pass that cost to customers. Ground beef is $6.90/lb, milk around $3.68/gallon, and eggs are $3.93/dozen. Albertsons fuel rewards can shave a few cents at the pump if you're a regular shopper, and Walmart tends to hold the most competitive prices on basics — but neither fully offsets the Iran war's ripple through oil markets at the receipt level.

Montana families are spending about $246 a week on groceries on average — and that's roughly $149 more every month than it cost just a few years ago. For rural communities outside Missoula proper, distribution costs push prices even higher and selection gets thinner.

Tariffs are Also Pushing Grocery Prices Up

The war isn't the only thing raising costs at the store. Federal tariffs on imports from Mexico — set at 25% — hit fresh produce especially hard. Mexico supplies a large portion of the tomatoes, avocados, peppers, cucumbers, and berries sold across American grocery stores, including in Missoula. When tariffs raise the cost of bringing those goods across the border, that cost gets passed down through the supply chain and shows up in the produce aisle. Grocery chains have been open about passing tariff-related costs on to shoppers.

Steel and aluminum tariffs have also raised the cost of food packaging — meaning canned goods, staple items, and processed foods got more expensive even before they reached the truck. It's a different cause than the Iran war, but the effect on the checkout total is the same.