EINSTEIN’S THEORY OF PETROL PRICE RELATIVITY
You’ve heard about Albert Einstein’s “theory of relativity”? Our senior editor has uncovered a new application of the theory: How relativity applies to the price of gasoline at the pump.
By John Grafman
Fri, Jul 3, 2026 05:00 AM PST
Featured image above: "Man in Yellow and Blue Hoodie Wearing Eyeglasses" by Taton Moïse
Albert Einstein published his theory of relativity in two main stages: Special Relativity was published on June 30, 1905 – 121 years ago! The General Relativity theory followed on November 25, 1915.
The Special Relativity Theory explains how time and space are linked, and that the speed of light is always constant. General Relativity envisions gravity as a result of massive objects (like planets and stars) warping the invisible fabric of space-time, instead of an invisible force. In turn, it curves and directs the path of moving objects including light itself. Sadly, Einstein makes no mention of either the Millennium Falcon, USS Enterprise, and no hint of the Tesla orbiting in space.
Isn’t it about time that we had a theory of Petroleum Relativity?
The Theory of Petrol Relativity
The price of gas is not the same all over the world. It’s relative to each place.*
We think of the United States as homogenous, yet it’s very far from that. As large as it is, that shouldn't be a surprise.
And at roughly a quarter-million miles away, just think what a gallon of earthly unleaded would fetch on the Moon. Without oil drilling or refining capabilities, one could resell the same fuel at an out of this world mark-up, literally.
Within the State of California, there are multiples reason why petroleum costs more, and profit motives are just one. These are explored in another LA Car report (see Op-Ed: The Price at the Pump).
Most anyone over the age of 10 understands what petroleum is to one extent or another. Often not discussed is how we pay for it.
Money. It’s A Gas
What is money? Greenbacks (and credit) are used as a means to purchase and sell all manner of goods and exchange services without the hassle of trading one for another.
In short, you don’t have to barter your goods or services, whatever those are, for other goods and services. The exchange of dollar bills and coins are simpler and comparable for shopping purposes.
As an example, just a few years back one might hear, “I’ll fix your plumbing for 3 dozen eggs and a chicken.” Sure, with recent inflation that would probably be closer to 5 dozen eggs and 3 plump chickens ready for the grill, and a nice slice of mom’s apple pie to finish it off.
Now, money is truly a relative thing. It’s worth more in some places than others due to various factors.
Minimum Wage
One of those that’s significant is the minimum wage for an hour of labor. An hour is an hour, regardless of where you live on this planet. However, 20 states use the federal minimum wage as their guideline. That’s $7.25 per hour.
So, let’s say a person works in Texas for minimum wage and wants to buy some gas in that state. How much could that individual purchase if gas is just $3 a gallon? The answer is under 2.5 gallons of gas (2.41) for an hour of work.
In CA, the minimum wage is $16.90 (2.3 times greater than the federal rate) per hour. But it’s even higher for a few occupations, like in the fast-food industry at $20, and in some geographic areas.
Using that as a baseline, and with gas at $6 per gallon, how much will one hour of work buy a person in gas? Over 2.75 gallons (2.81). To be fair, the gas in CA is now lower that $6 per, and it’s over $3 in other states.
California
According to AAA (spell out what it stands for?), the price of gasoline in California is averaging at $5.43 for regular and up to $5.85 for premium on 6/30/2026. https://gasprices.aaa.com. Texas is ranging on average from $3.33 to $4.20. Yes, those in the Bear State have to pay about $1.50-2.00 per gallon more than those in the Lone Star State.
On the other hand, those same folks in CA making minimum wage earn $9.65 more for each hour worked. Maybe not everything is bigger in Texas.
Minimum Wage in Other States
Texas isn’t the only state using the federal minimum wage law as its guideline. There are 20 doing the same thing! The list is as follows:
Alabama
Georgia
Idaho
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Mississippi
New Hampshire
North Carolina
North Dakota
Oklahoma
Pennsylvania
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Wisconsin
Wyoming
On the flip side, there are states, like California, that believe workers should be paid more. These include:
Connecticut: $16.94 per hour
California: $16.90 per hour
Washington: $16.66 per hour
New York: $17.00 per hour
(in NYC, Long Island, Westchester: $16.00 per hour)
New Jersey: $15.92 per hour
Of course, lawmakers keep the population in Washington, D.C. from uprising by offering a minimum wage of $17.50 per hour.
And with the price of gas ranging from $4.10-$5.14, it’s easy to see how this skews the perception of gas prices in D.C. by those in our government. A minimum wage worker in that district can buy slightly more than 4.25 gallons of regular fuel per hour of work.
Perhaps even more surprising, two states really believe that a minimum wage of $7.25 is exorbitant. Georgia and Wyoming have a state mandated minimum wage of $5.15 per hour.
Of course, the federal wage supersedes the state, and workers get the higher of the two. Currently, in Georgia the price for a gallon of premium is $4.46. In short, after taxes and withholdings, an hour of work would buy just about one gallon of fuel, if it wasn’t for the federal rate.
To read more about how the states stack up, see the Department of Labor page here.
The Dark Side of Petroleum Relativity
Petroleum Relativity has a dark side. As people get paid more (and in theory have more money to spend), things tend to cost more. And, when things cost more, people need to get paid more in order to survive and show up at work, which is the root of inflation.
This is an effect that capitalism has on lives, for both good and bad.
As it relates to the minimum wage, gas is cheaper in CA than in many other states (don’t let the gas companies know). Now, that being said, if you don’t have employment or are living on a fixed income, the price of gas is far higher in CA. So, what does this mean? To paraphrase the words of Einstein, it’s all relative.
* What’s life like outside the USA? Iran has an average price per gallon of gas at just $0.11. Sounds great, right. However, the minimum wage is roughly $0.77 an hour. Plugging this into the formula, an hour of work will yield 6.98 gallons of gas. Again, this shows, it’s all relative. – John Grafman
About The Author
John Grafman spent far too much of his youth thriving on the canyons that connect the valley to Malibu. This antisocial behavior has evidentially scarred him for life. Nevertheless, using his powers for good rather than evil, John has spent the past dozen or so years working on models for numerous automotive design studios on the west coast. You’ve seen his work on the exterior and interiors of some of your favorite concept and production cars. You can now see his imprint throughout LA CAR.
